South Carolina baseball: Gamecocks gear up for final SEC series

South Carolina baseball looks to take down top 5 foe.

The South Carolina baseball team is gearing up for its final regular season series, as they host No. 4 Tennessee in a Thursday-Saturday set. The Gamecocks are fresh off of a sweep of Kentucky, and are pushing for a top seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

South Carolina bats got hot in Lexington, notching 32 runs in the three-game series. It was the team’s highest output of the year, and hopefully will carry over when facing a Volunteers pitching staff that ranks second in the league in earned run average.

The Gamecocks boast a great pitching staff of their own, though, ranking fourth in both team ERA and strikeouts. The insertion of reliever Brett Kerry into the starting rotation worked wonders last weekend, as the junior threw a complete game shutout. We can expect him to stay in that game two slot, bookended by Brannon Jordan and Thomas Farr.

South Carolina is looking to add to its already impressive resume, and a series win over a top 5 opponent could go a long way towards earning one of the top 16 seeds in postseason play. Should the Gamecocks take at least two of three games from the Vols, we could have some playoff baseball in Columbia this Summer. Here’s what you should watch for as South Carolina closes out the regular season.

Series Info

South Carolina and Tennessee have met 103 times on the diamond, with the Gamecocks holding a 65-38 all-time advantage. They’ve won 19 of the last 23 meetings, and will look to keep that trend going with the Vols coming to town this weekend.

No. 21 South Carolina (32-18, 15-12) v. No. 4 Tennessee (40-13, 18-9)

• Thurs. – Brannon Jordan (5-4, 3.66 ERA) v. Chad Dallas (8-1, 4.25 ERA)
• Fri. – Brett Kerry (4-1, 1.80 ERA) v. Will Heflin (2-2, 4.20 ERA)
• Sat. – Thomas Farr (3-5, 3.68 ERA) v. Blade Tidwell (6-3, 3.60 ERA)

Key Players

SC

Brett Kerry

Kerry shined in a starting role last week, and will look to do so again this Friday. In his lone start of the year, the righty went nine innings, allowing just four hits and no runs while striking out 10 batters.

The performance dropped his ERA below 2.00 on the year, and he continues to show why he’s been the Gamecocks’ best arm all season. South Carolina will need him if they hope to take the series.

Wes Clarke

Clarke has come on of late, tallying a hit in eight of his last 10 games. In that time, the slugger has whacked seven extra base hits, including five dingers, while driving in 14 runs. The Gamecocks are going to need all the offense they can get when facing a talented Tennessee rotation. Hopefully Clarke is getting hot at the right time.

UT

Chad Dallas

Dallas will pitch game one, looking to get the Vols an early series advantage. He’s 8-1 on the year, and has struck out 91 batters in 72 innings of work. He’s also been very efficient on the mound, walking just 15 hitters in that time.

South Carolina has typically struggled versus SEC aces, so they’ll try to figure Dallas out and get him out of the game early.

Liam Spence

Spence ranks second in the SEC with a .374 batting average. He also ranks among the league’s top three performers in walks, runs scored, and on-base percentage. South Carolina has to keep the infielder off the base paths and limit Tennessee scoring opportunities.

What to expect

The Gamecocks will look to keep the scoring low, and we could see a few pitching duels in the season’s final season. Both pitching staffs rank in the top half of the league, while the hitting has struggled at time, particularly for the Gamecocks, who are batting just .252 as a team.

If South Carolina can find a way to scratch out two wins, a regional host opportunity is in sight.