Preview: Finally healthy, Gamecocks aim for rebound against Bulldogs
WHAT: Mississippi State (23-12, 8-4) at South Carolina (21-11, 7-5)
WHERE: Founders Park (8,242), Columbia, SC
WHEN: Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m.
RADIO/TV: Friday and Saturday – SEC Network Plus (Burch Antley and Trey Dyson); Sunday – SEC Network (Dave Neal and Chris Burke); Gamecocks IMG Radio Network with Derek Scott and Tommy Moody (107.5 FM in Columbia).
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS:
Friday: USC Jr. RHP Clarke Schmidt (4-0, 1.15 ERA, 47.0 IP) vs. MSU So. LHP Konnor Pilkington (2-3, 3.00 ERA);
Saturday: USC Jr. RHP Wil Crowe (3-2, 3.33 ERA, 3.33 ERA) vs. MSU TBA
Sunday: USC So. RHP Adam Hill (2-3, 2.23 ERA) vs. MSU TBA
Normalcy - a word popularized by President Warren Harding in the early twentieth century following the conclusion of World War I - is returning to South Carolina. Consider:
-- Clarke Schmidt has resumed his role as USC’s Friday night starter.
-- Closer Tyler Johnson is off the disabled list and ready to face his first SEC opponent of the season.
-- Outfielder T.J. Hopkins, bothered by a quad strain, is ready to become a full-time outfielder again.
For the first time in a while, USC head coach Chad Holbrook says, the Gamecocks have a full arsenal ready to go when Mississippi State invades Founders Park for a three-game series beginning Friday night.
Since missing his start at Tennessee, Schmidt pitched on a Sunday (3/26 vs. Alabama), Saturday (4/1 at Auburn) and Saturday (4/7 vs. Vanderbilt) over the three succeeding weekends. He allowed just 13 hits and three runs with 26 strikeouts in 21.0 combined innings in those three starts. Opponents are hitting just .193 against Schmidt, who ranks second in the SEC in ERA and sixth in opposing batting average and strikeouts. His 1.29 ERA in league games is fourth best as well.
Now he’s back to being the Gamecocks Friday night starter as he opposes Mississippi State’s hard-throwing Konnor Pilkington (65 strikeouts in 51.0 IP) in the series opener.
“It feels like there is some normalcy and some consistency to this weekend,” Holbrook said. “(With Schmidt pitching Friday) we have the guys back in their regular routine and what they’re doing between starts. For the first time since Week 1 or Week 2, our starting rotation is in a routine. A lot of people don’t understand the importance of that, but I can tell you pitches are finicky about when their throwing days and bullpen are in-between starts are.”
Johnson, of course, was sidelined for more than five weeks before pitching an inning in Tuesday night’s lopsided loss to North Carolina in Charlotte. His last appearance before that was against Clemson in Greenville on March 4.
His arm felt good on Wednesday, a positive sign entering the weekend.
“He recovered well (after Tuesday night’s stint),” Holbrook said. “One of our sticking points is how you feel the next day. His velocity was great. He was normal Tyler. Coming off an injury, that was a concern, but there are no issues there. If we have a one-run lead in the ninth inning (Friday) night, he’s getting the ball. It will be that way for the rest of the year. We feel good about our chances when we give a guy like that the ball with the game on the line. He throws hard and has great command.”
Johnson has 12 strikeouts in 6.2 IP this season. In his absence, the Gamecocks failed to hold multiple leads in the ninth inning.
“Getting Tyler back this weekend is certainly a big shot in the arm for us,” Holbrook said. “Nobody is going to be sitting on the bench nursing any tenderness or anything like that. It’s been a long time since we’ve had that feeling. For that reason, we feel good. It’s a big weekend. We have to go play well.”
This weekend’s series featured a matchup between the SEC’s top hitting team (Miss. State, .301) and best pitching team (USC, 2.88 ERA) in conference games only (all SEC teams have played 12 games). The Gamecocks tied a Founders Park record last weekend for strikeouts in a three-game series as USC hurlers combined for 39 strikeouts vs. Vanderbilt.
Mississippi State OF Brent Rooker, a redshirt junior from Germantown, Tenn., is enjoying a season for the ages and is the runaway favorite for SEC Player of the Year (and National Player of the Year) with the halfway mark of the season schedule looming Easter weekend.
Rooker leads the SEC in the triple crown categories of batting average (.450), home runs (15) and RBI (58), as well as hits (58), doubles (19), total bases (128), slugging pct. (.992), on-base percentage (.547) and, remarkably, stolen bases (15).
