South Carolina Baseball: Week 5 preview; how to watch
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina baseball keeps on rolling. The now 16-1 YardCocks continue bludgeoning the baseball as they remain in the top-5 nationally in home runs and runs scored. The less-publicized secret to the Gamecocks’ success has been the pitching. The South Carolina pitching staff is 6th nationally in ERA and WHIP and is 8th in strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Week 5 will see the Gamecocks begin conference play. This weekend, South Carolina will travel to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs for three games to kick off the SEC schedule. Before that, though, the Gamecocks will welcome Presbyterian to Columbia for a mid-week contest at Founder’s Park.
The Gamecocks, now ranked number-16 by D1Baseball, and up to 7th in RPI rankings, will play the Blue Hose on Tuesday. With James Hicks pitching four innings on Saturday, it is unclear who will start Tuesday’s game, but Eli Jerzembeck and Eli Jones both have started mid-week games this season. Jerzembeck did pitch in relief this weekend, but it was not a large number of pitches. The game will be viewable on the SECNetwork+ and the ESPN App at 4:00.
The weekend series with Georgia will be played Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 6:00, 2:00, and 3:00, respectively. Friday and Saturday will be aired on the SECNetwork+ and the ESPN App, and the final game of the series will be on the SECNetwork and the ESPN App.
Georgia is a good baseball team that was picked to finish just below the Gamecocks in the SEC in the preseason coaches’ poll. Connor Tate and Charlie Condon drive the offense for the Bulldogs. Tate is hitting almost .500 on the young season and has seven home runs and has scored an incredible 28 runs in 2023. That number is more than any Gamecock not named Braylen Wimmer (Wimmer leads the entire country in runs scored with 31). Condon has knocked in over 30 runners for Georgia and leads the team in extra-base hits.
Liam Sullivan and Jaden Woods have been very good at the top of the ‘Dawgs rotation, so the Gamecock bats might not hit the ball at the ridiculous pace they’ve started the year. However, the third spot in the rotation has been a bit of trouble for Georgia Head Coach Scott Stricklin. Will Sanders, Noah Hall, and Jack Mahoney will have to continue their stellar work as starters for the Gamecocks. If the Gamecocks fall behind, it will be difficult to make up the deficit as the back end of the Georgia bullpen has been very good this year.
A solid opening series test for South Carolina in SEC play, fans should expect a close matchup at Georgia. South Carolina is a slightly better team, but playing in Athens can be tough. The 12-4 Bulldogs have won nine games at home already. If South Carolina can win again, it will be their second straight road series victory in Athens.