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Preview: Gamecocks renew fierce rivalry with Vanderbilt

Alex Destino connects on a pitch in Tuesday night's game vs. CofC
Alex Destino connects on a pitch in Tuesday night's game vs. CofC (Chris Gillespie, Gamecock Central)

WHAT: South Carolina (23-3, 6-0) at Vanderbilt (21-4, 4-2)

WHERE: Hawkins Field, Nashville, Tenn.

WHEN: Thursday 8 p.m.; Friday 7:30 p.m.; Saturday 3 p.m. (All times Eastern)

RADIO/TV: Gamecock Radio Network (107.5 FM/1320 AM in Columbia with Andy Demetra and Tommy Moody); ESPNU Thursday, SEC Network Plus Friday and SEC Network Saturday (Clay Matvick and Ben McDonald)

ALL-TIME SERIES: USC leads 53-28

LAST TIME: USC won 2 of 3 (April 16-18, 2015),

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS:

Thursday: USC RHP Clarke Schmidt (6-0, 1.29 ERA, 42.0 IP, 51 K, 6 BB) vs. VAN Jordan Sheffield (3-1, 2.21 ERA, 36.2 IP, 51 K, 17 BB)

Friday: USC RHP Braden Webb (5-1, 2.10 ERA, 34.1 IP, 42 K, 19 BB) vs. VAN Kyle Wright (4-0, 1.37 ERA, 26.1 IP, 35 K, 8 BB)

Saturday: USC RHP Aaron Hill (5-0, 1.91 ERA, 28.1 IP, 41 K, 7 BB) vs. VAN TBA

Life in the SEC demands South Carolina spend little time wallowing in the sorrow of Tuesday night’s 13-inning home loss to College of Charleston.

Hours later, the Gamecocks gathered their belongings and equipment, filed onto a luxury bus and headed to Nashville for a Top 10 showdown with Vanderbilt, which has reached the national championship series the past two seasons, winning the title two years ago about a month after the Gamecocks won two of three games in the final regular season series.

In the wake of consecutive sweeps over Arkansas and Ole Miss, South Carolina has leaped as high as No. 2 in the major national polls while the Commodores are ranked No. 6 or higher in every poll.

Truly, this weekend’s three-game clash between the Gamecocks and Commodores possesses the look and feel of a world championship heavyweight boxing match, along with the equally prominent Texas A&M-Florida series in Gainesville.

Together, South Carolina and Vanderbilt have combined for three national titles, five appearances in the national championship series, dozens of All-Americans and countless victories since 2010.

If not the best rivalry in the SEC, USC-Vandy certainly ranks near the top.

- Listen: Kip Bouknight talks Vandy series

As usual, the foundation for both teams is powerful pitching arms. All five named starting pitchers (see above) are averaging more than one strikeout per inning and possess microscopic earned run averages under 2.25.

“They are going to throw power arms at us,” Chad Holbrook said. “Every pitcher they put out there is a weekend guy, whether they are a long reliever, short reliever, it doesn’t matter. So, we’re going to have our hands full. It’s a typical Vandy team. They can beat you a lot of different ways. They can overpower you on the mound, but they can do a lot of things.”

Thursday night’s sparking matchup between South Carolina’s Clarke Schmidt and Vanderbilt’s Jordan Sheffield features a pair of hurlers that have combined for 102 strikeouts and just 23 walks in 78.2 innings.

In short, both pitchers throw hard but they also throw strikes and don’t hand out free passes.

“They have the best high school players in the country because they have had No. 1 recruiting class after No. 1 recruiting class,” Holbrook said. “They have a lot of first-rounders in their lineup. They are probably the most athletic team we will play all year long. Many people talk about Vanderbilt and Florida being the two most talented teams in the country. We are going to have to play our best baseball of the season to give ourselves a chance to win.”

STATS + FACTS by DOUG ADAMS

Gamecocks at Vanderbilt: USC has won 26 of the 36 games played in Nashville...USC has won four of the last six in the series. . .The Gamecocks took two of three in Nashville in 2014 and two of three in Columbia in 2015.

6-0 Start in SEC Play: The perfect start in SEC play for the Gamecocks is their best SEC start ever.

