Baseball Travels to Charleston for Tuesday Night Matchup vs. The Citadel

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina baseball team takes it show on the road for the midweek as the Gamecocks travel to Charleston, S.C., and Joe Riley Park for the second meeting of 2019 with The Citadel. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on the SoCon Digital Network. All games will be broadcast on The Game 107.5 FM with Derek Scott and Tommy Moody on the call. Carolina is coming off a three-game sweep of Valparaiso this past weekend, outscoring the Crusaders 24-10 while winning a dramatic 3-2 game on Saturday after home runs from Luke Berryhill and Jacob Olson in the bottom of the ninth inning.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION

Tuesday
South Carolina Daniel Lloyd (Fr. RHP) 1-0, 5.40 ERA, 3.1 IP, 2 BB, 4 SO
The Citadel Jordan Flanders (Fr. RHP) 0-1, 4.05 ERA, 6.2 IP, 2 BB, 1 SO

SCOUTING THE CITADEL

The Bulldogs are coming off winning 2-of-3 games against Charleston Southern this past weekend. The Citadel walked off the Bucs on Sunday as Tilo Skole scored on a wild pitch to preserve the 4-3 win. Bryce Leasure leads The Citadel with a .386 batting average while Ryan McCarthy has 14 RBI. The Bulldogs will start freshman Jordan Flanders on Tuesday. Flanders has allowed three earned runs in 6.2 innings of work this season.

THE SERIES

Carolina owns a 134-49-1 all-time series lead on The Citadel heading into Tuesday’s contest. The Gamecocks defeated the Bulldogs last Tuesday at Founders Park, 9-0, as redshirt sophomore TJ Shook struck out a career-high 12 in 6.1 innings of work and Andrew Eyster and George Callil each had home runs in an eight-run second inning.

RANKINGS

South Carolina stayed in most of the national polls after sweeping Valparaiso this past weekend. The Gamecocks are ranked 18th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll and 20th in the Baseball America poll. Carolina is 22nd in the D1Baseball.com, 23rd in the USA TODAY Coaches’ poll and 27th in the NCBWA Poll.

HOPKINS HITS FOR THE CYCLE IN VALPO WIN

Senior TJ Hopkins hit for South Carolina’s first cycle since 2015 in the 12-6 win over Valparaiso on Sunday, March 10. Hopkins hit his sixth home run of the season in the fourth, doubled in the fifth, singled in the seventh and tripled in the eighth for Carolina’s first cycle since Kyle Martin in 2015 at Florida. Hopkins currently is hitting .343 with four doubles, three triples and six home runs. Hopkins also is slugging .731 and has a .384 on-base percentage.

SEC LEADERS

Cam Tringali is fifth in the SEC in ERA (0.56) and is tied for the conference lead with eight appearances. Reid Morgan leads the conference in innings pitched at 29.1. At the plate, Jacob Olson leads the league in total bases (53), is tied with Ole Miss’ Thomas Dillard for the home run lead with seven, is tied for sixth in hits (25) and is second in slugging percentage (.815). TJ Hopkins is tied for third in home runs (6), tied for the lead in triples (3), fourth in slugging percentage (.761) and second in total bases (51). Luke Berryhill is sixth in slugging percentage (.724), tied for fifth in total bases (42), tied for fourth in RBI (21) and tied for fifth with 19 runs scored. As a team, SC is 12th in batting average, ninth in ERA and 11th in fielding percentage.

OLSON NAMED A NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK (MARCH 11)

Senior Jacob Olson has been named a National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper on March 11. Olson has a tremendous week at the plate for the Gamecocks, hitting .522 with nine RBI, six extra-base hits and multi-hit games in all five contests. He had a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to give Carolina a 3-2 win over Valparaiso on Saturday. Olson then had a pair of home runs and drove in five in Sunday’s 12-6 win. On the season, Olson is hitting .385 with a team-best seven home runs, seven doubles and 20 RBI. He also leads the SEC in total bases (53) and is second in slugging percentage (.815).

CAROLINA EARNS THIRD WALK-OFF IN SATURDAY VALPO WIN

Trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, Carolina used back-to-back home runs from Luke Berryhill and Jacob Olson to come away with a 3-2 win on March 9. Berryhill hit the first pitch he saw into the Gamecock bullpen in right center. Olson then tagged an 0-1 pitch to the seats in left field for the game-winner. It was Carolina’s third walk-off win of the season. The Gamecocks used a wild pitch to earn a 3-2 win over Liberty on Feb. 16 and had Noah Campbell’s walk-off home run in a 6-5 win over Utah Valley on Feb. 23.

UP NEXT

The Gamecocks open play in the Southeastern Conference this weekend (March 15-17) with a three-game set against Georgia at Founders Park. Friday’s action begins at 7 p.m., with Saturday’s first pitch set for 4 p.m. The series finale is Sunday at 1:30 p.m.