Preseason Preview: USC Upstate

This is the third in a season of preseason previews of state teams. USC Upstate coach Matt Fincher reports on his squad

Outlook
MF: Our team is young again this season and will need to improve as we move through the season. We have continued to try to improve our pitching and hitting, yet many of the players we will depend upon are in their first or second year of college.

Newcomers
MF: Grason Wiggins is a middle infielder who transferred in from a junior college. We are hopeful he will help us offensively. David Roseboom is a LHP who was drafted late by the Boston Red Sox out of high school. He will probably begin the season as a starter. Luke Weber is a catcher from Spartanburg High School that continues to improve and will see plenty of playing time.

Areas of Concern
MF: I am always worried about pitching! We will be relatively young on the mound, and due to injury, we are not a deep as we would like. Our hitting will need to improve as well. At this point we are getting over a number of injuries, and I am worried how that will impact the season, particularly the first few weeks.

Returners
MF: Gaither Bumgardner will be a soph. this year, and continues to improve. He will be used in a variety of ways. He will pitch in our starting rotation, as well as see time in CF and possibly at 1B. We should also see a great deal of improvement out of RHP’s Ryan Fern and Ryan Newell. Both have shown arm strength at times, and seem to gaining a better understanding of pitching. I would hope that they would be a major reason why we see improvement on the mound this spring.