Gamecock Baseball Preview: #1 South Carolina Travels to Arkansas For Three-Game Set

May 25, 2013; Hoover, AL, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks outfielder Joe Serrano (10) celebrates baserunner Jake Wise (19) run scored at home plate against the LSU Tigers during the third inning of the SEC baseball tournament at the Hoover Met. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Home has been good to the #1 South Carolina Gamecocks.

They hope that the good feelings continue as they hit the road to take on Arkansas (RV in the writers poll) in some good old, Southern-fried SEC hardball action in Fayetteville.

South Carolina Gamecocks (25-3, 6-3 SEC) @ Arkansas Razorbacks (18-11, 4-5 SEC)
April 4-5 (4:05pm ET and 7:35pm ET Friday, 7pm ET Saturday on CST)
Baum Stadium, Fayetteville, AR
All-time series: Razorbacks lead 35-28
Weather: clear and dropping below 50 Friday, cloudy and around 60 Saturday

Who’s Hot For the Gamecocks
Who’s hot? Joey Pankake. The infielder has put together a 16-game hitting streak while hitting .432 in league play. Then, of course, there’s Grayson Greiner, who has two walkoffs in less than a week.

Last Time Out
South Carolina found it tough to put together offense against App State on Tuesday, but they were bailed out by a Greiner walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th to win 2-1. The Razorbacks, meanwhile, split a non-league pair on Tuesday and Wednesday to Nebraska.

Who To Watch For on Arkansas
Joe Serrano leads the Hogs with a .326 batting average to go along with his 15 RBI. The top RBI man is top-35 recruit Brian Anderson (21), who sits near the top of the league in that department. Jalen Beeks (#73 among starters in the Baseball America top 100) is 4-2 with a 1.27 ERA in his seven starts, while Michael Gunn and Jacob Stone haven’t allowed a run in 27.2 innings combined–so the Razorbacks can take comfort in turning it over to their bullpen toward the latter part of games. But Chris Oliver, a top-30 pitching prospect, is 2-3 despite a 2.41 ERA.