Everything you need to know: Dayton series
After almost 365 days, it's officially baseball season in Columbia.
The Gamecocks kick off their season Friday at 4 p.m. against Dayton, heading into the year with the most buzz around the program since Mark Kingston took over.
South Carolina returns the majority of last year's squad with a top 10 recruiting class on campus as well.
Before things get started, though, here's everything you need to know about the big day.
Game times (TV)
Friday: 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Saturday: 1 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Sunday: Noon (SEC Network Plus)
Also see: More insider notes on the 2021 football recruiting class
Probable pitching rotation (South Carolina listed first)
Friday: RHP Thomas Farr (3-0, 1.72 ERA) vs. LHP Hunter Wolfe (1-1, 3.10 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Brannon Jordan (2-0, 1.71 ERA) vs. LHP Ben Olson (1-1, 4.15 ERA)
Sunday: LHP Julian Bosnic (2-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Cole Pletka (2-2, 5.59 ERA)
Scouting Dayton
Last season Dayton finished 6-8 with a RPI of 267 but the Flyers are picked third in the Atlantic 10 with a draft prospect in third baseman Riley Tirotta, who hit .228/.323/.333 in a shortened season.
The pitching rotation includes two lefties who can present issues, and the Gamecocks will have to deal with a few other solid hitters in their opening weekend matchup.
Positive projections
Buzz around the program has been building all offseason thanks to the Gamecocks returning a big chunk of talent from last season while mixing in a top 10 recruiting class.
Because of that, the Gamecocks are ranked as high as 18th in the two major polls—D1 Baseball and Baseball America—with both outlets projecting the Gamecocks as two-seeds in the tournament. Baseball America has the Gamecocks traveling to Duke while D1 Baseball puts them as a No. 2 seed in the Texas Tech regional.
Also see: The latest with running back Jaylon Glover
Leading off
There are still a few questions on who will start opening day and where, but one thing is for certain: Brady Allen will be in the outfield and hitting in the leadoff spot.
“He’s developed into one of the better hitters in our conference and in the country. He’s strong. He’s mature. He takes really professional at-bats. He gets on base at a high clip; his on base percentage is in a really good spot. But he can also jolt you with some power out of the leadoff spot. To me, he’s the best guy we have for that right now.”
Allen, who was a top 500 prospect coming out of high school, led the Gamecocks in batting average last season, ending a shortened year slashing .327/.459/.571 with 11 runs scored.
It’s a newer role for Allen, who hadn’t hit leadoff much in his career until now, but feels ready for the challenge.
“Over the fall and carrying over to the spring scrimmages I felt like I reached base a lot. I had that low strikeout to high walk ratio,” Allen said. “That’s big with the sluggers behind me and the great hitters we have. Just get on base and get in scoring position—hopefully stealing some bases—and giving some RBI opportunities to the guys behind me.”
Also see: Instant analysis from Wednesday's hoops loss
Finding success
South Carolina’s non-conference schedule is loaded, including Clemson and a top 15 Texas team on the road. Obviously winning the series is the ultimate goal, but the Gamecocks have things they’d like to see on the field to feel good about opening weekend outside of three wins.
“I want to see our guys play at the top of their game. I want to see guys be intense but relaxed. They haven’t played for a long, long time,” Kingston said. “I don’t want them to be too ramped up or hyped up. I want them to manage their emotions. I want them to play with emotions but not be emotional. That’s something we’ve talked about a lot. I want to see us play good baseball.”
The Gamecocks haven’t played in almost a year, and dealing with emotions will be a priority, but players want to do the simple stuff right.
“Limiting errors will be huge with our pitchers going in and doing what they do best which is shoving, throwing strikes and getting outs with our hitters putting the ball in play hard,” Allen said. “If we do that I think we’ll be very well rounded and ready to go.”
But, even if the Gamecocks can’t go out and do all of the things at a micro level they want to see, the ultimate goal is to win and sweep.
“A successful weekend is winning the series,” Wes Clarke said. “Then getting to see different roles and how people play in games opposed to scrimmages. I think we’ll find out a lot about our team this weekend.”
Also see: Breaking down the baseball roster before opening day
Pitching plans
The names in South Carolina’s rotation weren’t a shock but the Gamecocks have their three starters for the weekend in Farr, Jordan and Bosnic.
They’ll all throw around 80 to 85 pitches this weekend with the hope they’ll be full-tilt by the Clemson series next weekend. Outside of that, there’s no set plan of who will pitch out of the bullpen.
“We’ll go with the game flow,” Kingston said. “A lot will have to do with your starting pitchers. The further they go in the game the less the bullpen will be used. If they get to their pitch counts early then you’ll see more guys. A lot of that will have to do with how those starters.”
