Baseball . March 14, 2024

Baseball Opens SEC Play with Three-Game Set at Ole Miss

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FOR STARTERS

South Carolina starts SEC play this weekend, traveling to Swayze Field in Oxford, Miss., for a three-game set at Ole Miss.
The Gamecocks and Rebels start the series on Friday night (March 15) with a 7:30 p.m. ET first pitch.
The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. ET and concludes Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET
Saturday’s game will be televised on SEC Network with Connor Onion and Lance Cormier on the call. SEC Network Plus will stream Friday and Sunday’s game.
All three games also will be on the Gamecock Sports Network presented by Learfield with Cade Crenshaw and Stuart Lake on the call.

SCOUTING OLE MISS

Ole Miss enters Friday’s game with a 13-5 record after defeating Louisiana-Monroe, 5-3, on Tuesday afternoon.
Andrew Fischer had two hits and drove in a pair of runs in the win over the Warhawks.
Ethan Lege leads Ole Miss with a .379 batting average while he shared the RBI lead (21) with Jackson Ross.
On the mound, Gunnar Dennis has 22 strikeouts and a 3-0 record in 18.2 innings pitched in four appearances.
The Rebels have won seven straight games, which included a three-game sweep of Morehead State this past weekend.
Mike Bianco is in his 24th season as head coach at Ole Miss. He is the winningest coach in program history and guided the Rebels to the 2022 national championship.

SERIES VS. OLE MISS

Carolina leads the all-time series with Ole Miss, 39-28, heading into Friday’s game in Oxford.
The two teams last met in the 2022 season in Columbia with the Gamecocks taking 2-of-3 games from the Rebels.
The Gamecocks walked off the final game of the season as Jalen Vasquez’s sacrifice fly scored Talmadge LeCroy for the 9-8 win on April 16, 2022.
Ole Miss swept Carolina in the last meeting in Oxford in 2021.

SEC OPENING WEEKEND

All 14 teams in the Southeastern Conference will open league play this weekend.
Carolina opens on the road in the SEC for the fourth straight season (at Vanderbilt in 2021, at Tennessee in 2022, at Georgia in 2023).
Last year, the Gamecocks swept Georgia, winning both ends of a doubleheader on Saturday and run-rule win on Sunday.
Ethan Petry was 4-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI in the middle game of the series, a 12-2 win over the Bulldogs.
The last time Carolina and Ole Miss opened conference play against each other was in 2014, when Carolina won 2-of-3 games in Columbia on March 14-15.

GAMECOCK ARMS IMPRESS IN FIRST 17

The South Carolina pitching staff has a 2.21 ERA after 17 games, good for second in both the SEC and the NCAA.
The Gamecocks have struck out 176 batters in 142.2 innings, led by Eddie Copper’s 19 punchouts.
The Gamecock opponents are hitting just .187, led by Dylan Eskew’s .147 opponent’s batting average, which is seventh in the league. Garrett Gainey has a .107 opponent’s batting average in 8.1 innings.
Eli Jones has a 1.40 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 19.1 innings pitched.
The Gamecocks lead in the NCAA in hits allowed per nine innings (6.12) and are third in team WHIP (1.04).

CAUSEY FOR 3

Senior Tyler Causey’s RBI triple gave Carolina a lead it would not relinquish in a 4-3 win over Georgia State March 12.
In Carolina’s last five games, Causey has eight RBI.
He drove in five runs in the 22-6 win over Longwood on March 10, including his second home run of the year.
Causey has two doubles, a triple, two home runs and 16 RBI on the season after 17 games.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Friday
South Carolina Eli Jones (Jr. RHP) 2-0, 1.40 ERA, 19.1 IP, 2 BB, 17 K
Ole Miss Gunnar Dennis (Jr. LHP) 3-0, 4.34 ERA, 18.2 IP, 9 BB, 22 K

Saturday
South Carolina Dylan Eskew (R-Jr. RHP) 2-1, 2.89 ERA, 18.2 IP, 6 BB, 15 K
Ole Miss Liam Doyle (So. LHP) 1-0, 3.24 ERA, 8.1 IP, 3 BB, 17 K

Sunday
South Carolina TBA
Ole Miss Grayson Saunier (So. RHP) 3-1, 2.55 ERA, 17. IP, 8 BB, 15 K

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