COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of South Carolina baseball team makes the 90-minute trip to Charlotte, N.C., and BB&T Ballpark for its annual clash with North Carolina on Tuesday, April 3. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The game will be televised on SEC Network with Tom Hart and David Dellucci on the call. Every game will be on the IMG Gamecock Radio Network with Derek Scott and Tommy Moody on the call.

South Carolina, winners of four in a row, is coming off a three-game sweep of Tennessee, which included a thrilling, come-from-behind 6-3 win in the series finale on Saturday.

SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA

> North Carolina also has won four in a row and is coming off a weekend sweep as the Tar Heels defeated Wake Forest three times in Chapel Hill. North Carolina scored three runs in the eighth inning in an 8-6 win over the Demon Deacons on Sunday afternoon. Zack Gahagan was 3-for-4 with four RBI in the win. The Tar Heels are led by Kyle Datres’ .371 batting average, while Michael Busch has a team-best eight home runs. On the mound, Brett Daniels is 4-0 with a 1.41 ERA in 15 appearances.

SERIES VS. NORTH CAROLINA

> The Tar Heels hold a 62-37-1 series advantage on the Gamecocks heading into Tuesday’s matchup. This will be the third straight meeting between the two teams in Charlotte. Last season, TJ Hopkins had two hits and LT Tolbert drove in three runs, but the Gamecocks fell, 20-5. The two teams met in the 2007 and 2013 Chapel Hill Super Regional prior to the meetings the past two seasons.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION

Tuesday
South Carolina Logan Chapman (Fr. RHP) 2-0, 3.60 ERA, 25.0 IP, 14 BB, 28 SO
North Carolina Taylor Sugg (Jr. RHP) 2-0, 5.12 ERA, 19.1 IP, 13 BB, 19 SO

KINGSTON SET TO MEET HIS ALMA MATER

> South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston will face off against his alma mater on Tuesday night. Kingston, a 1995 graduate of North Carolina, was part of the 1989 Tar Heels squad that won an Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title and advanced to the College World Series. He also helped the team win the ACC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Regionals in 1990 as a sophomore. Kingston received the Trippe Bourne “Most Dedicated Players” Award for his outstanding work ethic and leadership during his junior campaign, and was named a team captain his senior year.

SIX GAMECOCKS DOT OPENING DAY ROSTERS

> South Carolina had six players on Major League Baseball rosters on Opening Day (March 29), including Justin Smoak, who had two home runs and six RBI in Toronto’s win over the New York Yankees on Sunday, April 1. Smoak and Steve Pearce are on Toronto’s roster, joined by former Gamecocks Jackie Bradley Jr. (Boston), Sam Dyson (San Francisco), Whit Merrifield (Kansas City) and Jordan Montgomery (New York Yankees). Grayson Greiner (Detroit), Christian Walker (Arizona) and Tyler Webb (Milwaukee) are on their respective clubs’ 40-man roster. There were 75 players from the SEC on Opening Day rosters.

COMEBACK KIDS

> Saturday’s 6-3 win over Tennessee (March 31) was the second for the Gamecocks when trailing going into the seventh inning. After TJ Shook got a big strikeout with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh to end that threat, Carolina tied the game at three in the bottom of the seventh on Riley Hogan‘s bases-loaded walk and scored three runs in the eighth on an RBI double from Jacob Olson and a two-run double off the bat of Matt Williams, completing the three-game sweep.

BRIDE COMES UP BIG VS. UT

> Senior Jonah Bride extended his hitting streak to seven games as the senior went 7-for-10 with five runs scored in the Tennessee series March 29-31. Bride was 3-for-3 with three runs scored in Thursday’s win. He also had to play second base for the first time in his career on Saturday after an injury to Justin Row. On the year, Bride is hitting .333 with six doubles and 13 RBI.

CLEAN SWEEP

> South Carolina earned its second sweep of the season and first in SEC play since March of 2017 in a three-game sweep of Tennessee. Carolina also swept Princeton on March 9-10 in a three-game series. The last three-game sweep in conference play was at Tennessee on March 17-19, 2017. South Carolina has now won 26 of the last 29 games against Tennessee and made it nine straight wins this past weekend. The Gamecocks hit .313 on the weekend and allowed just five earned runs in the three games.