Baseball Opens SEC Play This Weekend vs. Oklahoma

FOR STARTERS

• Carolina wraps up its seven-game homestand this weekend, hosting SEC newcomer Oklahoma to start conference play.
• Friday’s game will start at 7 p.m. with Saturday’s game at 4 p.m. Sunday’s contest is at 1:30 p.m.
• All three games will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.
• All three games also will be on the Gamecock Sports Network presented by Learfield with Derek Scott and Stuart Lake on the call.

PARKING INFORMATION

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.

Weekdays
Game Time: 7 p.m.
Stadium Opens: 5:30 p.m.
Business Lots Open: 5:30/6 p.m.
Lot 1, STDM, HDG PGDL Open: 5 p.m.

Saturday
Game Time: 4 p.m.
Stadium Opens: 3 p.m.
Business Lots Open: 2/2:30 p.m.
Lot 1, STDM, HDG PGDL Open: 2 p.m.

Sunday
Game Time: 1:30 p.m.
Stadium Opens: 12:30 p.m.
Business Lots Open: 11:30 a.m./12 p.m.
Lot 1, STDM, HDG PGDL Open: 11:30 a.m.

PROMOTIONS SCHEDULE
Friday – St. Patty’s Weekend Kickoff and SEC Opener
Sunday – Gamecock Club Day

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Friday
South Carolina Brandon Stone (So. RHP) 1-0, 1.93 ERA, 18.2 IP, 3 BB, 23 SO
Oklahoma Kyson Witherspoon (Jr. RHP) 4-0, 1.17 ERA, 23.0 IP, 5 BB, 40 SO

Saturday
South Carolina Jake McCoy (So. LHP) 1-1, 4.74 ERA, 19.0 IP, 8 BB, 38 SO
Oklahoma Malachi Witherspoon (Jr. RHP) 2-0, 4.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 11 BB, 17 SO

Sunday
South Carolina Dylan Eskew (Sr. RHP) 0-1, 1.69 ERA, 16.0 IP, 12 BB, 19 SO
Oklahoma Cam Johnson (So. LHP) 2-0, 3.93 ERA, 18.1 IP, 12 BB, 20 SO

FOR STARTERS

• Carolina wraps up its seven-game homestand this weekend, hosting SEC newcomer Oklahoma to start conference play.
• Friday’s game will start at 7 p.m. with Saturday’s game at 4 p.m. Sunday’s contest is at 1:30 p.m.
• All three games will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.
• All three games also will be on the Gamecock Sports Network presented by Learfield with Derek Scott and Stuart Lake on the call.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA

• The Sooners are coming off an 9-5 win over Louisiana Tech on Wednesday night. Jaxon Willits had three hits and three runs scored while Sam Christiansen hit a two-run home run.
• Kyle Branch leads Oklahoma with a .357 batting average while Easton Carmichael had a team-best 17 RBI.
• On the mound, Friday starter Kyson Witherspoon is 4-0 with a 1.17 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 23 innings pitched.
• Oklahoma’s big non-conference wins happened in the Round Rock Classic as the Sooners beat Oregon State (8-4) and Virginia (5-4 in 12 innings)
• Skip Johnson is in his eighth season as head coach at Oklahoma. He guided the Sooners to a runner-up College World Series appearance in 2022.

SERIES VS. OKLAHOMA

• Carolina holds a 4-1 series advantage on Oklahoma heading into Friday’s game.
• Four of the five contests occurred in postseason play. The first ever game between the two teams was a 13-2 Carolina win on Feb. 9, 2007 in Wilmington, N.C.
• The Gamecocks played Oklahoma twice in Omaha in 2010. The Sooners won the first meeting, 4-3, on June 20 before Carolina won 3-2 in 12 innings on Brady Thomas’ game winning RBI single.
• Carolina and Oklahoma also played in the 2012 Columbia Super Regional. The Gamecocks won both games by scores of 5-0 and 5-1 to advance to its third-straight College World Series appearance.
• The three wins over the Sooners in postseason play were part of a record 22 consecutive NCAA postseason wins between 2010-12.

PITCHING STANDS OUT IN OPENING STRETCH

• The South Carolina pitching staff holds a 3.17 ERA with 207 strikeouts in 156 innings pitched after 18 games this season.
• Ten different Gamecocks have a win on the mound while Carolina has five saves in 18 games in 2025.
• Jake McCoy struck out 12 batters in six innings of work against Clemson on March 1. McCoy was named the Tom Price Award winner, handed out to the MVP of the Clemson series.
• Dylan Eskew allowed just one run on three hits in six innings on Sunday against the Tigers. Eskew now has a 1.69 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched.
• Brandon Stone came in relief on Friday against Morehead State and struck out nine in a season best 5.2 innings pitched.
• Jarvis Evans threw a team-best seven innings, striking out six batters in a 9-1 win over The Citadel.

BEAU KNOWS

• Freshman Beau Hollins has played in 10 of Carolina’s 18 games this season and has 10 hits (.333 batting average), a double and four RBI.
• Hollins had three hits in the 9-1 win over The Citadel on March 5. He reached base four times in the win.
• He then collected a pair of hits in Saturday’s 16-11 win over Morehead State, including a big RBI in the 7th inning.

STONES BIG IN MSU SWEEP

• Brandon Stone struck out nine batters in 5.2 innings of relief in helping Carolina to an 11-7 win over Morehead State on Friday, March 7.
• Stone came into a bases-loaded situation in the second and got a strikeout to end the threat.
• He then scattered six hits and allowed two earned runs in his long relief appearance.
• Stone is now 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA and a .186 opponent’s batting average.
• Evan Stone connected on his first career grand slam in Saturday’s 16-11 win over the Eagles.
• Stone’s home run was part of a five-run second inning. Carolina went on to score seven runs in the third frame.
• Stone now has two home runs and seven RBI in 12 games played.

PETRY SHOOTS UP CAREER HOME RUN LIST

• Junior Ethan Petry will enter the Georgia State game with 49 home runs at Carolina, which has him in second 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 is 13 home runs away from tying Justin Smoak (2006-08) for the all-time mark.
• Petry had a three-run home run, part of a five-run eighth inning, in an 11-7 win over Morehead State on March 7.
• The junior is hitting .359 with six doubles, a triple, five home runs and leads the team with 20 RBI.

SEC LEADERS

• Tyler Pitzer is tied for the SEC lead with eight appearances on the mound this season. Parker Marlatt is tied for sixth with seven appearances.
• Brendan Sweeney is tied for second in the league with four saves.
• Jake McCoy is third in the SEC with 38 strikeouts.
• Nathan Hall is tied for second with 27 hits.

UP NEXT

• Carolina heads across town to Segra Park, home of the Columbia Fireflies, for a Tuesday night (March 18) game against College of Charleston.
• First pitch is at 6:30 p.m., and the game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.