re: Baseball Recruiting Discussion

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OVERVIEW: The Gamecocks lost talented Oklahoma prep righthanded pitcher Braden Webb to the Major League Baseball draft, but otherwise are in great shape when it comes to the current freshman class. The Gamecocks landed several instant impact type of players, beginning with lefthanded pitcher Alex Destino (53) and righthanded pitcher Brandon Murray (83), among others. South Carolina also is excited about the addition of catcher Hunter Taylor (169) and another righty in Clarke Schmidt (230). The Gamecocks are very excited about the potential of Murray, who is vying to occupy for club’s closer role in the spring. Murray is an impressive-looking 6-foot-4, 200-pounder, who has a huge arm, showing the potential to get up to 97-98 mph with his fastball in the past. Murray is extremely difficult to hit when he works down in the zone, inducing a lot of ground balls as a result. Meanwhile, Schmidt, another righty, could have a significant role for the Gamecocks in 2015. Schmidt has a chance to nail down a job in the starting rotation, and, too, has a nice arm, showing a nice velocity spike with his fastball earlier this past summer, getting up to 94 mph with his fastball, along with a curveball, slider and changeup. Taylor and outfielder Clark Scolamiero also are worth watching, with Taylor being a guy who could help the Gamecocks in a variety of ways moving forward.

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