Inside South Carolina Gamecock baseball's hot start to 2021 season

in other news

Gamecocks Land 4-Star Fort Mill ATH Sequel Patterson

Fort Mill, SC native Sequel Patterson has officially committed to South Carolina, choosing the Gamecocks over finalists

• Caleb Alexander

Re-Ranking the Wins of the Beamer Era- Part I

Part 1 of 5

• Stephen Anderson

Collin Murray-Boyles Selected Ninth Overall by Toronto

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – All-SEC sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles was selected No. 9 overall in the first round by the

• Caleb Alexander

Early Football Previews and Predictions: Game Nine at Ole Miss

South Carolina travels to Oxford on November 1st to face Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for what promises to be a

• Caleb Alexander

Watkins, Matthews High On Gamecocks At Rivals Five Star Event

Sam Spiegelman with more.

• Caleb Alexander

in other news

Gamecocks Land 4-Star Fort Mill ATH Sequel Patterson

Fort Mill, SC native Sequel Patterson has officially committed to South Carolina, choosing the Gamecocks over finalists

• Caleb Alexander

Re-Ranking the Wins of the Beamer Era- Part I

Part 1 of 5

• Stephen Anderson

Collin Murray-Boyles Selected Ninth Overall by Toronto

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – All-SEC sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles was selected No. 9 overall in the first round by the

• Caleb Alexander

Published Mar 9, 2021

Inside South Carolina's hot start

Collyn Taylor • GamecockScoop

Beat Writer

@collyntaylor

South Carolina is off to its best start under Mark Kingston and the best start in half a decade.

The Gamecocks are taking a perfect 10-0 record into the final week of non-conference play, getting off to one of the faster starts this decade with another tough test looming on the weekend.

Before South Carolina starts its four-game week against The Citadel and Texas, here's a look at how the Gamecocks got off to its fast start and some numbers that help explain the hot start out of the gate.

The skinny

South Carolina is a perfect 10-0 to start the season with a big week coming up with a midweek game Wednesday at The Citadel before hitting the road for a big series at No. 19/20 Texas in Austin.

Also see: Latest recruiting scoop, more on what's next at QB

South Carolina started the season by sweeping Dayton, then taking care of Winthrop before walking off Clemson twice to win the series. After annihilating Winthrop again, they came back home to sweep Mercer with some dominating pitching performances.

They've outscored teams 81-29 on the year and have allowed five or fewer runs eight times this year.

They come into this week ranked No. 10 by Baseball America and No. 12 by D1Baseball with an RPI of 13 through the first three weekends of the season.

They have five wins over RPI top 50 teams (Clemson at 49 and Mercer at 36) with match ups against The Citadel (232) and Texas (64) this weekend.

The last time it happened

South Carolina is off to its best start since 2016 when the Gamecocks started 10-0 before losing a game to Clemson. The Gamecocks ended that year 46-18, 20-9 in the SEC and won the SEC East. That team would ultimately host a regional and make it to a Super Regional before losing to Oklahoma State.

It's tied for the fifth-best start since 2000. That 2000 team started a whopping 22-0 and is still the best start a Gamecock team has ever had. Here's a list of the best starts since 2000 and how each season ended:

Also see: Thoughts and observation from the Mercer sweep

2000: 22-0 (SEC Regional Season Champion, Super Regional)

2004: 18-0 (SEC Tournament Champion, College World Series)

2014: 16-0 (Regional)

2001: 13-0 (Super Regional)

2005: 10-0 (Regional)

2016: 10-0 (Super Regional)

2021: 10-0 (TBD)

Dating back to last season, the Gamecocks have won 15 straight games, the longest since starting the 2014 with 16 straight.

On the mound

The pitching staff was projected as a strength this preseason and it's held true at least through 10 games. The Gamecocks to start the year have a team ERA of 2.54, the 18th-best mark nationally, and are sixth in the country in hit's allowed per nine innings (5.28) and second in strikeouts per nine innings at 13.8.

As a staff, only two pitchers have allowed more than three earned runs this season and the Gamecock pitchers have a .168 batting average against.

They are allowing 4.2 walks per game, though and have hit nine batters with seven wild pitches.

The starting rotation and starters—Thomas Farr, Brannon Jordan, Julian Bosnic primarily—have been really good this year but the bullpen has been lights-out, especially as of late.

Here's how the staff breakdown looks:

Starters: 45 IP, 27 H, 10 ER, 25 BB, 71 K, 61.8 strike percentage, 2.00 ERA, 1.16 WHIP

Bullpen: 47 IP, 31 H, 16 ER, 20 BB, 70, 63.4 strike percentage, 3.06 ERA, 1.09 WHIP

Also see: Part IV of the Inside the Class series

At the plate

Outside of a tough match up against Mercer, the Gamecocks have been productive at the plate. Right now the Gamecocks are slashing .317/.413/.575 and are top 35 in all three categories.

They rank seventh nationally in slugging percentage, 20th in batting average and 33rd in on base percentage while averaging 8.1 runs per game.

Through 10 games, which is a very limited sample size, the Gamecocks have nine players who are hitting at least .300 and five players with at least 30 at-bats hitting that mark: Wes Clarke (.471), Braylen Wimmer (.429), Brady Allen (.375), Andrew Eyster (.341) and David Mendham (.316).

South Carolina is striking out at a higher rate compared to last season's 16 games—albeit another small sample size—and averaging more strikeouts per game but hitters are walking at a higher rate this season and averaging half a walk more per game this year as well.