South Carolina baseball: Gamecocks prepare for road series at Texas
By Jacob Elsey
The South Carolina baseball team travels to Austin for a three-game series.
Mark Kingston’s Gamecock baseball team will travel to Austin this weekend where they’ll face the 19th-ranked Texas Longhorns. No. 12 South Carolina (11-0) enters the game with an unblemished record after a come-from-behind win over The Citadel earlier in the week.
No. 19 Texas (8-5) won a mid week game over Sam Houston, taking down the Bearkats by a score of 15-9.
Both staffs bring high powered pitching to the table, meaning runs may be hard to come by over the next three days. Gamecocks starter Thomas Farr will likely face off against Texas ace Ty Madden in a Friday night matchup that features two of the nation’s top pitching prospects.
On offense, the Gamecocks appear to have the advantage, on paper at least. Slugger Wes Clarke leads the nation in long balls, and is also hitting .410 on the season, but he’s also seen a heavy dose of the off speed stuff over the last few games. He’s one of seven South Carolina starters batting above .340 from the plate.
Texas is led by Zach Zubia, who’s hitting .359 while knocking in a team leading 12 RBIs. Just three Longhorn hitters are batting above .300, as they’ve relied heavily on the pitching staff to win games.
SERIES HISTORY
Three meetings all time: Texas leads 3-0
These two teams have never met in the regular season, as all three previous matchups have been in the College World Series. Two of those contests have been in the CWS Finals, with the Longhorns celebrating national championship wins over the Gamecocks in both 1975 and 2002. The third meeting was also in the 1975 World Series, as the two squads met once prior to their championship outing.
GAME NOTES
South Carolina is batting .311 as a team, and has seven major contributors hitting above .340 at the plate. Texas is hitting just .256 as a team.
The Gamecocks have belted 21 home runs as a team, with Wes Clarke knocking a nation leading eight through 11 games. Texas has hit just nine dingers, with Cam Williams leading the way at three.
South Carolina pitching has held opponents to an average of .186, and has a staff ERA of 2.94. The Longhorns are holding foes to a .194 batting average, and have a staff ERA of 3.53.
Texas has been extremely active on the basepaths, swiping 18 of their 22 attempted steals. The Gamecocks, on the other hand have stolen just eight bases in 11 tries.
South Carolina backstops have thrown out 8-of-16 base stealers.
Both teams have committed 10 errors in the field, with the Longhorns fielding at a clip of .980 and the Gamecocks fielding .974 on the year.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1: Thomas Farr (2-0, 1.56 ERA) v. Ty Madden (2-1, 1.35 ERA)
This is the pitching duel to watch this weekend. Farr has been stellar for the Gamecocks, allowing just three runs and striking out 20 batters in 17.1 innings of work.
Madden has been even better, allowing just seven hits over 20 innings, and holding opposing hitters to an average of just .104 on the season. He’s coming off of a complete game shutout of Houston, and hasn’t allowed a run over his last 16 innings on the mound.
Game 2: Brannon Jordan (1-0, 3.46 ERA) v. Tristan Stevens (0-1, 4.96 ERA)
We could see some runs in game two, as both starters have had their ups and downs. Jordan is holding opponents to an average of just .130 and has struck out a team leading 23 batters in just 13 innings of work. Unfortunately, he sometimes struggles with location (11 walks, 1 hit batter) which drives his pitch count up and doesn’t allow him to go deep into games.
Stevens has allowed nine runs over 16 innings, and doesn’t seem to have particularly overpowering stuff (10 Ks). He has, however, held opposing batters to an average of just .183 on the year.
Game 3: Julian Bosnic (1-0, 0.90 ERA) v. Kolby Kubichek (2-1, 1.93 ERA)
Both Sunday pitchers have fared quite well on the young season. Bosnic has struck out 21 batters over 10 innings of work, while allowing just a single run. He’s yet to give up a hit on the year, but needs to get his walks under control, yielding eight free passes thus far.
Kubichek has 20 strikeouts in 14 innings, and is holding opponents to just a .204 average. He, too, has struggled a bit with control. Kubichek has allowed only three base on balls, but has plunked two batters and thrown three wild pitches.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Wes Clarke
Clarke leads the Gamecocks in batting average, runs scored, home runs, RBIs, total bases, walks, and on-base percentage. He still sits atop the national rankings with eight long balls on the season.
Brady Allen
Allen is tied for the team lead with 16 hits. The lead off man is batting .381 and is a perfect 2-for-2 stealing bases. Look for him to set the table early and often for the Gamecocks this weekend.
Ty Madden
Madden entered the year as the nation’s fifth-best pitching prospect, according to MLB.com. He’s thrown back-to-back shutouts, and hasn’t allowed a run in his last 16 innings.
KEY MATCHUP
Texas pitching v. South Carolina hitting
This will likely be the deciding factor in the series. If the Gamecocks high powered offensive attack can get in a groove, it could be tough for the Longhorns to keep pace. It will certainly be a tall task, though, when facing one of the nation’s best starting rotations.
The Texas offense is hitting just .256 as a team, so they’ll hope to keep the series low scoring while relying on the pitching staff.
HOW TO WATCH
Each game will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network. Game one is set for a 7:30 PM ET first pitch to kick off the series. Game two will start at 3:30 PM ET and game three will begin at noon ET to end the weekend.