Who: #20 South Carolina (12-1) vs USC Upstate (7-6), at Flour Field in Greenville
Time/TV: 6:30 pm streaming on ESPN+. This is different from SEC Network+, if you don't have a separate subscription for ESPN+ you are listening to Tommy Moody and Stuart Lake tonight on the radio.
Projected Starting Pitchers: Matthew Becker (So. LHP) 1-0, 9.00 ERA, 4.0 IP, 2 BB, 7Ks, .235 BAA. vs. Mathieu Curtis (Fr. RHP) 2-0, 1.86 ERA, 9.2 IP, 5 BB, 6Ks, .263 BAA. Curtis is a freshman from Tega Cay, South Carolina. Curtis came on in relief in the third inning of the Spartans' win over Clemson last week. A game that was also contested at Flour Field. The freshman picked up the win by pitching four innings giving up six hits and one run on two walks and a strikeout. Curtis took Fort Mill High School to the 2022 South Carolina High School League 5A Upper State Championship and was named All-SCHSL 5A and All-SCHSL 5A Region 3 as a senior in 2022.
History: The Gamecocks have a 13-1 series advantage on USC Upstate heading into Wednesday’s game, but Upstate won the last meeting in Columbia. The two schools also met at Flour Field in 2016, with Carolina prevailing 12-6.
Last Meeting: May 10, 2022. Upstate 9-6. The Spartans used a big 4th inning to pick their first win over the Gamecocks.
Scouting the Spartans
The Spartans have had an up-and-down season, they were swept by Troy this past weekend and lost to Sacred Heart last night, but defeated Clemson in Fluor Field last Tuesday night. Noah Rabon and Cole Caruso had two RBI apiece in that win. Daniel Gernon is hitting .375 this season while Grant Sherrod has three home runs and 13 RBI. Sherrod is hitting .351. Both players have OPS over 1.100. The Gamecocks don't want to get down going into the late innings. Upstate's best pitcher is reliever, Noah Sullivan. The sophomore two-way star has thrown 10.1 innings allowing only four hits while striking out 11. Opponents are hitting only .118 against Sullivan.
The Spartans are only hitting .263 as a team. Upstate was predicted to finish second by the Big South coaches in the conference's preseason poll, behind reigning champion, Campbell. Upstate is presently #155 in the RPI. (Wofford is actually #1).
