Preview: Gamecocks hosting Utah Valley

South Carolina (3-1) hosts Utah Valley for a three-game series this weekend, fresh off a series win over Liberty and comeback win over Winthrop Tuesday.

The Gamecocks are riding a three-game win streak into this weekend and host a Utah Valley team that's won two of three in South Carolina's final tune up before the Clemson series.

Game times: Friday, 4 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m.; Sunday, 1:30 p.m.

TV: All games on the SEC Network Plus (Kip Bouknight, Burch Antley)

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Probable pitching matchups (South Carolina listed first):

Friday: RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (0-0, 6.23 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Carr (0-1, 6.75 ERA)

Saturday: LHP Dylan Harley (0-0, 16.88 ERA) vs. RHP Paxton Schultz (0-0, 3.86 ERA)

Sunday: RHP Reid Morgan (0-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. RHP Walker Ramsey (0-1, 5.68 ERA)

Three players to watch:

RHP Carmen Mlodzinski—He didn't have his best outing in his debut as the Gamecocks' Friday-night starter, giving up three runs on six hits and not making it out of the fifth inning.

He struck out three but also walked three batters and afterwards Mark Kingston said Mlodzinski didn't have a swing-and-miss pitch.

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He'll get the ball again Friday in game one and will be integral in setting the tone for the weekend.

2B Noah Campbell—Campbell started off the year really sluggish, going 0-for-11 in the team's first two games. Since, then he's looked a little better, going 3-for-7 with an RBI, including a multi-hit game against Winthrop Tuesday.

Hitting leadoff and facing a Utah Valley pitching staff with a 5.40 ERA through three games, it could be a way to keep his solid play going.

OF Brady Allen—After a two-hit, three-RBI college debut, Allen struggled to finish the series against Winthrop, going 0-for-7 with two walks over the last two games in the two-hole. He was moved to the No. 8 spot Tuesday and looked better, going hitless but drawing two walks and scoring a run. It'll be something to watch to see where Kingston hits him this weekend

What to watch for:

Scaling back the strikeouts—South Carolina's struck out 43 times over four games, which equates to 10.75 per game. Every player that's had an at-bat this year has struck out at least once with four players—Nick Neville, TJ Hopkins, Noah Campbell and Brady Allen—having at least five punch-outs so far.

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Going up against a Wolverine pitching staff averaging 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings, it'll be important to keep that number down this weekend.

Starting pitching rebound—While Reid Morgan turned in a quality start (six inning, three earned runs, no walks) the other two starters didn't fare as well. Mlodzinski and Harley combined to have just a 10.29 ERA in just seven innings pitched and labored, averaging 24 pitches per inning.

The bullpen pitched really well with a 1.50 ERA over four games but it'll be important for the starters to go deeper and not tax the team's bullpen over the first two games over the weekend.

Sustaining the power—Despite the Gamecock strikeout ratio, they are hitting for really good power through four games. Over 45 percent of the team's 35 hits have gone for extra bases: eight doubles, two triples and six home runs.

Of the 11 players to have an at-bat this season, all but three have picked up an extra base hit and four players—Hopkins, Jacob Olson, Allen and Luke Berryhill—have at least one home run.

The Wolverine pitching staff has only given up seven extra base hits this season, so it'll be up to the Gamecock lineup to take advantage of any mistake a pitcher makes.