South Carolina Baseball: Week 10 Preview; How to watch vs. CSU, Florida
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina baseball lost its first series of the year last weekend as they dropped two out of three in Nashville vs. Vanderbilt in a defensively rough showing. For the week, the Gamecocks went 2-2 with another victory over USC-Upstate in the mid-week, and freshman superstar Ethan Petry continued swinging a hot bat.
Things won’t get any easier for the Gamecocks this week as the #6-ranked South Carolina baseball program welcomes in the #3 Florida Gators for a Thursday through Sunday series after taking on Charleston Southern on Tuesday. The good news for Carolina is that all four games will be at home at Founders Park.
Mid-week starting pitching is very difficult to predict. Matthew Becker, Eli Jerzembeck, Eli Jones, James Hicks, and Sam Simpson have all started in the mid-week this season. Jerzembeck is set to get the ball first against the Buccaneers, but there has not been any indication as to what the plan looks like past the freshman. With Noah Hall likely still on the shelf this weekend, Mark Kingston and Justin Parker will want to preserve some arms if the Gamecocks get out to an early lead.
The Gamecocks have retaken their spot at the top of the national home run leaderboard, but the Gators are just two spots behind in third. Both teams also rank in the top-10 in the country in runs scored and slugging percentage, so scoring should be high in the series. Florida’s Jac Caglianone has hit 21 home runs, more than anyone in the country, while Petry leads the Gamecocks with 18 and is third nationally.
The Gators’ pitching is pretty average, and their starters all have ERAs in 4.00-s. Hurston Waldrep is the best of the group and has put up good strikeout numbers. Florida doesn’t surrender many home runs, however, as the Gators have hit over twice as many long balls as their opponents. The top bat in the lineup is also one of their starting pitchers, as Caglianone has been the team’s third starting pitcher.
South Carolina’s pitching numbers still look good. However, as the Gamecocks’ defense has struggled more and more of late, the runs allowed have increased with so many unearned runs crossing the plate after errors. Carolina will have to perform better behind their pitchers if they want to beat the Gators. Florida is an average team defensively, but with how the Gamecocks have played lately, that makes them a better defensive squad than South Carolina.
Carolina and Florida will be battling this weekend for the second-place spot in the East behind Vanderbilt (Kentucky is also close behind). The winner of the series will surely be in good position to be a nationally-seeded regional host.
The mid-week game against Charleston Southern is set for a 7:00 first pitch and will be shown on the SECNetwork+. Thursday night’s game 1 against UF will start at 7:30 on ESPNU, game 2 will begin at 7:00 on Friday on the SECNetwork+, and the series finale on Saturday will have its first pitch at 2:00 and will be broadcast on the SECNetwork+.