Baseball Opens Conference Play at Vanderbilt

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina baseball team visits Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tenn., for a three-game series at No. 2 Vanderbilt to open Southeastern Conference play. The series begins on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. CT (7:30 p.m. ET). The series continues Saturday morning at 11 a.m. CT (12 p.m. ET) and concludes on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET). Friday and Sunday’s game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus while Saturday’s game is on SEC Network with Tom Hart and Kyle Peterson on the call. Every Gamecock contest will be on the Gamecock Radio Network with Derek Scott and Tommy Moody on the call. The Gamecocks fell, 9-4, to Davidson on Wednesday night (March 18) as Wes Clarke homered for the 10th time this season.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Friday
South Carolina Thomas Farr (R-Jr. RHP) 2-0, 1.54 ERA, 7 BB, 30 SO
Vanderbilt Kumar Rocker (Jr., RHP) 4-0, 0.00 ERA, 8 BB, 34 SO

Saturday
South Carolina Brannon Jordan (Sr. RHP) 1-1, 3.50 ERA, 13 BB, 29 SO
Vanderbilt Jack Leiter (So., RHP) 4-0, 0.45 ERA, 10 BB, 33 SO

Sunday
South Carolina Julian Bosnic (R-So. LHP) 1-1, 3.46 ERA, 12 BB, 24 SO
Vanderbilt Thomas Schultz (So., RHP) 1-2, 6.00 ERA, 2 BB, 16 SO
 
SCOUTING VANDERBILT
The Commodores picked up a 4-1 win over Belmont on Tuesday night, as Vanderbilt’s pitching staff allowed just three hits in the win. Jayson Gonzalez drove in a pair while Christian Little struck out seven in the win. On the season, Gonzalez is hitting .372 with 14 RBI while Kumar Rocker is 4-0 and has not allowed an earned run in 23 innings of work.
 
SERIES VS. VANDERBILT
Carolina holds a 58-36 series lead on Vanderbilt heading into Friday’s game. The Commodores swept Carolina in 2019 in Columbia. In the last meeting in Nashville in 2018, Carolina won on Friday and Sunday in a pair of one-run contests. Carlos Cortes and Jonah Bride each drove in three runs in the 10-9 series finale win on that Sunday.
 
FARR RECORDS CAREER HIGH VS. LONGHORNS
Thomas Farr struck out a career high 10 batters in Carolina’s 4-1 loss to Texas on March 12. Farr went six innings in the start, allowing seven hits and a run with just one walk to go along with the 10 punchouts. On the season, Farr is 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA.

SEC PLAY FOR OPENERS
The Southeastern Conference begins league play this weekend across the region. It will be the first league contests since the 2019 season as the 2020 ledger was postponed a day before SEC play was about to begin. This will be the first time Carolina has opened with Vanderbilt since 2008 and the first time the Gamecocks will open on the road since they started league play at Tennessee in 2017.

CAROLINA CALLS WITH COACH KINGSTON
Head Coach Mark Kingston will be on Carolina Calls starting next Thursday night (March 25) from 7-8 p.m. at Home Team Barbecue in Five Points. The show will be broadcast on the Gamecock Radio Network with Derek Scott as the host.

UP NEXT
Carolina starts a five-game homestand on Tuesday night (March 23) as the Gamecocks host The Citadel. First pitch at Founders Park is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on SEC Network.