South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Alabama Crimson Tide: Preview, Live Stream, TV info and More

June 9, 2013; Cary, NC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks first baseman Kyle Martin (left) is greeted by teammate Evan Beal (14) after scoring a run against the North Carolina Tarheels during the Chapel Hill Super Regional at Boshamer Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

SEC baseball’s back at Carolina Stadium, and for the South Carolina Gamecocks (32-10, 10-8), it’s been a roller coaster. They’ve looked really good at times in league play (see Tennessee last month) and on other occasions have looked far from it (Arkansas), but they have a chance to win only their third conference series as the Alabama Crimson Tide (28-13, 12-6) pay a visit to Columbia.

The Tide are coming off back-to-back losses (10-9 at Tennessee and a 6-3 home defeat to Southern Miss on Tuesday) but haven’t lost three in a row since a three game stretch from February 26-March 1 (at Southern Miss and two losses at Louisiana-Lafayette). They’ve won their last four SEC series as they sit atop the Western Division, 1.5 games clear of LSU, but Carolina has won eight of the last ten meetings between the two schools.

Jordan Montgomery (5-3, 3.62), Jack Wynkoop (5-2, 2.07) and Wil Crowe (6-2, 2.37) are the Gamecocks starters for this weekend; Spencer Turnbull (5-2, 2.14, .189 opposing batting–4th best in the SEC), Justin Kamplain (3-2, 3.54) and a Sunday starter to be announced get the call for the Tide. Keep an eye on Austen Smith, the league’s third best hitter (.373), second best in SLG% (.574) and tied for 9th in RBI (31).

Can’t make it out? Friday’s matchup will be shown on GamecocksOnline.com (for a fee)–while Saturday and Sunday’s games are scheduled for 2pm and 1pm (respectively) and will be shown nationwide on ESPN. Out and about? WatchESPN will stream it live on its app (make sure your Web/television provider provides this feature with your subscription).

By the way, weather? Not bad.