COLUMBIA, S.C. — There are now three South Carolina baseball jerseys who have been retired.
On Friday, Kip Bouknight’s #14 jersey joined those of former USC head baseball coach Ray Tanner and the late Marvin Bass on the left field wall at Founders Park.
The Brookland-Cayce product was in the Gamecock program from 1998-2001 where he left with a number of records in his possession.
Bouknight went 45-12 in his four years pitching for the Gamecocks, tossing a school record 482 innings and starting a school record 66 games. He is also South Carolina’s career strikeout leader with 457.
In 2000, he posted a stellar 17-1 record to help lead the Gamecocks to a 56-10 overall record and an SEC Championship. Seventeen wins is a school record and is tied for the most wins in a season by an SEC pitcher, which earned him the prestigious Golden Spikes Award presented by USA Baseball as the top amateur baseball player in country.
On Friday, Bouknight was on the field joined by his family and former coaches including Tanner and former assistant Jim Toman.
Bouknight’s two sons threw out the ceremonial first pitches before their day took to the mound and relived some memories as he tossed a ceremonial first pitch of his own.