Caleb Denny helps South Carolina survive pesky Penn in Friday night thriller

Caleb Denny was long supposed to be a key cog in games like Friday.

He enrolled at Arkansas in 2017 with hopes of helping the Razorbacks to a Southeastern Conference title and, perhaps, a trip to the College World Series. But that was four years and two schools ago.

Denny is older now, more mature, even if his boyish face suggests otherwise. Still, just six games into his South Carolina career following a trio of standout seasons at Oral Roberts, his bat continues to pace a Gamecocks offense that seemingly can’t miss — and didn’t — in a 7-4 win against Pennsylvania (0-1) on Friday.

“There’s a lot of changes in three different schools,” Denny said postgame. “But probably the biggest thing is mentally I’ve become a lot more mature. Five years more mature, actually. That’s probably the biggest difference.”

South Carolina (6-0) has had constant issues at the plate during head coach Mark Kingston’s tenure. The Gamecocks haven’t finished a season ranked better than ninth in the SEC in batting average over Kingston’s four full seasons, and their 2022 output (.263) was dead-last in the league.

But Denny, along with a suddenly explosive South Carolina offense, has started to flip a switch — albeit in a nonconference portion of the schedule that’s included UMass-Lowell, Winthrop and Queens University.

Take Friday’s effort as proof of that recent run. Denny, who has multiple hits in five of his first six games in garnet and black, ripped a double off Penn ace Owen Coady in the first inning. He followed that with a smoked single through the right side of the infield in the third inning for a pair of RBI, pushing the Gamecocks out to a 5-0 lead.

Denny added to his increasingly impressive start to the season with a slapped single to center field that scored Braylen Wimmer from second, then promptly swiped second base before being stranded to end the frame.

Such has been par for the course for Denny of late. He’s hitting .480 with a team-high 12 hits. His 14 RBI heading into the weekend also ranked tops in the SEC.

“The game rewards good players,” Kingston said. “That’s what it comes down to. You can talk about all the different philosophies and theories, at the end of the day the game rewards good players. ... If you’re a good hitter, and you take good at-bats, you’re talented, you know what you’re doing, the game rewards you and (Denny is) a perfect example.”

Added Denny: “I don’t think I have (started a season faster). I’d have to look at the stats, but I usually have a pretty average start. And this year has just been, I don’t know what’s changed, but I’m off to a hot start.”

Denny, though, has been far from the only Gamecock to rake early this spring. Freshman Ethan Petry slugged his fourth homer of the year, a three-run shot down the third-base line that narrowly missed leaving Founders Park entirely.

Cole Messina added a moonshot of his own with a barreled up, solo shot over the left-field fence to push the South Carolina lead out to three heading into the ninth inning.

Petry and Messina are each among the six South Carolina batters with at least two homers this season, while five of those hitters have at least three long balls through six games.

“(Messina) came back a better player for catching all summer (in the Northwoods League),” Kingston said. “His hitting approach got better. He came back in much better shape in terms of baseball. That summer was huge for him. And, he’s one of the many guys that have taken a nice jump from freshman to sophomore year.”

Friday didn’t roll as smoothly as days past. The Gamecocks failed to notch 10 or more runs for the first time this season. They needed every one of Denny’s three RBIs to sneak past the visiting Quakers, who were playing their first game of the year, in front of 7,105 fans at Founders Park. Presbyterian transfer Chris Veach was called upon to close out the contest in South Carolina’s first save situation of 2023.

The margins will only grow tighter as a nonconference matchup with Clemson looms and SEC play is just over the horizon. Denny’s average and slugging percentage will almost certainly dip as the competition improves.

But on a cool night in Columbia, he reminded onlookers why his career is closing in the league where it began.