Baseball Announces Opening Weekend Rotation
The Gamecocks will go with Carmen Mlodzinski, Brett Kerry and Brannon Jordan vs. Holy Cross.
COLUMBIA – Head Coach Mark Kingston announced his Opening Weekend rotation this afternoon (Tuesday, Feb. 11) for the three-game series against Holy Cross. The Gamecocks will go with redshirt sophomore righthander Carmen Mlodzinski, sophomore righthander Brett Kerry and junior righthander Brannon Jordan for the first three contests.
Mlodzinski will get the ball on Opening Day for the second consecutive season as he had a no-decision in the 6-5 loss to Liberty on Feb. 15, 2019. The Hilton Head native made just three appearances last year before an injury in the Clemson game sidelined him for the spring. Mlodzinski has a tremendous summer in the Cape Cod League and is ranked No. 7 in the Top College Prospect list by D1Baseball.com.
Kerry is coming off a great rookie campaign, earning Freshman All-America honors by four different organization and an SEC All-Freshman nod in 2019. Kerry was 4-1 with a 2.62 ERA in 22 appearances and had 65 strikeouts in 58.1 innings pitched. This will be Kerry’s third career start for the Gamecocks, as he had a no-decision against Valparaiso on March 10 and picked up a win in the regular-season finale at Mississippi State on May 18.
Jordan was selected in the 31st round of the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. He attended Cowley County Community College in Kansas for two years and was named the Jayhawk East Conference and Region 6 Pitcher of the Year in 2019, striking out 74 in 61.1 innings.
