South Carolina Baseball: Super regional matchup set with Florida Gators
By Kevin Miller
After a dominant performance in the Columbia regional, the South Carolina baseball team will move away from home and travel to Gainesville to take on the Florida Gators in the super regional round of the NCAA Tournament.
Florida did not dominate the Gainesville regional. Instead, the Gators battled their way out of the losers’ bracket and beat the Texas Tech Red Raiders twice to earn their advancement through the Tournament.
The Gators are one of the best teams in the country, but many Gamecock fans remain optimistic about their team’s chances this weekend in the supers. Not only do the YardCocks look like a much different team than the one that struggled throughout the end of April and the entire month of May, but Carolina swept three games from Florida in SEC play.
In the three-game series in April, the Gamecocks outscored the Gators 25-10 in dominant fashion. The Carolina bats knocked around UF’s pitching staff all weekend to the tune of 24 hits and 11 extra-base hits. Gamecock starters Will Sanders, Jack Mahoney, and Matthew Becker each gave up just 2 earned runs to limit the powerful blue and orange offense.
Nearly two months later, the teams will meet up again, and the Gators have revenge on their minds. The Gamecocks entered a tremendous slump after the first matchup that saw USC lose 13 of 17 games to end the season, but if the Columbia regional is any indication, they are breaking out at just the right time.
Six Gamecocks made their way onto the All-Regional team for their performances in Columbia last weekend. First baseman Gavin Casas, shortstop Braylen Wimmer, third baseman Talmadge LeCroy, outfielder Ethan Petry, DH/utility Will McGillis, and SP James Hicks received the honors and hope to continue their strong play this weekend. Casas was selected as the regional MVP.
The pitching rotation has not yet been announced for the best-of-three series with the Gators. James Hicks and Jack Mahoney seem like locks to take the bump in games 1 and 2, but if a third game is necessary, head coach Mark Kingston and pitching coach Justin Parker have multiple options.
Matthew Becker has been solid as a starter, and so has Eli Jones. The uber-talented but struggling and coming-off-injury Will Sanders was very good in four innings over the weekend. In the regional, Becker started, while Jones and Sanders pitched in relief, but it is unclear what the plan would be on the mound in a hypothetical game 3 or in relief in games 1 and 2.
Becker is the only left-hander on the Carolina staff that has gotten significant innings this season, so his role will be important, especially against the big lefty bats of Caglianone and the red-hot BT Riopelle.
Golden Spikes Award nominee Jac Caglianone leads the nation in home runs for the Gators and has been a solid pitcher, as well. In the Gainesville regional, Caglianone hit three long balls and pitched six shutout innings against Florida A&M.
Carolina pitching will look to keep the ball inside Condron Family Ballpark against the big lefty, while fellow Golden Spikes Award finalist Ethan Petry and the resurgent Gamecock offense likely will face off with Caglianone in game 1 as he is the most well-rested of the Gator starting pitchers.
Caglianone and the rest of Florida’s pitching staff had a relatively average season on the mound, but they are all big-time strikeout threats, especially starter Hurston Waldrep. South Carolina baseball’s offense has been prone to striking out too much at times, so the Gamecocks must reverse this trend against Waldrep, Caglianone, and reliever Brandon Neely.
On Tuesday, official super regional details were announced for the series between South Carolina baseball and the Florida Gators.
The first game of the series will be played on Friday, June 9th at 6:00 on ESPN2. Game 2 will be at 3:00 on Saturday, June 10th on ESPN2. The third (if necessary) game will be on Sunday, June 11th with times and network to be announced later. The winner of the best two-of-three series will advance to the College World Series in Omaha.