Baseball . February 19, 2026

Baseball Hosts Salute the Troops Tournament This Weekend

Game Notes Live Audio (FRI and SUN) Live Audio (SAT) Live Video Live Stats Tournament Website

FOR STARTERS

Carolina hosts the Salute the Troops weekend tournament Feb. 20-22 at Founders Park. The Gamecocks face Army (Feb. 20), Navy (Feb. 21) and Air Force (Feb. 22) with the games starting at 2, 1 and 4 p.m., respectively.
All three games will be streamed on SEC Network Plus with Dave Weinstein and Grayson Greiner on the call.
All three games will be broadcast on the Gamecock Sports Network presented by Learfield with Derek Scott (Friday and Sunday), Cade Crenshaw (Saturday) 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. 13, 18 and 20 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 Games (Feb. 13, 18, 20)
Game time: 2 p.m.
Stadium opens: 1:00 p.m.
Business Lots Open: 5/5:30 p.m.
Lot 1, STDM, HDG PDGL Open: 11 a.m.

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

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

Sunday
Game Time: 11 a.m.
Stadium Opens: 10 a.m.
Business Lots Open: 11 a.m./11:30 a.m.
Lot 1, STDM, HDG PGDL Open: 9 a.m.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Friday
South Carolina Riley Goodman (R-Fr. RHP) 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.2 IP, 2 BB, 5 SO
Army Trey Atas (Sr. RHP) 0-0, 20.25 ERA, 1.1 IP, 4 BB, 0 SO

Saturday
South Carolina Amp Phillips (Jr. RHP) 0-0, 4.91 ERA, 3.2 IP, 3 BB, 7 SO
Navy Matt Archibald (Jr. RHP) 0-1, 3.60 ERA, 5.0 IP, 3 BB, 6 SO

Sunday
South Carolina Brandon Stone (Jr. RHP) 0-0, 2.25 ERA, 4.0 IP, 0 BB, 5 SO
Air Force Ethan Dillinger (Jr. LHP) 0-0, 13.50 ERA, 3.1 IP, 2 BB, 4 SO

PROMOTIONS
Founders Park will host Salute the Troops Weekend, honoring military service all weekend long. Fans can expect a special recognitions throughout the weekend along with military-focused activations on the concourse during the weekend from various branches of our military.

SALUTE THE TROOPS WEEKEND SLATE

Friday, Feb. 20

2 p.m. – South Carolina vs. Army West Point
6 p.m. – Air Force vs. Navy

Saturday, Feb. 21

1 p.m. – South Carolina vs. Navy
5 p.m. – Air Force vs. Army West Point

Sunday, Feb. 22

11 a.m. – Marshall vs. Navy
4 p.m. – South Carolina vs. Air Force

SCOUTING ARMY

The Black Knights opened their 2026 season last weekend at Clemson, falling in all three games.
Army lost 3-2 in the opener and had a 2-1 lead going into the eighth inning.
Carter Hewitt is off to a hot start for the Black Knights, hitting .400 with a pair of doubles.
On the mound, Andrew Berg went 6.1 innings, striking out four and allowing just two runs.
Chris Tracz is in his fourth season as head coach at Army. He guided the Black Knights to an NCAA Regional appearance in 2023 and 2024.

SCOUTING NAVY

The Midshipmen are off to a 3-1 start on the year, defeating Queens in 2-of-3 games and winning on Tuesday against Delaware State.
Victor Izquierdo has six hits, a triple and two home runs in four games this season.
On the mound, Owen Phypers struck out seven in five innings and earned the win in the final game of the Queens series.
Chuck Ristano is in his third season as head coach at Navy. His first team in 2023 went to the Patriot League championship series.

SCOUTING AIR FORCE

The Falcons are off to a 2-2 start in 2026, defeating Penn State and Connecticut and falling to Iowa and Kansas State in the Desert Invitational MLB Classic in Arizona.
Ben Niednagel is hitting .462 with a double, a home run and three RBI in four games.
On the mound, Gaines Estridge struck out four in six innings of work to earn the win over Penn State.
Mike Kazlausky is in his 16th season at Air Force. He is a 1991 graduate of the Academy, played for Paul Mainieri and was an assistant on his staff from 1993 to 1995.

