Look back, look ahead: Gamecocks host Furman and Vanderbilt

Two days after suffering a stunning one-run loss at Auburn on a two-out, pinch-hit walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, South Carolina looks to rebound with four home games in five days beginning Tuesday night when the Gamecocks host Furman at Founders Park.

The series loss to Auburn dropped the Gamecocks to 19-8 overall, 6-3 in the SEC, one game behind three teams with 7-2 marks following three weekends of conference play (Kentucky, Arkansas, Auburn).

“We just have to pick ourselves back up off the mat and get ready to play this (upcoming) week,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said. “We’re in a decent spot. It could be a lot better. We were one out away from being 7-2. It’s very difficult in this league.

“We’ll have a walk-off and get even or so. We had one last week. We have a lot of important games in front of us. Our kids are playing hard and playing the game the right way. I have no doubt that we will be on the other side of these type of games as we go forward.”

Redshirt freshman Cody Morris gets the ball Tuesday when the Gamecocks host Furman. Morris has been outstanding in his first season facing Division I hitters with a 1-0 record and 1.54 ERA in 11.2 innings pitched.

Morris has fanned 18 batters compared to just four walks for an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio of over 4-to-1. He is a luxury many teams don’t have – a week night starter with the quality of a weekend starter’s arm and arsenal of pitches.

After Tuesday night’s clash with the Paladins, USC takes on SEC East rival Vanderbilt in a three-game series beginning Thursday night. Game 2 of the series is Friday night, while the finale is scheduled for Saturday at noon.

All three games against the Commodores will be televised, with the SEC Network showing Thursday night’s game, ESPNU showing Friday night’s tilt and ESPN2 televising Saturday’s noon affair.

NOTES:

-- The Gamecocks are ranked No. 6 by Perfect Game, No. 9 in the USA Today coaches poll and the NCBWA, No. 11 by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball and No. 12 by D1Baseball. USC is also No. 6 in the new RPI rankings released Monday by the NCAA.

-- Junior RHP Clarke Schmidt improved to 4-0 and lowered his ERA to 0.90 in six starts by hurling 8.0 scoreless innings for the victory in Saturday’s 7-0 win over Auburn. Schmidt allowed just five hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts. Schmidt has limited opponents to just 7 runs on 27 hits in 40.0 innings with 13 walks to 46 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .191 against him.

-- The Gamecocks are 6-0 this season in games started by Schmidt, who ranks third in the SEC in ERA, sixth in opponent batting average, tied for sixth in wins and tied for 11th in strikeouts.

-- OF Jacob Olson enjoyed a productive week at the plate, going 8-of-16 in four games. He was 5-of-10 in the Auburn series. He now has a batting average of .306 (30-for-98) with a team-high five homers, 18 RBI, 21 runs scored and .531 slugging percentage. Olson has reached base in 16 straight games.

-- Freshman OF Carlos Cortes hit .455 (5-for-11) with six RBI against Auburn. He hit a grand slam, tripled and drove in five runs in last Saturday’s 7-0 win at Auburn. Cortes’ five RBI tied an individual high by a Gamecock player in 2017. Cortes also was 3-for-4 with a RBI in last Friday’s 5-4 loss at Auburn. “Carlos started swinging the bat the way we knew he was capable of,” Holbrook said.

-- The Gamecocks lead the SEC with a 2.78 team ERA while the .216 opponents batting average is second lowest in the league.

-- The Gamecocks have equaled or out-hit its opponents in 20 of 27 games this year.

-- Defensively, the Gamecocks are fielding .978 for the season with 13 games without an error. USC is 11-2 when not committing an error.

-- Six of USC’s first nine SEC games have been decided by three runs or less with the Gamecocks 3-3 in those contests.

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

3/28/17 at The Citadel, W 15-1

3/31/17 at Auburn, L 5-4

4/1/17 at Auburn, W 7-0

4/2/17 at Auburn, L 6-5

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE:

Tuesday vs. Furman, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

Thursday vs. Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

Friday vs. Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)

Saturday vs. Vanderbilt, Noon (ESPN2)

(All times Eastern)

SEC EAST STANDINGS (As of April 4)

Kentucky 7-2

South Carolina 6-3

Missouri 4-4

Florida 4-4

Vanderbilt 4-5

Georgia 3-6

Tennessee 1-8