Baseball Faces Pair of Opponents in the Midweek

FOR STARTERS

• South Carolina sees its first midweek action with two games against teams from up 1-77.
• The Gamecocks head to Founders Field in Rock Hill for a Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 18) game at Winthrop. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
• Carolina then faces Queens on Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 19) at Ray Tanner Field at Founders Park with a 4 p.m. start.
• Tuesday’s game will be streamed on ESPN+.
• Wednesday’s game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus with Dave Weinstein and Grayson Greiner on the call.
• Both games also will be on the Gamecock Sports Network presented by Learfield with Cade Crenshaw and Stuart Lake on the call.

PARKING INFORMATION

BUSINESS LOTS DURING AFTERNOON GAMES Business lot parking passes will be honored in Lot 1 ONLY for the Feb. 14, 19 and 21 afternoon baseball games based on availability. The businesses at 405 (Lot 9) and 401 (Lot 10) Huger Street request that you begin parking at 5:30 p.m. on weekdays. Other business lots open at 5 p.m. on weekdays. Parking is allowed in Lot 8 (the Cregger lot) on the Williams St. side for the afternoon early games.

GAME DAY PARKING INFORMATION (including public game day lots (PGDL: $10 per game). All gameday lots are cashless. Please have a debit card or credit card ready for payment upon entry into parking lots.

Weekday 4 p.m. Games (Feb. 14, 19, 21)
Game time: 4 p.m.
Stadium opens: 3:00 p.m.
Business Lots Open: 5/5:30 p.m.
Lot 1, STDM, HDG PDGL Open: 2 p.m.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Tuesday
South Carolina Jarvis Evans (Jr. LHP) First Year at Carolina
Winthrop Lance Wade (Sr. RHP) 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.0 IP, 0 BB, 1 SO

Wednesday
South Carolina Jackson Soucie (Jr. LHP) First Year at Carolina
Queens Joey Ruller (Jr. LHP) 0-0, 27.00 ERA, 1.0 IP, 0 BB, 2 SO

SCOUTING WINTHROP

• The Eagles swept Merrimack this past weekend, outscoring the Warriors 32-7 in the three games.
• Jaylen Hernandez had seven hits this weekend, driving in four runs while Ethan Wilson was 6-for-12 with four extra base hits and six RBI.
• On the mound, Owen Sarna had nine strikeouts and allowed just one hit in 5.2 innings pitched.
• Carolina will face righthander Lance Wade on Tuesday. He pitched one inning while allowing a hit and a strikeout this past weekend.
• Mike McGuire is in his first season as head coach at Winthrop after spending five seasons at USC Upstate.

SERIES VS. WINTHROP

• Carolina owns a 27-7 series advantage on Winthrop and has won the previous 12 meetings with the Eagles. Winthrop’s last win against Carolina was 7-5, 11-inning game in 2015.
• Carolina is 7-2 against Winthrop in Rock Hill.
• Last season, Carolina won both ends of a home-and-home series against Winthrop, winning 12-2 in 7 innings in Columbia and 15-3 in 7 innings in Rock Hill.
• Kennedy Jones drove in five runs in the game at Winthrop last year.
• This will be the earliest the Gamecocks have played away from Columbia since 2010, when the team played a three-game series at East Carolina in the second weekend.

SCOUTING QUEENS

• The Royals won 2-of-3 games against Appalachian State to open the 2025 season.
• Jake Barbour was 7-of-13 with three doubles and four RBI in the series, while Will Budnick had five RBI against App State.
• On the mound, Landry Jurecka had eight strikeouts and allowed two hits in 3.2 innings last weekend.
• Jake Hendrick is in his second season at Queens after spending the 2023 season as the head coach at Austin Peay.

SERIES VS. QUEENS

• South Carolina and Queens have played twice in school history with the Gamecocks winning both matchups (12-0 in 2023; 13-3 in 8 innings in 2024).
• Ryan Bakes had three hits and three RBI in 2024 while Ethan Petry was a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs scored and a home run.

PITCHING STANDS OUT IN OPENING SERIES

• The South Carolina pitching staff was stellar in the opening series vs. Sacred Heart.
• The staff as a whole struck out 45 batters while walking just four. The 45 strikeouts are tied with LSU for second place in the SEC just behind Florida’s 47.
• Carolina held Sacred Heart to just nine hits in three games, including one (an infield single) in Saturday’s and two in Sunday’s victory.
• All three starting pitchers (Dylan Eskew, Matthew Becker and Jake McCoy) struck out nine batters in five innings.
• McCoy did not allow a hit while Becker allowed just one.
• Parker Marlatt was big in Friday’s win, coming in a jam and allowing just one inherited run. He struck out five to earn the win in the 5-3 game.
• Ryder Garino, Zach Russell, Ashton Crowther and Brendan Sweeney each made their first-ever appearance as a Gamecock during the weekend. 

HALL’S POWER-HOUSE

• Junior Nathan Hall was 4-for-8 with four runs scored, a double and his first career home run in the series against Sacred Heart.
• Hall’s 3-run home run on Sunday gave the Gamecocks a 6-0 lead in the sixth inning.
• He had two hits in the opener and has a .583 on-base percentage after three contests. 

PETRY SHOOTS UP CAREER HOME RUN LIST

• Junior Ethan Petry will enter the Winthrop game with 45 home runs at Carolina, which ties him for fourth place on the all-time home run list.
• The Land O’ Lakes, Fla., native had 23 home runs in his freshman season in 2023, then followed that up with 21 his sophomore season.
• Petry has been named to the preseason All-America second team by both D1 Baseball and Perfect Game, the third team by the NCBWA, was named to the Preseason All-SEC first team and is on the Golden Spikes Award Watch LIst.
• Last season, Petry hit .306 with 21 home runs and 53 RBI while leading the team with 51 walks. He was named to the All-Raleigh Regional team.
• Petry needs two more home runs to tie Garrett Carter (1985-88) for third place on Carolina’s all-time list.
• Petry had a solo home run to straightaway center field in the season opener against Sacred Heart.

MAINIERI ERA STARTS IN 2025

• Head Coach Paul Mainieri started his South Carolina tenure this weekend against Sacred Heart.
• Mainieri is the 31st head coach in Gamecock history and is starting his 40th season as a head coach.
• Mainieri is the active leader in head coaching wins with 1,508.
• Mainieri most recently was the head coach at LSU for 15 seasons, guiding the Tigers to a national championship in 2009, a runner-up finish in 2017 and five CWS appearances.
• In 11 of 14 full seasons at LSU, Mainieri led the Tigers to at least one team championship.
• In his 40-year career, Mainieri has made six College World Series appearances (5 with LSU, 1 with Notre Dame), four SEC championships, six SEC Tournament championships and 10 NCAA Regional championships.
• With one more win this season, Mainieri will move to sixth place on the all-time wins list for head coaches.
• Mainieri is a two-time SEC Coach of the Year and four-time National Coach of the Year.

UP NEXT

• Carolina hosts Milwaukee for a three-game series starting Friday afternoon (Feb. 21) at 4 p.m.
• The Gamecocks and Panthers play on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 22) at 2 p.m. and Sunday afternoon (Feb. 23) at 1:30 p.m.
• All three games will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.