SERIES VS. SALUTE THE TROOPS

Carolina will face Army and Air Force for the first time in school history this weekend.
The Gamecocks and Navy played once on May 3, 1920, with the Midshipmen coming away with a 6-1 win in Annapolis.
Carolina did face Air Force in a fall game before the 2025 season.

GAMECOCKS IN PRO PARKS

Carolina will play Tuesday against Wofford at Fifth Third Park, home of the Hub City Spartanburgers.
It’s the first of four games Carolina will play at a minor league stadium.
The Gamecocks face Clemson on Feb. 28 at Segra Park, home of the Columbia Fireflies.
They then face The Citadel at Riley Park, home of the Charleston Riverdogs, on March 10 and play North Carolina March 24 at Truist Field, home of the Charlotte Knights.

CRADDOCK MAKES QUITE THE DEBUT

Freshman infielder Will Craddock made his Carolina debut on Feb. 18 against Gardner-Webb and reached base all five times at the plate in the 12-2 win.
Craddock’s first two hits (a single to third and a triple to the gap in right) came off the bat at 100 and 108 mph, respectively.
He added another single in the fifth and walked his final two plate appearances.
The last Gamecock to reach base five times in a game was Blake Jackson against Florida in 2024.

BAK IN THE CLUTCH

Junior outfielder Tyler Bak came through with two clutch hits in Carolina’s 6-5 win over Northern Kentucky on Feb. 13.
With the Gamecocks down 2-1 in the seventh, Bak singled to bring home two runs, giving Carolina the 3-2 lead.
Then in the eighth, trailing 5-3, Bak’s two-run single tied the game at five, leading to KJ Scobey’s walk-off home run in the ninth.
Bak had four hits in the series to go with a .429 on-base percentage.
Bak belted his first home run as a Gamecock in the 12-2 win over Gardner-Webb.

GUNTHER STOPS THE NORSE

Junior pitcher Josh Gunther earned the win on Opening Day, pitching 4.2 innings of relief in a 5-2 win over Northern Kentucky.
Gunther struck out a career high seven batters, allowing just four hits with one walk and a pair of runs in the ninth.
It also was Gunther’s longest career outing.
Earlier in the week, Gunther was named to the NCBWA’s Stopper of the Year Watch List.

LECROY RETURNS FOR FIFTH SEASON

Catcher Talmadge LeCroy returns for his fifth year at Carolina in 2026 after missing the second half of last season due to injury.
LeCroy has played in 178 games in his Carolina career with 161 starts. If he plays in 242 games this season, LeCroy will become one of 17 Gamecocks to play in 200 games or more and the first to do it since Adam Matthews (2009-12).
LeCroy also is 17 walks away from cracking Carolina’s top-10 list in base on balls.
The Belton, S.C., native has 136 hits, 26 doubles, two triples, seven home runs and 87 RBI in the Garnet and Black, helping Carolina to a Super Regional berth in 2023.
LeCroy is hitting .421 with a home run and four RBI this season.

KJ MOVING TO SHORT FOR 2026

Sophomore KJ Scobey manned the hot corner last year, starting at third in 56 of Carolina’s 57 games in 2025.
Scobey will now move to shortstop this season, a position he played at Team USA training camp this summer and all through fall ball.
Scobey had 34 runs scored, seven doubles, eight home runs and 27 RBI in his freshman season.
Scobey had a walk-off double in Carolina’s 3-2 win over North Florida on April 22 and had a home run to lead off the ninth in the Gamecocks’ 6-5 win over No. 1 LSU on May 15.
Scobey spent the summer of 2025 in the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp in Cary, N.C. He had two hits in the Stars and Stripes exhibition on June 30.
In the second game of the 2026 season, Scobey hit a walk-off solo home run to start the bottom of the ninth, lifting Carolina to a 6-5 win.
Scobey is hitting .435 with two home runs and six RBI this year.

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