*** #3 USC Baseball (15-6/36-8) @ Kentucky (11-10/30-13) Series Thread ***

[kingofnerf]

The #3 in the nation Gamecocks have arrived in Lexington for a three-game SEC series in the Bluegrass State. The series begins on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. and continues Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. start. The final game on Sunday afternoon is also scheduled for a first pitch at 2 p.m.

Friday and Saturday’s games will be streamed on SEC Network Plus. Sunday’s game will be televised on SEC Network with Tom Hart and Kyle Peterson on the call. All games also will be broadcast on the Gamecocks Sports Network from Learfield with Derek Scott and Tommy Moody on the call.

Gamecock outfielder Ethan Petry is now one home run away from tying the SEC freshman record of 22, set by Vanderbilt's Pedro Alvarez. Carolina comes into this weekend's series with a team ERA of 3.49 (#3 in the nation) following Wednesday night's 6-1 win over Winthrop.

TV: SEC Network+
Radio: 107.5 The Game
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

SERIES VS. KENTUCKY
Carolina has a 59-43 series advantage on Kentucky heading into the weekend. The Gamecocks won 2-of-3 games against the Wildcats last year in Columbia.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Friday
South Carolina Will Sanders (Jr. RHP) 4-2, 5.61 ERA, 51.1 IP, 21 BB, 59 SO
Kentucky Travis Smith (R-Fr. RHP) 3-1, 4.02 ERA, 31.1 IP, 17 BB, 29 SO
Saturday
South Carolina Jack Mahoney (Jr. RHP) 4-2, 3.91 ERA, 53.0 IP, 16 BB, 55 SO
Kentucky Tyler Bosma (Gr. LHP) 4-3, 4.82 ERA, 46.2 IP, 17 BB, 31 SO
Sunday
South Carolina Matthew Becker (So. LHP) 4-0, 4.19 ERA, 34.1 IP, 16 BB, 50 SO
Kentucky Zack Lee (Sr. RHP) 3-2, 3.66 ERA, 46.2 IP, 24 BB, 43 SO

Baseball Visits Kentucky for Three-Game SEC Series

gamecocksonline.com

Gamecock catcher Jonathan French (26) celebrates with this teammates during Carolina's game against Winthrop Wednesday night. French had just homered to put Carolina up 2-1 in the 7th inning. (Photo courtesy South Carolina Athletics)

 

[kingofnerf]

Here's a pretty good article on where we are at coming into this weekend's series with UK.

No. 3 South Carolina at Kentucky baseball: Top storylines, playoff scenarios, TV info

The USC-Kentucky series starts today and has postseason implications for both teams.

www.yahoo.com

Despite dropping the series to the Tigers, the Gamecocks stuck at No. 3 in D1Baseball’s top 25 and slid down just one spot to the No. 4 national seed in D1’s projected field of 64. One series loss doesn’t erase a season’s worth of production, and while the Gamecocks would be best served to keep winning, they do have some breathing room. USC comes into the weekend as the country’s No. 1 team in the RPI and 13th in strength of schedule — both metrics that keep the Gamecocks in the national seed conversation.

 

[AikenGameFan]

Always good to see guys like Denny and Tippett playing so much better. Would love to see us get the HR lead back. With them hitting them and Petry finally back at it we should climb fast.

 

[kingofnerf]

UK beats us 7-3 in Game 1.

Box score:

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E	L
USC	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0		3	8	1	10
UK	1	1	0	0	2	0	3	0	X		7	10	0	6

Scoring summary:

			SOUTH CAROLINA	KENTUCKY
Kentucky	1st	E. Pitre advanced to third on a wild pitch; J. Gray scored.	0	1
Kentucky	2nd	J. McCoy homered inside the park, RBI.	0	2
South Carolina	4th	Casas homered to right center, RBI (1-0 B).	1	2
Kentucky	5th	H. Gilliam homered to right field, 2 RBI (0-0); J. Felker scored.	1	4
South Carolina	7th	Braswell singled up the middle, RBI (2-2 BKKB); Brewer advanced to second; Tippett scored.	2	4
South Carolina	7th	Messina flied out to cf, SF, RBI (0-0); Brewer scored.	3	4
Kentucky	7th	H. Gilliam walked, RBI (3-0 BBBB); J. Felker advanced to second; J. Gray advanced to third; G. Smith scored.	3	5
Kentucky	7th	Waldschmidt singled through the right side, 2 RBI, out at second rf to 3b to ss (1-1 KB); H. Gilliam advanced to third; J. Felker scored; J. Gray scored, unearned.	3	7

 

[kingofnerf]

Carolina falls 14-7 in Game 2, allowing UK to take the series.

