The last time South Carolina baseball advanced to an NCAA tournament Super Regional in 2016, Danny Blair was on the bench the whole way through, never touching the field for the Gamecocks.
Two years later, he was arguably the biggest reason USC booked a return trip to the second weekend of the tournament, earning regional MVP honors in Greenville, North Carolina, and leading off Carolina's lineup en route to a perfect 3-0 record.
And it all started with a need for more defense.
In Friday's tournament opener against Ohio State, the Gamecocks trailed 1-0 in the top of the sixth when coach Mark Kingston subbed Blair into center field, shuffling out freshman Noah Campbell, himself a replacement for injured starter TJ Hopkins.