Baseball Hosts Ole Miss Starting Thursday Night

FOR STARTERS

• Carolina continues its homestand this weekend, facing Ole Miss in a three-game set starting Thursday night (April 17).
• Thursday’s game will start at 6:30 p.m., with Friday and Saturday’s games at 4 and 2 p.m., respectively.
• 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, Stuart Lake and Cade Crenshaw 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.

Thursday
Game Time: 6:30 p.m.
Stadium Opens: 5:30 p.m.
Business Lots Open: 4:30/5 p.m.
Lot 1, STDM, HDG PGDL Open: 4:30 p.m.

Friday
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.

Saturday
Game Time: 2 p.m.
Stadium Opens: 1 p.m.
Business Lots Open: 12/12:30 p.m.
Lot 1, STDM, HDG PGDL Open: 12 p.m.

PROMOTIONS SCHEDULE
Thursday – Wii Sports Night (Free Poster Giveaway)
Saturday – Postgame Easter Egg Hunt

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Thursday
South Carolina Brandon Stone (So. RHP) 1-4, 5.73 ERA, 33.0 IP, 8 BB, 32 SO
Ole Miss Hunter Elliott (R-Jr. LHP) 5-1, 3.92 ERA, 43.2 IP, 21 BB, 53 SO

Friday
South Carolina Jake McCoy (So. LHP) 3-3, 7.30 ERA, 37.0 IP, 26 BB, 53 SO
Ole Miss Riley Maddox (Sr. RHP) 4-2, 5.75 ERA, 36.0 IP, 16 BB, 36 SO

Saturday
South Carolina TBA
Ole Miss Mason Nichols (Sr. RHP) 2-0, 4.54 ERA, 35.2 IP, 10 BB, 41 SO

SCOUTING OLE MISS

• The Rebels are coming off a 7-3 loss to Little Rock on Tuesday morning. Luke Hill had three hits to lead Ole Miss’ offense.
• Hill had a .367 batting average to lead the Rebels, while Judd Utermark has a team-best 11 home runs.
• On the mound, Hunter Elliott is 5-1 with a 3.92 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 43.2 innings pitched.
• Connor Spencer has three saves for Ole Miss with a 0.66 ERA and a .128 opponent’s batting average.
• Mike Bianco is in his 25th season as head coach at Ole Miss. He guided the Rebels to the 2022 national championship.

SERIES VS. OLE MISS

• Carolina has a 40-29 series advantage on Ole Miss heading into Thursday’s game.
• The two teams met last season with Ole Miss winning 2-of-3 games. In the Sunday 6-2 win, Talmadge LeCroy went 3-for-5 and Matthew Becker struck out four in 5.1 innings of relief.
• Carolina won 2-of-3 games in Columbia in 2022, walking off the Rebels 9-8 in the series finale on a Jalen Vasquez sacrifice fly in the ninth.
• Carolina is 22-11 in games played against Ole Miss in Columbia. 

HALL OF HITTING

• Nathan Hall continues to have a stellar junior season for the Gamecocks.
• Hall has a .355 batting average to go along with five home runs and 28 RBI.
• Hall leads the team with 11 steals, which is tied for six in the SEC, and has added nine doubles.
• In the game against Arkansas March 23, Hall led off the game with a home run and had three hits on the day.
• It was the first time a Gamecock led off a game with a home run since Will McGillis in the 2023 Gainesville Super Regional.

CROWTHER SETS ‘EM DOWN

• Sophomore Ashton Crowther has retired 14 of the last 15 hitters he has faced in the last two appearances.
• In the game against Texas A&M on April 10, Crowther retired all seven batters he faced with a pair of strikeouts.
• He then went 2.1 innings on April 15 against The Citadel, allowing just one hit with one strikeout.
• Crowther has pitched in 17.1 innings this season, striking out 14 batters and having a 2.39 opponent’s batting average.

KACZMAR CONTINUES TO HIT IN SEC PLAY

• Junior Henry Kaczmar is hitting .378 in 15 SEC games this season.
• The shortstop hit a pair of home runs in Saturday’s game against Mississippi State and now has four on the season.
• Kaczmar is 17-for-45 in conference games and leads the team with 12 RBI in SEC contests.
• Overall, Kaczmar is hitting .301 with 22 RBI and 22 runs scored and has reached base safely in the last 20 games.

FROSH AT THE CORNERS

• Freshmen KJ Scobey and Beau Hollins are manning the corners for Carolina this season.
• Scobey had four hits and three runs scored in the series against Oklahoma and added four hits in the Arkansas series.
• Scobey has played in 37 games this season and is hitting .254 with four home runs and 15 RBI. He also has committed just three errors at third base.
• Hollins had four hits in games against Tennessee and Mississippi State and currently has a .319 batting average with 20 runs scored.
• The duo is joined by fellow freshman Gavin Braland, who had an RBI single in the 4-0 win over The Citadel on April 15.

PETRY SHOOTS UP CAREER HOME RUN LIST

• Junior Ethan Petry will enter the Ole Miss series with 54 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 eight home runs away from tying Justin Smoak (2006-08) for the all-time mark.
• Petry had a solo home run in the third inning in the 8-7 loss at Texas A&M on April 10.
• The junior is hitting .346 with nine doubles, a triple, 10 home runs and leads the team with 34 RBI.

UP NEXT

• The Gamecocks wrap up their five-game homestand on Tuesday, April 22, when Carolina hosts UNF.
• First pitch at Ray Tanner Field at Founders Park is set for 6:30 p.m.
• The game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.