Baseball Hosts Florida for Three-Game SEC Series

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina baseball team will play its first SEC series inside Founders Park this weekend when the Gamecocks host No. 5 Florida. The series begins on Friday (March 26) at 7 p.m., continues Saturday afternoon (March 27) at 4 p.m. and concludes Sunday afternoon (March 28) at noon. Friday and Saturday’s games will be streamed on SEC Network Plus with Sunday’s game televised on SEC Network with Clay Matvick and Ben McDonald on the call. Every Gamecock contest will be on the Gamecock Radio Network with Derek Scott and Tommy Moody on the call. Carolina is coming off an 8-3 win over The Citadel on Tuesday night (March 23) as Will Sanders struck out a career-high 10 batters, Jeff Heinrich drove in three runs and Wes Clarke belted his 11th home run of the year.

PARKING INFORMATION
For the 2021 season, there will not be shuttles from either the Key Road Gravel Lot or the Colonial Life Arena parking lot. There will be passes at lot 1 available for $10 apiece.
 
Parking Lot Openings
7 p.m. Games – Gates open at 6 p.m., all lots open at 5:30 p.m.
4 p.m. Games – Gates open at 3 p.m., all lots open at 2:30 p.m.
12 p.m. Games – Gates open at 11 a.m., all lots open at 10:30 a.m.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Friday
South Carolina Thomas Farr (R-Jr. RHP) 2-1, 2.15 ERA, 10 BB, 39 SO
Florida Tommy Mace (Jr., RHP) 4-0, 2.10 ERA, 4 BB, 42 SO

Saturday
South Carolina Brannon Jordan (Sr. RHP) 1-2, 3.52 ERA, 16 BB, 38 SO
Florida Jack Leftwich (Jr., RHP) 4-0, 1.71 ERA, 9 BB, 29 SO

Sunday
South Carolina TBA
Florida Hunter Barco (Fr., LHP) 3-1, 5.26 ERA, 6 BB, 38 SO
 
SCOUTING FLORIDA
The Gators are coming off a three-game sweep of Texas A&M to open the SEC schedule. Florida did not have a midweek contest before facing the Gamecocks this weekend. Jacob Young leads the SEC with 32 hits while Nathan Hickey has a .347 batting average. On the mound, Tommy Mace is 4-0 with a 2.10 ERA. He struck out 10 Aggies in the win last Thursday night.
 
SERIES VS. FLORIDA
Florida holds a slight 48-47 series advantage on the Gamecocks heading into this weekend’s games. Florida won 2-of-3 contests from Carolina in 2019 in Gainesville. The Gamecocks won the middle game on Friday as Luke Berryhill and Chris Cullen drove in two runs apiece and Cam Tringali allowed just one run in six innings on the hill.
 
GAMECOCKS LEAD IN K’s PER NINE
Heading into this weekend’s action, South Carolina currently leads the country in strikeouts per nine innings at 13.4 punchouts per game. The Gamecocks are followed by Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Indiana in the top five. Individually, Brannon Jordan is 23rd in the nation with 14.87 strikeouts per nine innings. Carolina has struck out 17 batters four times this season and had 16 punchouts in Tuesday’s game vs. The Citadel as freshman Will Sanders struck out a career high 10 batters, Daniel Lloyd had four strikeouts while Wesley Sweatt and Andrew Peters had one apiece.

CAROLINA CALLS CONTINUES THURSDAY NIGHT
Head Coach Mark Kingston will be on Carolina Calls tonight (Thursday, March 25) from 7-8 p.m. at Home Team Barbecue in Five Points. The show will be broadcast on the Gamecock Radio Network with Derek Scott as the host.