Baseball Travels to Lexington for Three-Game Set at Kentucky

FOR STARTERS

• Carolina heads to Lexington, Ky., for a three-game SEC series with Kentucky from April 25-27.
• Friday’s game starts at 6:30 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday’s contests at 4:30 and 1 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 and Stuart Lake on the call.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Friday
South Carolina Brandon Stone (So. RHP) 2-4, 4.93 ERA, 42.0 IP, 8 BB, 36 SO
Kentucky Nate Harris (Fr. RHP) 3-2, 4.67 ERA, 34.2 IP, 14 BB, 24 SO

Saturday
South Carolina Jake McCoy (So. LHP) 4-3, 6.44 ERA, 43.1 IP, 29 BB, 60 SO
Kentucky Nic McCay (Sr. RHP) 4-0, 3.08 ERA, 49.2 IP, 29 BB, 51 SO

Sunday
South Carolina TBA
Kentucky Ben Cleaver (So. LHP) 4-2, 2.83 ERA, 54.0 IP, 17 BB, 63 SO

SCOUTING KENTUCKY

• The Wildcats are coming off a 17-5, 7-inning win over Louisville on Tuesday night. Patrick Herrera drove in five runs and Ethan Walker struck out six in four innings in the win.
• Herrera leads the Wildcats with a .328 batting average while Cole Hage has a team-best nine home runs.
• On the mound, Ben Cleaver is 4-2 with a 2.83 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched.
• Nick Mingione is in his ninth season as head coach at Kentucky. He guided the Wildcats to a College World Series appearance last season.

SERIES VS. KENTUCKY

• Carolina has a 62-47 series advantage on Kentucky heading into Friday night’s game.
• Carolina won three of four meetings with the Wildcats last season.
• Blake Jackson hit a walk-off home run in game one of the series in Columbia. Dylan Eskew pitched 6.1 innings of shutout baseball in a 10-0, 7-inning win on Friday.
• Carolina then beat Kentucky, 6-5, in the SEC Tournament as Parker Marlatt struck out six in 3.2 innings of relief to earn the win.
• Kentucky has a 29-20 series advantage in games played in Lexington.

GAMECOCKS WALK OFF UNF

• KJ Scobey’s ground-rule double scored Jordan Carrion in the bottom of the 10th in a 3-2 win over North Florida.
• It was Carolina’s first walk-off win since the opening game of the 2024 Raleigh Regional when Will Tippett’s sacrifice fly scored Dylan Brewer in an 8-7, 10-inning win over James Madison.
• The win was Carolina’s first in extra innings this season. 

STONE GOES ALL NINE IN OLE MISS WIN

• Sophomore Brandon Stone went the distance in the 3-2 win over Ole Miss on April 17, striking out four and allowing two runs on six hits with no walks in nine innings.
• Stone needed just 86 pitches, with 61 of them for strikes, in the nine innings.
• It was Carolina’s first complete game since Noah Hall against Georgia in 2023 and first nine-inning complete game since Brett Kerry against Kentucky in 2021.
• The complete game was just the second nine-inning CG in the league this season (LSU’s Kade Anderson vs. Oklahoma).
• Stone’s defense was big as the Gamecocks turned three double plays, including one with a runner on and no one out in the ninth.
• Stone retired the first seven batters of the game and had four 1-2-3 frames.

OLE MISS SERIES NOTES

• Jake McCoy followed Stone’s performance was a great one of his own, striking out seven and allowing just three hits and a run in 6.1 innings in Friday’s 7-2 win.
• Junior Henry Kaczmar reached on base safely in 21 straight games after his single to lead off the fourth on Thursday.
• Beau Hollins belted his fourth home run of the season on Saturday. He now has 16 RBI in 31 games played on the year.
• Carolina turned six double plays in the three games this weekend.

HALL OF HITTING

• Nathan Hall continues to have a stellar junior season for the Gamecocks.
• Hall has a .353 batting average to go along with seven home runs and 34 RBI.
• Hall leads the team with 12 steals, which is tied for seventh in the SEC, and has added 10 doubles.
• In the game against Ole Miss on April 18, Hall homered and drove in three runs, including a big two-run single in the eighth to give the Gamecocks insurance.

FROSH AT THE CORNERS

• Freshmen KJ Scobey and Beau Hollins are manning the corners for Carolina this season.
• Scobey has played in 41 games this season and is hitting .254 with four home runs and 16 RBI. He also has committed just four errors at third base.
• Hollins had four hits in games against Tennessee and Mississippi State and currently has a .318 batting average with 22 runs scored.
• The duo is joined by fellow freshman Gavin Braland, who had an RBI single in the 3-2 win over Ole Miss on April 17.

PETRY SHOOTS UP CAREER HOME RUN LIST

• Junior Ethan Petry will enter the Kentucky 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 .333 with 10 doubles, a triple, 10 home runs and is tied for the team lead with 34 RBI.