Baseball Visits Knoxville for Three-Game Set at Tennessee

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina baseball team hits the road for the first time in the Southeastern Conference this season as the Gamecocks head to Knoxville, Tenn., to start a three-game set at Tennessee. The series begins on Friday night (March 22) at 6:30 p.m. and continues Saturday night (March 23) at 6 p.m. The series will conclude on Sunday afternoon (March 24) at 2 p.m. All three games will be streamed on SEC Network +. All games will be broadcast on The Game 107.5 FM and the Gamecock Sports Network with Derek Scott and Tommy Moody on the call. Carolina is coming off a 12-7 win at Furman on Tuesday night as TJ Hopkins homered twice and Brady Allen drove in four runs.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION

Friday
South Carolina Wesley Sweatt (Fr. RHP) 1-1, 3.45 ERA, 15.2 IP, 3 BB, 9 SO
Tennessee Garrett Stallings (Jr. RHP) 4-1, 1.27 ERA, 35.1 IP, 3 BB, 42 SO

Saturday
South Carolina Reid Morgan (Jr. RHP) 2-0, 2.70 ERA, 33.1 IP, 3 BB, 30 SO
Tennessee Zach Linginfelter (Jr. RHP) 4-1, 1.88 ERA, 28.2 IP, 12 BB, 34 SO

Sunday
South Carolina TBA
Tennessee Will Neely (Sr. RHP) 2-1, 5.79 ERA, 23.1 IP, 3 BB, 19 SO

SCOUTING TENNESSEE

The Volunteers also had one midweek game and defeated East Tennessee State, 5-1, in Johnson City. Ricky Martinez went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Pete Derkay scored a pair of runs. Tennessee, who got off to a 15-0 start that included a sweep of Indiana, was swept in its SEC opening series at Auburn. Martinez leads the Vols with a .382 batting average while Alerick Soularie had seven home runs and 18 RBI. Tennessee really shines on the mound, coming in with a 2.24 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 193 innings pitched. Garrett Stallings, who will start on Friday night, is 4-1 with a 1.27 ERA and 42 strikeouts compared to just three walks.

THE SERIES

Carolina leads the all-time series with Tennessee, 64-36, and has won the last nine contests against the Vols. Last season, Carolina swept Tennessee in Columbia, winning 6-1, 6-2 and 6-3. The Gamecocks broke a 3-3 tie in the series finale with three runs in the eighth inning on run-scoring doubles by Matt Williams and Jacob Olson.

HOPKINS NOTES

Senior TJ Hopkins is tied for the team and SEC lead with eight home runs to go along with six doubles and a conference best three triples this season … Hopkins is tied for the team lead with a .345 batting average heading into the Tennessee series while slugging a conference-best .759 and leading the team with four stolen bases … Hopkins had a pair of home runs in Tuesday’s 12-7 win over Furman. It is the second time in his career he has hit two home runs in a game. He had a pair on March 7, 2017, against The Citadel … Hopkins hit for the cycle in the 12-6 win over Valpo on March 10. He homered in the fourth, doubled in the fifth, singled in the seventh and tripled in the eighth. It was the first cycle for a Gamecock since Kyle Martin at Florida in 2015 … Hopkins earned the Tom Price Award, given to the Most Valuable Player of the Clemson series, after hitting three home runs and driving in nine on the weekend. For his efforts, Hopkins was named the SEC Player of the Week and National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA … Hopkins leads or is tied for the SEC lead in home runs, triples, total bases (66) and slugging percentage.

SHOOK BOUNCES BACK TO STYMIE BULLDOG BATS

Redshirt sophomore TJ Shook went walk, hit by pitch, walk to start the Georgia game on March 17. The Irmo, S.C., native settled down to get a pair of pop outs and strikeout, then put up zeroes for the next three innings before exiting after a leadoff double to start the fifth. On the day, Shook allowed just the one hit with six strikeouts in four-plus inning. He currently is 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 16.2 innings pitched.

SEC LEADERS

At the plate, Jacob Olson and TJ Hopkins are tied for the SEC lead with eight home runs. Hopkins leads the league in total bases (66), is tied for the lead in home runs (8), tied for the lead in triples (3) and leads in slugging percentage (.759). Olson is third in slugging percentage (.726) and second in total bases (61). Luke Berryhill is tied for fourth in doubles (9), tied for sixth in slugging percentage (.667), ninth in total bases (50) and sixth in RBI (27). On the mound, Reid Morgan is tied for second with 33.1 innings pitched and Cam Tringali is tied for second with 11 appearances. As a team, SC is 13th in batting average, 12th in ERA and 12th in fielding percentage.

UP NEXT

The Gamecocks host North Carolina A&T Tuesday night (March 26) at 7 p.m. at Founders Park. The game will be streamed on SEC Network +.