At the moment, Rooker is the definition of a tough out.
“Rooker is probably the National Player of the Year at the halfway point,” Holbrook said. “His numbers are incredible. He is probably two or three levels above everybody else right now. It’s like he is playing slow pitch softball with the numbers he is putting up. It’s hard to put up his numbers if you put the ball on a tee. We have to be extremely careful how we pitch to him. You have to give him respect. It’s one of the best half seasons in the new bat era.
“Our pitchers are aggressive and don’t like pitching around anybody. It will be interesting to see our guys do against him. We’ll challenge him, but we have to pick our spots.”
NOTES
-- Holbrook said despite Tuesday’s 20-5 loss to North Carolina in Charlotte, the Gamecocks are in a good frame of mind coming into the weekend. They haven’t lost any confidence or feeling sorry for themselves, Holbrook said. “We sit here a game out or first in the toughest conference in the country and a Top 15 ranking and a Top 15 RPI,” he said. “Some people think the world is falling apart, but it isn’t. We have to play good down the stretch, regardless. We control our destiny.”
-- Mississippi State coach Andy Cannizaro is in his first year directing the Bulldogs program. He replaced John Cohen, who became the school’s athletic director (following in the footsteps of Ray Tanner). Cannizaro was an assistant at LSU in 2015-16. Prior to that, he was a scout for the NY Yankees (2009-14). He was a second-team All-American at Tulane in 2001 and was a seventh-round draft pick of the Yankees in June 2001. He had two brief callups to the majors, first with the Yankees in Sept. 2006 and later with the Tampa Bay Ray in April-May 2008.
-- The Gamecocks are No. 15 in the NCAA RPI following Wednesday night’s games. They are the third highest ranked SEC team behind Kentucky (#11) and Florida (#12).
-- The Gamecocks have equaled or out-hit its opponents in 23 of 32 games this year. Defensively, USC is 12-3 when not committing an error.
-- The Gamecocks’ formula for winning games this season is simple – score 6 or more runs. When USC does that, they are 13-2. When they score 5 runs or less, they are 8-8.
-- How close is the SEC? Not only do 10 of the 14 teams have between 6 and 8 wins, but eight of South Carolina's first 12 SEC games have been decided by three runs or less with the Gamecocks 3-5 in those contests.
-- Sophomore 2B LT Tolbert is hitting .405 (15-for-37) in his last 10 games with 16 of his 24 RBI this season coming in that span. He is also the Gamecocks’ leading hitter in SEC games, batting at a .319 clip (15-for-47) in conference play. Overall, Tolbert leads the Gamecocks in hitting with a .333 average (36-for-108) in 29 games.
-- Tolbert has tied his career-high of three RBI four times in the past five games. He drove in three runs in a 6-1 win over Furman, hit a three-run homer in the 7-6 loss to Vanderbilt, hit another three-run homer in the 6-1 win over the Commodores and drove in three runs in Tuesday's loss vs. North Carolina in Charlotte.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP:
C – Chris Cullen (.304)
1B – Matt Williams (.270)
2B – L.T. Tolbert (.333)
3B – Jonah Bride (.301)
SS – Madison Stokes (.211)
LF – Alex Destino (.268)
CF – T.J. Hopkins (.283) OR Danny Blair (.250)
RF – Jacob Olson (.305)
DH – Carlos Cortes (.276)
SEC BASEBALL SCHEDULE (April 13-16)
Mississippi State at South Carolina
Texas A&M at Alabama (Thu-Sat)
Georgia at Arkansas (Thu-Sat)
Auburn at Tennessee (Thu-Sat)
Florida at Vanderbilt (Thu-Sat)
Ole Miss at LSU (Thu-Sat)
Kentucky at Missouri
(All 3-Game Series; All Fri-Sun unless indicated otherwise)
SEC EAST STANDINGS (As of April 12)
Kentucky 8-4
South Carolina 7-5
Florida 6-6
Vanderbilt 6-6
Missouri 6-6
Georgia 4-8
Tennessee 3-9
GAMECOCKS 2017 SEC SCHEDULE/RESULTS:
March 17-19 at Tennessee, W 3-0
March 24-26 ALABAMA, W 2-1
March 31-April 2 at Auburn, L 1-2
April 6-8 VANDERBILT, L 1-2
April 14-16 MISSISSIPPI STATE
April 20-22 at Florida
April 28-30 KENTUCKY
May 5-7 at LSU
May 12-14 at Missouri
May 18-20 GEORGIA
May 23-28 SEC Tournament (at Hoover, Ala.)
