Baseball Opens SEC Tournament Play vs. Alabama

HOOVER, Ala. — The University of South Carolina baseball team starts postseason play at the 2021 SEC Tournament at the Hoover Met in Hoover, Ala. The Gamecocks, the seventh seed in the tournament, faces 10th-seeded Alabama, on Tuesday, May 25 at approximately 2 p.m. Eastern (1 p.m. Central) in the second game of the day. Tuesday’s game will be televised on SEC Network with Tom Hart, Ben McDonald and Chris Burke on the call. Every Gamecock contest will be on the Gamecock Radio Network with Derek Scott and Tommy Moody on the call. Carolina lost 2-of-3 games to Tennessee this past weekend, winning Friday’s game, 3-2, behind seven strong innings from Brett Kerry and Brady Allen’s three-run home run.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Tuesday
South Carolina CJ Weins (Jr. RHP) 1-0, 1.93 ERA, 9 BB, 11 SO
Alabama Tyler Ras (Jr., RHP) 6-4, 5.42 ERA, 20 BB, 53 SO
 
SCOUTING ALABAMA
The Crimson Tide finished the season with a 29-22 overall record and a 12-17 mark in conference contests.  Zane Denton leads Alabama with a .317 batting average while Sam Praytor has 13 home runs and 44 RBI. On the mound, Chase Lee has seven saves and a 1.38 ERA while Dylan Smith has 100 strikeouts in 82.1 innings pitched. The Gamecocks and Crimson Tide have eight common opponents in SEC play. Carolina was 11-13 in those games while Alabama was 7-16.

SERIES VS. ALABAMA
Carolina holds a 37-29 series advantage on Alabama heading into Tuesday’s game. The two teams last met in 2019 in Tuscaloosa with Alabama taking 2-of-3 games over the Gamecocks. The two teams have met three times in the SEC Tournament with Alabama winning two of those games. South Carolina beat the Crimson Tide in 2009 in the opening game, 9-5, as Jackie Bradley Jr., had three hits and Adam Matthews drove in three runs.
 
SEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
South Carolina won the SEC Tournament in 2004, going a perfect 4-0 with a 3-2 win over Vanderbilt in the championship game. The Gamecocks are 29-49 all-time at the SEC Tournament. The Gamecocks fell to LSU, 8-6, in the opening round of the 2019 event.

RPI UPDATE
The Gamecocks come in at No. 13 in the latest RPI with the No. 4 strength of schedule. Carolina has played 15 games against top-10 RPI teams and 24 against top-25 teams. Carolina has nine wins against top-25 teams in the RPI and is 22-3 against teams that are 51 and above.

CLARKE AMONG NATIONAL HOME RUN LEADERS
Heading into the SEC Tournament, Wes Clarke leads the nation in home runs with 21 round trippers. Clarke also is tied for seventh in Carolina’s single-season home run list. He needs one more to tie Justin Smoak (2007) and Tripp Kelly (2000) for fifth place. His 30 career home runs is tied for 24th with Jackie Bradley Jr., Christian Walker and Jeff Barns.