Baseball Announces Opening Weekend Rotation Vs. UNCG

Feb. 6, 2017

Columbia, S.C. ââ’¬” Junior right-hander Clarke Schmidt, junior right-hander Wil Crowe and sophomore right-hander Adam Hill will headline the Opening Weekend rotation for the Gamecocks as announced by head coach Chad Holbrook Monday afternoon. Schmidt will start Opening Day vs. UNCG with Crowe taking the mound in Saturday’s contest for the Gamecocks and Hill getting the ball for the series finale on Sunday. Opening Weekend is February 17-19 at Founders Park.

Schmidt has been named Preseason All-America by D1Baseball, the NCBWA and Perfect Game and earned third-team All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA last year after going 9-5 with a 3.40 ERA. He struck out 129 batters to 27 walks in 111.1 innings pitched with opponents hitting .248 against him. Schmidt’s 129 strikeouts are the second-highest among returning pitchers from last season in Division I baseball.

Crowe is a Preseason All-America selection by Baseball America and returns to the mound this season after sitting out the 2016 campaign recovering from Tommy John surgery. Crowe went 8-3 and earned Freshman All-America honors in 2014 with a 2.75 ERA in 91.2 innings pitched. Opponents hit .228 against him. He also won three games in 2015 before suffering the injury that sidelined him the rest of the season.

Hill was a Freshman All-American last year after going 7-0 with a 3.53 ERA. He allowed 26 runs, all earned, on 49 hits in 66.1 innings. He had 72 strikeouts to 28 walks; opponents are batting .208 against him. That opposing batting average was fourth-best in the SEC. He was also named to the SEC All-Freshman team.

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South Carolina won the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship in 2010 and 2011 at the College World Series. South Carolina has made 11 College World Series appearances including six times in the last 15 years. In those 11 appearances, the Gamecocks are 32-20 for a .615 winning percentage, that is sixth-best among winning percentage leaders in CWS history. South Carolina is one of three schools in the nation to have reached at least 12 NCAA Super Regionals since 2000 and has the most NCAA Super Regional appearances of the 14 SEC schools since 2000. In addition, the Gamecocks own the second-highest win total in Division I baseball since 2000 (791-332 record) and more conference wins than any SEC team since 2000 (308-198 record). Recently, South Carolina is one of only four schools in the nation to host a NCAA Regional in six of the last seven years.