South Carolina Baseball: Week 9 preview; How to watch vs. Upstate, Vanderbilt
By Kevin Miller
Holding at #6 in the D1 Baseball poll, the South Carolina baseball program is in for a big week after beating North Carolina in the mid-week and splitting a rain-shortened two-game set with LSU over the weekend. A mid-week contest with USC-Upstate precedes a big road trip to Nashville to take on the #4 Vanderbilt Commodores.
The mid-week game will be on Tuesday at home at Founder Park. The Gamecocks will be taking on the Spartans of USC-Upstate for the second time this season. In the first matchup, Carolina took care of business 19-1 in Greenville. Upstate has bounced back after a tough start to the season. They are 8-1 in conference play and would love to get revenge on the instate Gamecocks. First pitch is slated for 7:00 and will be broadcast on the SECNetwork+ and the ESPN App.
Another top-10 SEC matchup awaits over the weekend. A return to a Friday, Saturday, Sunday format will give injured pitcher Noah Hall a little bit of extra time to recover from his back issue, but it is unclear if he will be able to go on Saturday. Will Sanders, after a relatively successful return to the rotation against LSU, will likely slot in on Friday, and Jack Mahoney will pitch one of the other games. Based on last weekend, if Hall is unable to pitch, Mahoney will move up from his typical Sunday role to Saturday.
The Gamecocks will still be without starting second baseman Will McGillis due to his broken arm, and Carson Hornung is somewhat available as a DH as he is dealing with his foot fracture.
Against Vanderbilt, South Carolina will face the team at the top of the SEC standings. The Commodores are 11-1 in the SEC and haven’t lost at home in conference play.
The starting pitching for Vanderbilt is elite as the weekend rotation is a combined 13-1 on the season. As a team, Vanderbilt ranks in the top-5 nationally in both ERA and WHIP. The bullpen isn’t quite as good as the starting pitching, however, so the Gamecocks’ best chance for offensive success is to force the starters’ pitch counts up and get into the Commodores’ bullpen. Lefty Carter Holton’s status is unknown as the sophomore stud did not pitch this past weekend with “soreness.”
The Vandy offense does not hit the ball as well as some Commodore teams of the past, but they still rank in the top-50 nationally in home runs and slugging percentage. When they get on base, the ‘Dores are threats to run, especially Enrique Bradfield, Jr. and Calvin Hewett who are a combined 32-36 on the season in steal attempts.
For South Carolina, the offense has still carried the load. Ethan Petry has somehow gotten even better as the true freshman has firmly inserted himself into the Golden Spikes Award conversation. He currently leads the Gamecocks in hits, home runs, RBI, slugging percentage, batting average, and is just one point off the on-base percentage lead. The rest of the offense is still playing well, too, as Braylen Wimmer, Talmadge LeCroy, Carson Hornung, and Michael Braswell all got on base at least four times in the two-game set against LSU.
All-in-all, this weekend will be yet another series pitting the Gamecocks against another one of the country’s best teams. The Gamecocks hold an advantage offensively over the Commodores, and the Carolina bullpen is better than the Vandy ‘pen. As it so often does, the series likely will come down to starting pitching. With uncertainty surrounding the Gamecock’s hurlers, it is difficult to know what to expect in this one. If this team has shown fans one thing this season, though, it’s that South Carolina baseball is back, and this weekend is another opportunity to show it.
The Vanderbilt series will be aired completely on the SECNetwork+ and the ESPN App. Game 1 will be played at 7:00, game 2 at 3:00, and game 3 at 2:00. Weather could be a factor again this weekend as Nashville is set to get rain all three days of the series.