Gamecock Baseball Hosts Rider This Weekend
COLUMBIA, S.C. (USC SID) — South Carolina (10-2) is back in action on Friday beginning a three-game home series vs. Rider (6-1). First pitch for the opener is 7 p.m. with Saturday‘s contest at 4 p.m. and Sunday‘s series finale scheduled for 1:30 p.m. All three games can be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network from IMG College including flagship station 107.5 FM, “The Game.” Live video broadcast is also available at GamecocksOnline on the All Access Channel. PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION Friday South Carolina Evan Beal (So. RHP) – 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.2 IP, 0 BB, 5 SO Rider – Tyler Smith (Sr. LHP) 2-0, 1.38 ERA, 13.0 IP, 2 BB, 13 SO Saturday South Carolina – Colby Holmes (Sr. RHP) 1-1, 3.71 ERA, 17.0 IP, 4 BB, 10 SO Rider – Kurt Sowa (So. RHP) 2-0, 1.29 ERA, 14.0 IP, 3 BB, 6 SO Sunday South Carolina – Nolan Belcher (Sr. LHP) 2-1, 2.18 ERA, 20.2 IP, 1 BB, 23 SO Rider – Mike Murphy (Jr. RHP) 1-1, 8.68 ERA, 9.1 IP, 2 BB, 6 SO A LOOK BACK South Carolina won a pair of midweek games vs Ball State. Carolina won 10-0 on Tuesday night and followed that up with a 14-4 victory on Wednesday afternoon. Joey Pankake hit a pair of three-run homers in each victory. The Gamecocks were strong at the plate with 10 hits on Tuesday as well as 14 on Wednesday. Freshman left-hander Jack Wynkoop retired the first 16 batters he faced on the way to the 10-0 win on Tuesday. Wynkoop, Vince Fiori, Joel Seddon and Forrest Koumas combined for 11 strikeouts with no walks on the mound. Wednesday‘s win saw Carolina race out to a 6-2 lead in the first three innings with seven more runs scored in the bottom of the eighth. LAST WEEK‘S RECAP South Carolina continued the 2013 season with a win over Furman in a midweek contest and a series victory vs. Clemson with two wins in three games over the weekend. South Carolina made a bookend of the weekend with a 6-0 shutout on Friday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium as well as an 8-0 shutout of the Tigers on Sunday at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks have now won 20 of the last 28 games played between the two schools from the 2007 season to the present.
