South Carolina Baseball Week 1 Preview: UMass-Lowell Weekend Series; How to Watch

South Carolina baseball begins its 2023 campaign this week with a home weekend series against the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. Coming into the season ranked 23rd in the nation, the Gamecocks are hoping to bounce back from a disappointing 2022 season that was headlined by numerous injuries, especially to the pitching staff.

Game 1 of the series will be played at 4:00 EST. Game 2 will see its first pitch thrown at 2:00 EST. The series finale, game 3, will start at 1:30 EST. All three of the contests will be at Founder’s Park in Columbia, South Carolina and will be aired on SECNetwork+ and the ESPN App.

In UMass-Lowell, the Gamecocks will be facing a team that is expected to compete with defending champs Binghamton for the America East Conference crown in 2023. The River Hawks have six players who were selected by the league’s coaches as preseason first-team all-conference players, including the preseason player of the year in outfielder Gerry Siracusa and preseason freshman of the year in right-handed pitcher Brian Foley.

The Gamecocks are projected to have an improved pitching staff this season. Will Sanders and Noah Hall are expected to be given two of the three starts over the opening weekend with Matthew Becker, James Hicks, Jackson Phipps, Eli Jurzembeck, and Jack Mahoney competing for the third spot in the rotation. Whichever players are left out of the rotation will still be given opportunities to start during midweek games or out of the bullpen.

Returners Talmadge Lecroy and Cole Messina and Clemson transfer Jonathan French should handle the majority of the catching duties, and with UMass-Lowell’s penchant for stealing bases, the River Hawks will provide an early season test on the bases for the Gamecocks’ pitchers and catchers. Lecroy may also see time if his bat is too good to keep out of the lineup.

Pitching will be, as it always is, an important aspect of the opening weekend. The River Hawks swing the bat well as they return three full-time players who slugged over .500 last season. Sanders, Hall, and whoever wins the third starter job will need to keep extra runners off the bases to limit the damage from the extra-base hits that are likely to come when the River Hawks are up to bat.

UMass-Lowell has two starting pitchers on the preseason All-AEC team, but neither player has a history of success at the college level and both were voted to the team based on offseason development. In contrast, Will Sanders is projected as a first-round pick in this summer’s MLB Amateur Draft, and two other pitchers (Noah Hall and James Hicks) are returning to school after being drafted last summer. The Gamecocks must take advantage of this advantage to come out on top during the season’s opening weekend.

On offense, some mystery still surrounds the Gamecocks’ opening day lineup. With a large number of transfers coming into the program and inexperienced players vying for playing time, several spots are still up for grabs this week. Under Mark Kingston’s direction, the Gamecocks have generally hit for solid power, but the team sometimes struggles to make consistent contact. Both the newcomers and the returners will need to work to see this trend turn more toward consistency if the Gamecocks will have any chance at meeting expectations this season. With a good showing offensively, the opening series against the River Hawks could serve as a tone-setter for the rest of the year.

Prediction

The Gamecocks will be playing a good team in UMass-Lowell. However, the South Carolina baseball team has significantly more talent and should win the series with some solid play. Because of the pitching advantage, a sweep is in play. The River Hawks will almost assuredly score some runs this weekend but won’t be able to keep the Gamecocks from crossing the plate. Expect at least one game to be higher scoring. Will Sanders will shut down the River Hawks in game 1, setting the tone for the rest of the series.

South Carolina wins via a 3-0 sweep with two of the three games being tightly contested.