South Carolina Baseball: Week 4 Preview and How to Watch

Despite losing for the first time in 2023, the South Carolina baseball team is riding high. The Gamecocks kept the 2022-2023 Palmetto Cup dominance going with a two games to one series victory over the Clemson Tigers. The Gamecocks scored 20 runs in the three game series, and added five home runs.

No longer first in the nation in four-baggers, Carolina is second nationally and 10th in runs scored. Four Gamecocks (Gavin Casas, Cole Messina, Ethan Petry, and Will McGillis) are in the top-29 in the country in bombs. On the pitching side of things, Noah Hall leads the way for the garnet and black as they rank in the top-12 in the nation in ERA, WHIP, and K/BB ratio. The Gamecocks have moved up to #20 in the D1 Baseball rankings.

This week, South Carolina will play five games. The two mid-week contests will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Citadel at home and on the road against USC Upstate. James Hicks pitched five innings in relief on Sunday, so he is unlikely to start either game. Eli Jerzembeck and Matthew Becker both pitched multiple innings out of the ‘pen, as well, so it is unclear if they will be able to go.

The Citadel matchup will be aired on the SECNetwork+ and ESPN App at 7:00 on Tuesday, while the USC Upstate tilt will be exclusively on ESPN+ at 6:30 on Wednesday. The Citadel is coming off of a sweep of Long Island, and Upstate is a really good mid-major that beat Clemson last week.

Bethune-Cookman comes to town for the Gamecocks’ final non-SEC weekend series. The Wildcats are a good team that has scored a lot of runs this season. In order to keep up their winning ways, the Gamecocks will have to continue pitching well. Noah Hall has been the best of the three pitchers in the starting rotation, but Will Sanders and Jack Mahoney have been solid.

All three games in the series will be aired on the SECNetwork+ and the ESPN App. Game 1 will be at 7:00, Game 2 has its first pitch set for 4:00, and the series finale will be at 1:30.