Baseball . April 8, 2026

Baseball Travels to Missouri for Thursday-Saturday Series

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FOR STARTERS

Carolina heads to Columbia, Mo., for a three-game set at Missouri.
The series is a Thursday-Saturday set beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Central) on April 9.
Friday’s game starts at 7 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. Central) with Saturday’s game at 3 p.m. Eastern (2 p.m. Central).
Thursday’s game will be televised on ESPNU with Friday and Saturday’s games on SEC Network Plus.
All three games also will be broadcast on the Gamecock Sports Network presented by Learfield with Derek Scott and Cade Crenshaw on the call.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Thursday
South Carolina Brandon Stone (Jr. RHP) 3-1, 3.11 ERA, 37.2 IP, 13 BB, 36 SO
Missouri Josh McDevitt (Jr. RHP) 3-2, 3.66 ERA, 39.1 IP, 26 BB, 52 SO

Friday
South Carolina Amp Phillips (Jr. RHP) 2-4, 2.59 ERA, 41.2 IP, 21 BB, 46 SO
Missouri Brady Kehlenbrink (So. LHP) 3-4, 7.78 ERA, 39.1 IP, 16 BB, 49 SO

Saturday
South Carolina TBA
Missouri LHP TBA

SCOUTING MISSOURI

The Tigers are coming off a 5-2 win over Missouri State on Tuesday night.
Donovan Jordan homered and drove in three in the win over the Bears.
Blaize Ward leads Missouri with a .360 batting average while Jase Woita has a team-best six home runs.
On the mound, Josh McDevitt has a team-leading 52 strikeouts in eight starts to go along with a 3.66 ERA.
Kerrick Jackson is in his third season as head coach at Missouri. He was an assistant coach with the Tigers from 2011-15 and has been a head coach at Southern and Memphis.

SERIES VS. MISSOURI

Carolina holds a 22-14 series advantage on Missouri heading into Thursday’s game.
The two teams last played in 2024, with the Gamecocks winning 2-of-3 games.
Cole Messina and Blake Jackson had three hits apiece in the 9-4 win in the series finale in 2024.
Carolina is 7-11 all-time against Missouri in CoMo.

PITCHING SOLID IN TEXAS SERIES

The Gamecock pitching staff combined for a 2.33 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched in the three-game series against No. 2 Texas.
In the 9-1 win over the Longhorns on Thursday, Alex Valentin, Zach Russell and Alex Philpott combined to strike out 12 and allow just six hits with only three walks.
Brandon Stone pitched seven innings of relief in Friday’s game, allowing just two runs while striking out six.
Cooper Parks pitched in two of the games and had five strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched.
Amp Phillips had eight strikeouts in 4.2 innings, allowing just one earned run.

TEXAS SERIES NOTES

The Gamecocks had five home runs in the three games, two from Talmadge LeCroy.
Will Craddock was 4-for-9 in the series with a double and a home run.
Patrick Evans had three hits, a triple and a home run in the 9-1 win on Thursday.
Carolina outscored Texas in the three-game set, 13-10.

STONE’S LIKE A ROCK

Junior Brandon Stone earned his third win of the season in a 9-4 victory over Arkansas on March 22.
Stone struck out five in 5.1 innings pitched, allowing five hits and two runs.
Stone pitched seven innings of relief against Texas on April 3. He allowed just two runs while striking out six Longhorns in a no-decision.
Stone is now 3-1 on the year with a 3.11 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 37.2 innings pitched.
Stone now has five career wins in Columbia with 82 strikeouts at Carolina.

AMP’D UP

Amp Phillips did not allow an earned run in Carolina’s game at No. 23 Florida on Saturday night (March 14).
Phillips pitched six innings for the Gamecocks and allowed five hits with three strikeouts.
Phillips then went seven strong innings against Arkansas on March 21, striking out six and allowing one run on three hits.
Phillips struck out a season high nine batters in six innings of work at Georgia on March 28.
Phillips has two wins on the season to go along with a 2.59 ERA and a .189 opponent’s batting average.

CRADDOCK NAMED SEC FROSH OF THE WEEK

Freshman infielder Will Craddock was named the SEC Co-Freshman of the Week on Monday, Feb. 23 after his debut in a Carolina uniform.
Craddock went 8-for-15 with nine runs scored, two doubles, a triple, two home runs, two walks and six RBI to help lead the Gamecocks to four wins last week.
He was a perfect 3-for-3 and reached base safely in all five of his plate appearance in the Gardner-Webb win on Wednesday.
In the win over Navy on Saturday, he opened the first with a leadoff home run and added a two-run double. Craddock had four RBI in the game.
Then on Sunday in the win over Air Force, Craddock once again led off the Carolina first with a home run. He also added a double in the 4-2 win.
Craddock becomes the first Gamecock to win Freshman of the Week honors since Tyler Pitzer in 2024.
Craddock is hitting .308 with eight doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 23 RBI with a .598 slugging percentage this season.

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 207 games in his Carolina career with 190 starts. LeCroy is 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 tied for seventh all-time in walks at Carolina with 125 free passes.
The Belton, S.C., native has 168 hits, 30 doubles, two triples, 14 home runs and 108 RBI in the Garnet and Black, helping Carolina to a Super Regional berth in 2023.
LeCroy belted his first career grand slam in a win over Princeton on March 8.
LeCroy is hitting .278 with seven home runs and is third on the team with 21 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 .285 with 15 doubles, four home runs and 20 RBI.
Scobey leads the SEC with 15 doubles this season.

UP NEXT

Carolina starts a nine-game homestand on Tuesday night (April 14) against Davidson.
First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
The game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.