COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina baseball team ventures to Fayetteville, Ark., and Baum Stadium to face the University of Arkansas in a three-game SEC series. The series begins on Thursday night (April 12) at 6 p.m. CDT (7 p.m. EDT). The second game of the series is Friday night (April 13) at 6:30 p.m. CDT (7:30 p.m. EDT) with the series finale Sunday afternoon (April 14) at 2 p.m. CDT (3 p.m. EDT).

Thursday’s game is televised on SEC Network with Mike Morgan and Chris Burke on the call. Every game will be on the IMG Gamecock Radio Network with Derek Scott and Tommy Moody on the call.

South Carolina is coming off a 12-1 win over The Citadel on Tuesday night as Jacob Olson drove in a career high five runs and Carmen Mlodzinski pitched five scoreless innings to earn the win.

SCOUTING ARKANSAS

> Arkansas is coming off a 7-6 win over Grambling on Tuesday night. Dominic Fletcher had three hits to pace the Razorbacks while Eric Cole drove in a pair of runs. Arkansas is led offensively by freshman Heston Kjerstad, who is hitting .370 with nine doubles, eight home runs and 32 RBI. Carson Shaddy is not far behind, hitting .364 with seven home runs. On the mound, Blaine Knight is a perfect 6-0 with a 1.93 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 46.2 innings pitched. Arkansas has been stellar at home, posting a 20-2 record with SEC sweeps over Kentucky and Auburn at Baum Stadium.

SERIES VS. ARKANSAS

> Arkansas has a 37-31 series advantage on South Carolina, but the Gamecocks swept the Razorbacks in the last meeting between the two schools in 2016. John Jones drove in five and LT Tolbert had a pair of hits in Sunday’s 8-6 win that completed the sweep. South Carolina is 10-18 all-time in Fayetteville. The two schools also played three times in Omaha in the 2012 College World Series, with Carolina winning 2-of-3 games on its way to the championship series vs. Arizona.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION

Thursday
South Carolina Logan Chapman (Fr. RHP) 3-0, 3.86 ERA, 30.1 IP, 16 BB, 32 SO
Arkansas Blaine Knight (Jr. RHP) 6-0, 1.93 ERA, 46.2 IP, 11 BB, 48 SO

Friday
South Carolina Adam Hill (Jr. RHP) 3-3, 4.79 ERA, 35.2 IP, 23 BB, 55 SO
Arkansas Kacey Murphy (Jr. LHP) 4-2, 2.31 ERA, 39.0 IP, 6 BB, 33 SO

Saturday
South Carolina Cody Morris (So. RHP) 6-2, 4.04 ERA, 42.1 IP, 16 BB, 46 SO
Arkansas Isaiah Campbell (So. RHP) 2-3, 4.03 ERA, 29.0 IP, 16 BB, 33 SO

BRIDE ON BASE

> Senior Jonah Bride had his 11-game hit streak come to a close at The Citadel, but he extended his 29-game reached base streak with a pair of walks. Bride has reached base in 32 of Carolina’s 33 games this year, with the North Florida game on Feb. 20 the only game he failed to reach base. Bride leads the team with a .322 batting average and carries a .438 on-base percentage.

BATS COME ALIVE AT THE CITADEL

> Carolina belted out 13 hits and scored seven runs in the seventh inning, a team high for an inning this season, in a 12-1 win over The Citadel on April 10. Jacob Olson was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and a career high five RBI, while Chris Cullen tied his season high with three hits. Madison Stokes, starting in his first game since March 24, homered and drove in a pair of runs, while Riley Hogan had two hits and scored a run.

CARMEN IN CRUISE CONTROL VS. CITADEL

> Freshman Carmen Mlodzinski allowed just two hits and struck out five in five innings of work in the 12-1 win over The Citadel on April 10. The Hilton Head native allowed just one walk and lowered his ERA to 2.45 in the victory.

SEVEN GAMECOCKS DOT MLB ROSTERS

> South Carolina currently has seven players on Major League Baseball rosters, 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), Jordan Montgomery (New York Yankees) and Christian Walker (Arizona). Grayson Greiner (Detroit) and Tyler Webb (Milwaukee) are on their respective clubs’ 40-man roster. There were 75 players from the SEC on Opening Day rosters.