[COLOR= rgb(153, 0, 0)]2020 South Carolina Gamecocks Baseball Official Game Thread[/COLOR]
GAME 1 - Founders Park
Friday February 28, 2020 7:00 PM
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The University of South Carolina baseball team (6-2) faces in-state rival Clemson (7-1) in its annual three-game series this weekend (Feb. 28-March 1) in the Palmetto State. The series begins on Friday night at Founders Park with a 7 p.m. first pitch. The series stays in Columbia, but moves to Segra Park, home of the Columbia Fireflies Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The set concludes on Sunday afternoon in Clemson with a 2 p.m. start. Friday's game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus with ACC Network Extra taking the final two games. All games also will be broadcast on The Game 107.5 FM with Derek Scott, Tommy Moody and Drew Meyer on the call. Carolina won a 6-5 contest over North Florida on Tuesday afternoon as every position starter had at least one hit and TJ Shook struck out five in two innings to pick up a save.
PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Friday
South Carolina Carmen Mlodzinski (R-So., RHP) 1-0, 0.64 ERA, 14.0 IP, 2 BB, 9 SO
Clemson Sam Weatherly (Jr. LHP) 1-0, 0.90 ERA, 10.0 IP, 7 BB, 20 SO
SCOUTING CLEMSON
The Tigers fell, 5-3, to East Tennessee State on Tuesday afternoon. Davis Sharpe went 3-for-4 in the loss, Clemson's first of the season. The Tigers swept Liberty and Stony Brook in their first two weekends. Clemson sports a 1.23 ERA with 102 strikeouts in 73 innings pitched. Sharpe has 12 strikeouts and has not allowed a run in 11 innings pitched, while Friday starter Sam Weatherly has 22 strikeouts in 10 innings of work. At the plate, Keir Meredith leads the team with a .444 batting average while Elijah Henderson has four doubles.
SERIES VS. CLEMSON
Clemson has a 179-140-2 series advantage, but Carolina won the 2019 edition, 2-1, winning on Friday night in Clemson and Sunday afternoon in Columbia. Brett Kerry struck out seven batters in 3.1 innings to pick up the win in the Friday game. TJ Hopkins had a home run in each of the three games on the weekend to pick up the Tom Price Award for the Most Valuable Gamecock of the series.
CLARKE HAS A GRAND DAY VS. NORTHWESTERN
Wes Clarke belted a pair of home runs in Saturday's 12-3 win over Northwestern, a three-run shot and a grand slam. It was the first grand slam by a Gamecock since LT Tolbert in the 2018 Fayetteville Super Regional against Arkansas. Clarke leads the SEC with 14 RBI and is tied for the conference lead with four home runs.
SEC LEADERS
As a team, Carolina is seventh in batting average, ninth in ERA and sixth in fielding percentage in the league. Wes Clarke is tied for the conference lead with four home runs and 14 RBI. Noah Campbell leads the SEC with eight steals. On the mound, Brannon Jordan is tied for sixth with 18 strikeouts and tied for sixth with a .111 opponent's batting average. Carmen Mlodzinski leads the SEC with 14.0 innings pitched.
Coach Mark Kingston's pre-series press conference:
Key take from the presser: Thomas Farr is replacing Brett Kerry as the #2 pitcher for Saturday, and Kerry moving back to his old role from last season as a integral piece of the bullpen. As we all know, the Gamecocks lost last weekend's series against Northwestern, and a big reason of several was the bullpen's inability to come in and hold onto leads late in games. Kerry providing his experience should help to say the least....
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