Holbrook Presser Recap: SEC Tournament

Chad Holbrook held a press conference Monday prior to the Gamecocks' departure for the SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala.

Great time of the year for our team and players. Just got through rigors of 55-game regular season. Needed a couple of days off. Team worked out Monday morning. Will be challenged right away by Georgia or Ole Miss on Wednesday. Gamecocks have not played well in Hoover the last few years.

We feel good about what we have accomplished. Proud of team for finishing ahead of Florida and Vanderbilt. Hopefully, we are positioned to play our best baseball and win the Tourney. Our players are confident. We feel good right now. But lost first 2 in 2010.

Hit the ball very well at Alabama. Hitting is contagious. We had consistent approaches. Good job in situational hitting. Couple of guys got going & gave others confidence. DTW was steady, Stokes got going, hit very well with runners on base.

Have Gamecocks done enough to get a national seed? Holbrook says we have done all we can do by winning the SEC East with a RPI in Top 5. He feels they have done enough to deserve it.

Awards announced Monday. Gene Cone get consideration for SEC POTY? He should. But started season as a virtual unknown based on how last year went. He has been terrific all year long. BA is team-leading .348, an improvement of 91 pts over last season.

Returning players such as Mooney, Destino and Cone significantly improved their level of play from last season. Mooney raised BA 99 points, Cone 91 pts, Destino 81 pts. Many guys were much improved over last season. They didn't want to go through what they went through last season again.

Holbrook said he made some changes in off-season workouts and other things, but biggest change was holding the players more accountable. Showed up in results.

Holbrook said he never gave up on Jones. He had several big hits at Bama to help the Gamecocks sweep.

Tyler Johnson has shown remarkable command for a guy who throws hard. Just 7 walks in 39.2 IP. Reed Scott has 13 BB and 36 hits allowed in 41.0 IP. Pretty formidable bullpen with Johnson, Scott & Reagan. They have played a large part to USC's success in 2016.

Holbrook hinted the SEC might be contemplating changes to the tournament format. Currently, the SEC starts with 12 teams and quickly reduces the field to eight with a single elimination format on Tuesday.