Who: South Carolina v. UNC Greensboro
Time/TV: 4:00 pm Friday, 12:30 Saturday, 1:30 Sunday, all games will stream live on SEC Network Plus.
Starting Pitchers: Friday, Will Sanders (6-3, 3.54 ERA, 54Ks, 11 BB, .243 OBA) v. Austin Koehn (4-3, 5.24 ERA, 52Ks, 20 BB, .284 OBA), Saturday, James Hicks (first appearance as a Gamecock) v. Jared Mathewson (3-3, 5.09 ERA, 21Ks, 14 BBs, .258 OBA), Sunday, Josiah Sightler (1-0, 4.70 ERA, 8Ks, 2 BB, .333 OBA) v. Austin Parsley (8-2, 3.30 ERA, 62Ks, 8 BB, .261 OBA)
History: Not much. South Carolina and UNCG opened the 2017 season at Founders Park with the Gamecocks taking 2 of 3.
Last Meeting: February 19, 2017, UNCG 1-0. South Carolina won the series 2-1.
Getting to know the Spartans
The Spartans are led by skipper Billy Godwin. Godwin is no stranger to longtime fans of Carolina baseball as he was at the helm of East Carolina's program for 9 years. In 2009, South Carolina's season ended in regional play to Godwin's Pirates. The following year, ECU took two of three against a Gamecock team that went on to some pretty, pretty, preeeettyyyy, good things during the remainder of the 2010 season.
This year it is clear that Godwin's strategy is to steal the Sunday game as he is throwing his best arm in the series finale. Austin Parsley is a preseason 2nd team All Southern Conference selection. Parsley primarily came out of the pen last year, yet he logged more innings than all other Spartans with the exception of Friday night starter Austin Koehn. Parsley has good movement on his fastball and has plus control of all of his pitches.
The Spartan were picked to finish 5th of 8 in the Southern Conference by league coaches. At the plate, watch for 2nd baseman Hogan Windish. Windish hit .280 with 10 bombs last season. Like Parsley, he was tabbed as a 2nd team All Southern Conference selection.
For the Gamecocks
Expect to see Mark Kingston tinker with the starting lineup early this season, with the hopes of having it nailed down by the Texas series. The DH and CF spots are up for grabs as is almost every spot in the batting order. Gamecock fans should be excited to get their first glimpse of shortstop Michael Braswell. Braswell has a chance to be the next in a long line of standout players at the position for the Garnet and Black.
With what lies ahead, the Gamecocks need to pad their W/L record in February. A sweep is needed but a series win this weekend is a must against a squad that is far less talented than Carolina.
