Baseball . April 5, 2022

Baseball Faces UNC in Charlotte

by Kent Reichert

The Gamecocks and Tar Heels face off Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina baseball team makes its second trip of the season to Truist Field in Charlotte, N.C., as the Gamecocks face North Carolina on Wednesday night (April 6) at 7 p.m. The game was moved back a day due to weather in Charlotte on Tuesday night. The game will be on ACC Network Extra. All games also will be broadcast on the Gamecock Sports Network with Tommy Moody and Stuart Lake on the call. The Gamecocks won 1-of-3 games against Missouri this past weekend, winning Friday’s game behind seven innings from Noah Hall and two home runs from Josiah Sightler.

SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA
The Tar Heels won 1-of-3 games against Virginia Tech in Chapel Hill this past weekend. North Carolina won Sunday’s game, 10-6, behind three hits and four RBI from Eric Grintz. The Tar Heels are led offensively by Angel Zarate, who is hitting .368 with 10 double and 17 RBI. Vance Honeycutt has a team-best eight home runs. On the mound, Kyle Mott is 5-1 with a 3.18 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 28.1 innings pitched.

SERIES VS. NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina has a 64-37-1 series advantage on South Carolina heading into Wednesday’s game. The Tar Heels won last year’s game, 3-2, in 10 innings. Jack Mahoney struck out four in four innings and Josiah Sightler homered in the game.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Wednesday
South Carolina Eli Jones (Fr. RHP) 0-0, 27.00 ERA, 1.0 IP, 0 BB, 1 SO
UNC Gage Gillian (Jr. RHP) 1-1, 3.57 ERA, 22.2 IP, 3 BB, 22 SO

SIGHTLER HEATING UP
Josiah Sightler had three home runs and four RBI in the Missouri series. On Friday night against the Tigers, Sightler homered in both the third and fifth innings, accounting for three of the Gamecocks’ four runs. He then homered on Sunday in the second inning. On the season, Sightler has eight runs scored, four home runs and eight RBI.

HALL STIFLES MIZZOU
Noah Hall earned his first win as a Gamecock on April 1, pitching seven innings and striking out four in the 4-1 win over Missouri. Hall allowed just three hits and a run on a solo home run. He also didn’t walk a batter in the win. He now has 33 strikeouts in 33 innings pitched and has a .221 opponent’s batting average in SEC games.