Gamecock baseball to retire Kip Bouknight jersey at next home game
April 26, 2023The South Carolina baseball team will retire the jersey of former ace pitcher Kip Bouknight, the school announced Tuesday. The Gamecocks will hold the ceremony before Friday’s series opener against visiting Auburn at Founders Park, which starts at 7 p.m. Bouknight’s No. 14 will be the third number honored at USC’s home ballpark, joining former head coach Ray Tanner’s No. 1 jersey and former pitcher Earl Bass’ No. 10. Tanner was Bouknight’s head coach at USC before transitioning to athletic director. “The retirement of Kip’s jersey is a fitting tribute to one of the greatest players in the history of Gamecock baseball,” Tanner said in the school’s official release. “Kip was one of the fiercest competitors I ever coached. He competed to be great and he was, setting school and career records on his way to earning SEC and national honors.
The winningest pitcher in school history with a 45-12 career record, Bouknight holds several other Gamecock pitching records including innings (482), games pitched (66), and strikeouts (457). Bouknight won the Golden Spikes Award in the 2000 season after going 17-1 and helping to lead the Gamecocks to a 55-10 season. By USC policy, there is a five-year waiting period for jersey retirement after a student-athlete finishes his or her career at USC. The school no longer retires numbers but honors the numbers previously retired. The Bouknight ceremony is the first USC jersey retirement since the football team retired Jadeveon Clowney’s jersey last season.
