BSB: Gamecocks host Vanderbilt as second half of schedule begins

WHAT: Vanderbilt (19-11, 4-5) at South Carolina (20-8, 6-3)

WHERE: Founders Park (8,242), Columbia, SC

WHEN: Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at noon.

RADIO/TV: Thursday – SEC Network, Friday – ESPNU, Saturday – ESPN2 (Tom Hart and Kyle Peterson); Gamecocks IMG Radio Network with Derek Scott and Tommy Moody (107.5 FM in Columbia).

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS:

Friday: USC Jr. RHP Wil Crowe (3-1, 3.00 ERA, 42.0 IP) vs. VAN So. RHP Patrick Raby (4-3, 2.47 ERA, 43.2 IP)

Saturday: USC Jr. RHP Clarke Schmidt (4-0, 0.90 ERA, 40.0 IP) vs. VAN Jr. RHP Kyle Wright (1-4, 5.59 ERA, 37.0 IP)

Sunday: USC So. RHP Adam Hill (1-3, 2.36 ERA, 34.1 IP) vs. VAN Fr. RHP Drake Fellows (3-0, 2.00 ERA, 36.0 IP)

South Carolina begins the second half of the 2017 regular season schedule one game behind Kentucky (7-2) in the SEC East standings, so every win or loss could be the difference in terms of seeding for the SEC Tournament in late May.

The Gamecocks and Commodores have combined for three national titles and five appearances in the College World Series championship series since 2010, and now renew one of the SEC’s best baseball rivalries.

With college hoops over, all three games will be televised by one of the ESPN platforms, beginning with the SEC Network on Thursday night.

Adding to the excitement of the weekend was Wednesday’s announcement that Gamecocks basketball star Sindarius Thornwell and women’s coach Dawn Staley, who led her team to the national title last weekend, will throw out ceremonial first pitches this weekend – Thornwell on Thursday and Staley on Saturday.

Despite the heartbreaking series loss at Auburn last weekend, Chad Holbrook likes where his team is positioned – one game behind the best record in the SEC after three weekends. The next five weekends, though, features conference matchups against Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, at Florida, Kentucky and at LSU.

In short, if the Gamecocks are still factors in the conference race five weeks from now, they would have earned it.

“We’ve won 20 games against a very difficult schedule,” Holbrook said Tuesday night following USC’s win over Furman. “Maybe we could have won a couple more (games) here and there, but we’re in a good spot. We have a lot to play for. All the goals we have set are still in front of us.

“The players have put us in a pretty good position for the next 28 (games). Obviously, we have some big-time opponents on the schedule going forward. I feel good about where we are. We’re meshing a little bit and we have the chemistry thing going.””

The Gamecocks have won 13 of their last 16 games.

As the Gamecocks and Vanderbilt prepare for baseball battle, one question loom over the series – will USC’s hard-throwing closer Tyler Johnson return to the mound after being out about a month with a sore arm? His last appearance was against Clemson on March 4 in Greenville.

However, the Gamecocks have continued to thrive on the mound. They currently lead the SEC with a 2.72 team ERA and .216 opponent batting average. They have allowed just 201 hits with 281 strikeouts in 254.2 innings pitched.

As expected, leading the charge is junior Clarke Schmidt, who has been brilliant since missing his regularly scheduled Friday night start at Tennessee, allowing just 8 hits and 1 run with 15 strikeouts and 3 walks in 14.0 innings pitched against Alabama and Auburn. He tossed 8.0 shutout innings on the Plains last Saturday.

The Gamecocks are 6-0 on the year in games started by Schmidt.

Redshirt junior Wil Crowe made his first Friday night start of the season last week at Auburn and is scheduled to make another Game 1 start against Vanderbilt. He has 42 strikeouts and 14 walks in 47.0 IP with a .213 OBA.

Vanderbilt has compiled an interesting record so far this year; Tuesday night‘s 11-0 win over Tennessee-Martin improves the ‘Dores to 9-0 in midweek games. Yet, they are just 10-11 in weekend games.

The Commodores have lost two of their first three SEC series, dropping three-game sets to Ole Miss and Kentucky and beating Texas A&M.

Three Vanderbilt everyday starters are batting above .300 – Julian Infante (.364), Jeren Kendall (.323) and Will Toffey (.318). Game 1 mound starter Patrick Raby doesn’t blow batters away with overpowering stuff (42 Ks in 43.2 IP) but he has allowed just eight extra-base hits (just one HR) and opponents are batting just .190 against him. So, he does a good job pitching to contact.

NOTES

-- The Gamecocks are No. 7 in the NCAA Baseball RPI through games of April 4. They are also ranked in the Top 12 in every major national poll, including No. 6 by Perfect game and No. 9 in the USA Today Coaches poll.

-- After a slow start, freshman Carlos Cortes has rained his batting average to .261 (12-46) following a huge weekend at the plate against Auburn. He hit .455 (5-for-11) with six RBI against the Tigers. Cortes tripled, hit a grand slam and drove in five runs in Saturday’s 7-0 win at Auburn. He was also 3-for-4 with a RBI in last Friday’s 5-4 loss at Auburn. Cortes has started seven games at DH and four in left.

-- Sophomore infielder LT Tolbert enters the Vanderbilt series as the Gamecocks leading hitter with a .333 batting average (31-for-93). Defensively, Tolbert has yet to commit an error at second base as he is fielding 1.000 with 29 putouts and 55 assists. Tolbert and Olson are tied for the team lead with nine multi-hit games. Tolbert carries a six-game hitting streak into the Vanderbilt series. Tolbert is hitting a team-best .343 (12-for-35) in SEC games. “He’s been confident and aggressive swinging the bat,” Holbrook said. “He’s attacking the ball. He is not on his heels at all. His mindset is a lot different compare to last year. He was very defensive at times last year (at the plate). Now he’s in attack mode.”

-- Friday is First Responders Night as USC honors Columbia area first responders at Founders Park.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP:

C – Chris Cullen (.294)

1B – Matt Williams (.310)

2B – L.T. Tolbert (.333)

3B – Jonah Bride (.323)

SS – Madison Stokes (.191)

LF – Alex Destino (.286)

CF – T.J. Hopkins (.258) OR Danny Blair (.250)

RF – Jacob Olson (.304)

DH – Carlos Cortes (.261)

SEC BASEBALL SCHEDULE (April 6-9)

Vanderbilt at South Carolina (Thur-Sat)

Missouri at Georgia (Thur-Sat)

Tennessee at Florida

Kentucky at Mississippi State

Alabama at Ole Miss

LSU at Arkansas

Auburn at Texas A&M

(All 3-Game Series; All Fri-Sun unless indicated otherwise)

SEC EAST STANDINGS (As of April 5)

Kentucky 7-2

South Carolina 6-3

Missouri 4-4

Florida 4-4

Vanderbilt 4-5

Georgia 3-6

Tennessee 1-8

GAMECOCKS 2017 SEC SCHEDULE/RESULTS:

March 17-19 at Tennessee, W 3-0

March 24-26 ALABAMA, W 2-1

March 31-April 2 at Auburn, L 1-2

April 6-8 VANDERBILT

April 14-16 MISSISSIPPI STATE

April 20-22 at Florida

April 28-30 KENTUCKY

May 5-7 at LSU

May 12-14 at Missouri

May 18-20 GEORGIA

May 23-28 SEC Tournament (at Hoover, Ala.)