Revenge Week: Charlotte Baseball Preview

Who: #13 South Carolina 37-14 vs Charlotte 25-25. Founders Park, Columbia, SC.

Time/TV: Tuesday 7:00 pm. Streaming on SEC Network +.

Projected Starting Pitchers: Cade Austin (R-So. RHP) 1-0, 4.81 ERA, 24.1 IP, 8 BB, 30 Ks, .234 BAA. v. Clark Dearman (Gr. LHP) 2-0, 4.74 ERA, 19.0 IP, 4 BB, 24Ks .310 BAA.

Mark Kingston and Justin Parker aren't going to burn Austin tonight for the weekend. We expect Austin to pitch 3-4 innings depending on how economical he is in the first two innings. Austin pitched one inning in Carolina's loss to Charlotte earlier this season, he allowed no runs on one hit and struck out the side.

Clark Dearman is a Presbyterian College transfer. He did not pitch in the first matchup. He hasn't pitched more than 3.1 innings in any appearance this season. Dearman throws strikes and is not a guy that Carolina should take their normal approach with of seeing a ton of pitches. The graduate senior is allowing opponents to hit .310 off of him and has only walked four batters in 19 innings. Dearman will be in the strike zone.

Line: SC -270 and Charlotte +215.

History/Last Meeting: The Gamecocks lead the series 25-10 but Charlotte has won two games in a row. The 49ers defeated the Gamecocks in their 2022 campaign home finale by a score of 8-3. The Niners also stopped cold an 11-game Gamecock winning streak on March 21 of this season when they beat Carolina 6-2 in the Queen City. The 49ers had a five-run third inning and never looked back.

Weather: It should be a great night for a baseball game with temps in the low 80s for most of the game and almost no chance of rain.

South Carolina enters this week at 37-14 and 15-11 in the SEC. The winning conference record and top-five RPI make the Gamecocks a lock for the postseason even if they lose their final four games and go one-and-done in the SEC Tournament. Kingston and the Gamecocks want more than limping into the postseason as a #2 or #3 seed in an ACC, Coastal, or ECU-hosted regional. Some stats/numbers to consider for the Gamecocks' postseason resume can be found here.

If Carolina is going to earn a home regional or top 8 national seed, they'll need to exact some revenge over opponents that have tormented them the last two seasons. In the last two seasons, Charlotte and Tennessee are 5-0 against USC, beating Carolina by a combined score of 37-11.

We took an in-depth look at the Niners prior to the last meeting on March 21st. Since that game, the 49ers have gone 16-14. They are currently fourth in Conference USA, just as they were predicted to finish, with one weekend series remaining. The Niners have stumbled a bit as of late winning only three of their last 11 games, one of those wins was a road midweek game at Coastal Carolina.

Cam Fisher is the Niner to watch tonight. The sophomore outfielder from Knoxville is Charlotte's triple crown leader, leading the team in average at .320, home runs with 22, and RBIs with 48. One of those homers and three of those RBIs came off of the Gamecocks in March. Fisher also leads the club in OPS at 1.208 and slugging at .730%. Keeping the bases empty when Fisher steps in the box will be critical for Cade Austin and the Gamecock pitching staff.

In addition to Fisher, Austin Knight also has double-digit home runs with 10. Jake Cunningham is Charlotte's highest-rated MLB Draft prospect. He missed most of the first month of the season with an injury. The Charlotte native is batting .277 with nine home runs.

If there is ever a game that Kingston might want to show some aggression on the base paths it is this one. Charlotte has allowed 79 stolen bases on 86 attempts this season. The 49ers enter tonight with an RPI of 94.

The banged-up Gamecock infield should be full go this week with Kingston announcing McGillis will return to the lineup in some capacity. Don't expect him to have the same pop off his bat right away. Braylen Wimmer should be able to make his return to the field this week as well after DH'ing in Arkansas last weekend.

On the mound, there is nothing new to report on Noah Hall. It is still highly likely he's thrown his last pitch in a Gamecock uniform. I'd place it at about 80/20 that he is shut down for the season. Kingston said yesterday that Will Sanders could need another week before he is ready to go. Reading between the lines here: if Carolina wins two of three this weekend and beats Charlotte tonight, they'd be sitting on 40 wins with 17 SEC wins. That resume is good enough to host. If that scenario plays out, Kingston is likely going to sit Sanders for the SEC Tournament barring some deep run into the weekend.

Kingston did not commit to a set rotation for this weekend.