Box score:

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E	L
USC	0	0	3	0	2	0	0	1	1		7	8	0	7
UK	0	2	1	2	3	3	1	2	X		14	16	1	8

Scoring summary:

			SOUTH CAROLINA	KENTUCKY
Kentucky	2nd	D. Burkes reached on a fielder's choice, RBI (3-2 BBKBKFFFFFF); R. Church advanced to second; Waldschmidt out at third 3b unassisted; E. Pitre scored.	0	1
Kentucky	2nd	G. Smith grounded out to p unassisted, RBI (1-2 BSFFF); J. McCoy advanced to second; D. Burkes advanced to third; R. Church scored.	0	2
South Carolina	3rd	Messina doubled to left field, advanced to third, 3 RBI (2-1 BFB); Petry scored; Braswell scored; Tippett scored.	3	2
Kentucky	3rd	Waldschmidt advanced to third on a wild pitch, scored.	3	3
Kentucky	4th	J. Gray doubled to left center, RBI (0-1 F); G. Smith scored.	3	4
Kentucky	4th	E. Pitre singled to center field, RBI (1-0 B); H. Gilliam advanced to second; J. Felker scored.	3	5
South Carolina	5th	Casas homered to left field, 2 RBI (1-0 B); Messina scored.	5	5
Kentucky	5th	J. Felker tripled to right center, 3 RBI (0-1 F); J. Gray scored; D. Burkes scored; R. Church scored.	5	8
Kentucky	6th	J. McCoy homered to right field, 3 RBI (2-2 BFSB); Waldschmidt scored; E. Pitre scored.	5	11
Kentucky	7th	H. Gilliam grounded out to ss, RBI (0-0); J. Gray scored.	5	12
South Carolina	8th	Casas homered to right field, RBI (0-0).	6	12
Kentucky	8th	D. Burkes grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b (1-1 BK); R. Church out on the play; Waldschmidt scored.	6	13
Kentucky	8th	G. Smith singled to center field, RBI (2-2 KBKB); J. McCoy scored.	6	14
South Carolina	9th	Petry singled to right field, RBI (0-0); Stone scored, unearned.	7	14

 

[kingofnerf]

Gamecock LHP Matthew Becker (29) on the mound in the Gamecocks' 8-7 win over Auburn last weekend. Becker struck-out eight in the win and gets the start in Game 3 against Kentucky Sunday afternoon. (Photo courtesy South Carolina Athletics)

 

[kingofnerf]

Cocks fall 9-2 in Game 3, allowing UK to sweep the series.

Box score:

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E	L
USC	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0		2	8	3	8
UK	2	0	3	0	0	0	2	2	X		9	12	0	9

Scoring summary:

			SOUTH CAROLINA	KENTUCKY
Kentucky	1st	H. Gilliam advanced to second on a fielding error by cf, advanced to third; J. Gray advanced to third on an error by p, failed pickoff attempt, scored.	0	1
Kentucky	1st	E. Pitre singled to center field, RBI; H. Gilliam scored, unearned.	0	2
South Carolina	3rd	Brewer homered to right center, 2 RBI; Hornung scored.	2	2
Kentucky	3rd	J. Felker grounded out to 1b unassisted, RBI; J. Gray scored.	2	3
Kentucky	3rd	R. Church hit by pitch, RBI; Waldschmidt advanced to second; E. Pitre advanced to third; H. Gilliam scored.	2	4
Kentucky	3rd	D. Burkes walked, RBI; R. Church advanced to second; Waldschmidt advanced to third; E. Pitre scored, unearned.	2	5
Kentucky	7th	J. McCoy homered to left center, 2 RBI; D. Burkes scored.	2	7
Kentucky	8th	Waldschmidt doubled to left center, 2 RBI; H. Gilliam scored; J. Felker scored.	2	9

 

[kingofnerf]

Gamecock outfielder Dylan Brewer (10) homers to right center against Kentucky Sunday night. The home run also scored Carson Hornung to tie game at 2-2 in the bottom of the 3rd inning. (Photo courtesy South Carolina Athletics)

 

[kingofnerf]

UP NEXT
Carolina hosts North Florida on Tuesday afternoon (May 9) at 4 p.m. at Founders Park.