Moving On Up: USC started the season not ranked in the Baseball America Poll but has moved up to No. 7...USC began the year ranked No. 35 in Collegiate Baseball and is currently ranked No. 2...The Gamecocks are ranked No. 8 in Perfect Game USA, No. 6 in National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and USA Today Coaches Poll, and No. 5 in D1 Baseball.

College of Charleston: Tuesday night’s 6-5 loss in 13 innings marked USC's first extra inning game of the season and the first home loss at Founders Park this season. USC is now 18-1 at home...The loss also snapped the USC's 13-game winning streak.

Scoring At Least Four Runs: USC has plated at least four runs in 23 of 26 games this season. USC scored two runs against Charleston Southern on March 13, one at Clemson on March 16 and were shut out by the Tigers on March 15 in Greenville.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores are ranked No. 6 in the Baseball America Poll and No. 3 in the D1 Baseball Poll...In their first two SEC series, Vandy lost two of three to Mississippi State in Nashville and swept Missouri last weekend in Columbia...Vanderbilt defeated Belmont 8-2 on Tuesday night in Nashville...Jeren Kendall leads VU with 35 hits and 17 stolen bases. ... Bryan Reynolds leads the Dores with six home runs and 28 runs batted in...Jason Delay leads Vandy with seven doubles. Three players are tied for second with six. ...The Commodore pitching staff has a team ERA of 2.66. ... Opponents are hitting .211 against the Vandy pitching staff.

John Jones: Leads the Gamecocks with six homers and 32 RBI. ... Reached base in 22 consecutive games. ... Leads USC with 10 multiple RBI games. ... Hitting .417 against SEC opponents.

Dom Thompson-Williams: Leads the Gamecocks with 11 stolen bases. ... Hitting .367 with four homers and 24 RBI ... Reached base in all 26 games this season ... Tied for the team lead with 12 multiple hit games.

Alex Destino: Hitting .352 with four homers and 25 RBI. ... Leads USC with seven doubles. ... Carries an 18-game hitting streak into the Vanderbilt series.

Gene Cone: Went 2-11 with two runs scored and one RBI against Vanderbilt last season ... Totaled six hits in 13 at bats at Ole Miss last week ... Batting .324 with one home run and nine runs batted in...Has 12 game hitting streak ... Reached base in 15 straight games...Hitting .400 in SEC play.

Marcus Mooney: Batting .313 with one home run and 14 runs batted in.

Clarke Schmidt: Struck out eight and allowed one run in six innings of work against the Rebels last weekend. ... Pitched 3.1 innings against Vanderbilt on April 18, 2015, striking out four Commodores and allowing two runs on seven hits.

Braden Webb: Pitched eight innings, striking out 14 and allowing three runs on four hits last Friday against Ole Miss ...The 14 strikeouts were the most by a Gamecock pitcher since Billy Buckner had 16 on March 6, 2004 against Clemson.

Adam Hill: Allowed no runs on four hits in six innings of work against the Rebels as he kept his record perfect.

Josh Reagan: Picked up his seventh save of the season in 1.2 innings pitched against Ole Miss last Thursday. ... Leads USC with 13 appearances. ... 1-0 record with 0.41 ERA in 22 innings pitched.

Tyler Johnson: Recorded his second save of the season in USC's Saturday win at Ole Miss. ... Tied for second on the team with 11 appearances. ... Has 21 strikeouts to three walks in 16.2 innings pitched.

Taylor Widener: Picked up a save last season against the Commodores when he pitched 2.2 innings and struck out four VU batters. ... Pitched 16.1 innings in five appearances this season.

Reed Scott: Pitched 1/3 of an inning against Vanderbilt in 2015. ... Pitched 17.2 innings in 11 appearances this season.

SEC SCHEDULE (March 31-April 3)

(ALL THREE GAME SERIES)

South Carolina at Vanderbilt

Alabama at Georgia

Kentucky at Tennessee

Missouri at Arkansas

LSU at Auburn

Texas A&M at Florida

Ole Miss at Mississippi State

SEC EAST STANDINGS

South Carolina 6-0

Florida 4-2

Kentucky 4-2

Vanderbilt 4-2

Georgia 2-4

Tennessee 2-4

Missouri 0-6

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