Who: South Carolina 5-0 v. Milwaukee 1-2. Founders Park, Columbia, SC

Time/TV: 4:00 pm Friday, 2:00 pm Saturday, and 1:30 pm Sunday, all games will stream live on SEC Network Plus with Dave Weinstein and Grayson Greiner on the call

Projected Starting Pitchers: Friday, Dylan Eskew (R-Sr. RHP) 0-0, 1.80 ERA, 5.0 IP, 0 BB, 9Ks, OBA .167 v. Gavin Theis (R-Jr. RHP) 1-0, 3.38 ERA, 5.1 IP, 1 BB, 3Ks , OBA .167

Saturday, Matthew Becker (Sr. LHP) 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.0 IP, 0 BB, 9Ks, .063 v. Logan Schulfer (Sr. RHP) 0-1, 13.50 ERA, 4.0 IP, 2 BB, 4Ks, OBA .250

Sunday, Jake McCoy (So. LHP) 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.0 IP, 1 BB, 9Ks, OBA .000 v. Mike Sullivan (R-Sr. RHP) 0-0, 4.50 ERA, 4.0 IP, 4 BB, 3Ks, OBA .214

Matthew Mueller worked 3.2 quality innings out of the Panther bullpen to pick up a save on opening day at Mercer. He struck out six and allowed a run on two hits and two walks.

History: None. This will be the first weekend between the two schools. Carolina is 4-1 all-time against teams from Horizon League with all games being played Wright State.

Last Time: Carolina took 2-of-3 from Wright State in 2017.

Weather: Cold. Expect temperatures in the 40s throughout Friday's series opener. Temperatures should increase for the next two games with mid-50s weather on Saturday and low 60s on Sunday. No threat of rain this weekend.

The Panthers were tabbed at fourth in the Horizon League preseason poll and did not have a single player named to the all league team. The Horizon League only has six members for baseball. Milwaukee is led by second-year head coach Shawn Wagner. In year one the Panthers went 19-36 overall and 13-17 in the Horizon.

Milwaukee brings back five of their nine starters but only one of their starting pitchers from last season. John Hadley (Fresh) and Camden Kuhnke (Soph) both were red-hot at Mercer, batting .429 for the weekend. Kuhnke also hit two home runs and slugged 1.286 last weekend. As a club, the Panthers stuck out 36 times against Mercer pitching. South Carolina's staff could easily have that number in the 40s this weekend.

The Panthers staff was victimized by the Bears hitters, allowing eight home runs on opening weekend. Six different pitchers allowed long balls for the Panthers.

Crash Davis is the only one that wouldn't like what he sees out of the Gamecocks staff thus far- they certainly aren't being very democratic with the way they are retiring opposing hitters. The Gamecocks have struck out 64 hitters to just eight walks with an ERA of 1.67 in just 43 innings pitched. The Gamecocks are 10th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings at 13.4 a game. As good as that is, the Gamecocks rank sixth in the SEC. Somehow Florida is striking out 16.1 hitters per game. The 8-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio is fourth nationally and third in the SEC behind LSU and Florida.

Junior Ethan Petry will enter the Milwaukee series with 45 home runs at Carolina, which ties him for fourth place on the all-time home run list. Petry needs two more home runs to tie Garrett Carter (1985-88) for third place on Carolina’s all-time list. The potential first-round pick is off to a fast start hitting .438 with a double, a triple, a home runs and is tied for the team lead with six RBIs.

Head Coach Paul Mainieri moved to sixth place on the all-time wins list for head coaches after the Winthrop win on Feb. 18, passing Larry Hays (1971-2008), who coached at Texas Tech and Lubbock Christian.