Gamecocks begin SEC play Friday against Vandy
After getting it stripped away from them last year, South Carolina will play its first SEC baseball game in almost two years Friday night.
The Gamecocks (11-4) take on Vanderbilt on the road starting Friday night as they begin SEC play this weekend.
South Carolina enters on a little bit of a skid, losers of four straight and coming off getting swept on the road at Texas last weekend, and this weekend offers a good chance for the Gamecocks to get wins against a top five Commodore team.
Game times (ET): 7:30 p.m. (SECN-Plus), Noon (SEC Network), 2 p.m. (SECN-Plus)
Probable starting pitchers
Friday: RHP Thomas Farr (2-0, 1.54 ERA) vs. RHP Kumar Rocker (4-0, 0.00 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Brannon Jordan (1-1, 3.50 ERA) vs. RHP JackLeiter (4-0, 0.45 ERA)
Sunday: LHP Julian Bosnic (1-1, 3.46 ERA) vs. RHP Thomas Schultz (1-2, 6.00 ERA)
Also see: Insider notes from South Carolina's defensive line recruiting
Scouting Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt is coming off taking two of three against Oklahoma State and a midweek win over Belmont and is ranked as high as No. 2 in the polls this weekend and as low as No. 3. The Commodores have been the class of college baseball the last few years and, since there was no champion last season, Vanderbilt is the last team to win a title in the sport.
The Commodores (13-2) are headed up by arguably the best pitching staff in the country led by the two-headed monster of Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter. The two have combined for 67 strikeouts to just 18 walks and are two guys who could go in the top 10 of this year's MLB Draft.
Vanderbilt's staff has a team ERA of 2.42 in 134 innings, giving up 36 runs with 184 strikeouts, 52 walks and 83 hits.
Also see: PFF breakdown of the Gamecocks' defensive back room
The two teams are comparable in fielding percentage—South Carolina at .973 and Vanderbilt at .974—but Vanderbilt is slashing .320/.439/.555 on the year, all three marks better than South Carolina.
It's an offense that likes to hit for power with 23 home runs, seven triples and 38 doubles but as a team the 'Dores have stolen 22 bases in 23 attempts.
Jayson Gonzalez has played in all but one game this year and is slashing .372/.509/.581 while three players on the team have four home runs.
Offensive output
It's been a struggle for the Gamecocks offensively during this four-game losing streak with the team hitting .229 over this stretch with power not coming as frequently as it was earlier in the season.
Also see: Latest scoop on the men's basketball program
The Gamecocks have struggled with runners on and runners on base during this mini-skid, hitting 13-for-65 (.200) with runners on and 7-for-42 (.167) and have stranded 34 runners on base the last four games.
“It’s just a matter of getting hits," Mark Kingston said. "At the end of the day, we did it for 11 games straight and now for four games we haven’t done it as well."
