South Carolina baseball is just three days away, and Paul Mainieri already knows his pitching plan for the opening series.

The Gamecocks open the 2025 season with a three-game home series against Sacred Heart, with Opening Day starting Friday at 4 p.m. ET. In an interview on 107.5 The Game on Monday evening, Mainieri confirmed he will go with Dylan Eskew, Matthew Becker and Jake McCoy as his initial weekend starting rotation.

Eskew and Becker had previously been announced, and both responded well to the vote of confidence in their respective final pre-season outings.

"His last scrimmage outing last weekend he threw five shutout innings with seven strikeouts," Mainieri said about Eskew. "Matthew Becker also threw five shutout innings. In fact his five innings were no-hit innings and he looked really good."

The third spot in the rotation was still up in the air as recently as this past weekend. McCoy and Eli Jerzembeck were the two pitchers thought to be the contenders, with Jerzembeck even thought of as the Friday starter going into camp. But while Jerzembeck has struggled in his scrimmage outings, McCoy has gone the other direction. A strong performance in his final scrimmage clinched the spot.

"He just rose to the occasion," Mainieri said about McCoy. "He threw 4 1/3 shutout innings against our number one lineup, and we only took him out after 4 1/3 because of the pitch count. He's earned the start for the Sunday game."

After the 4 p.m. game on Friday, the Gamecocks are scheduled to play at 2 p.m. Saturday and wrap up the series with a noon first pitch on Sunday.

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