Preview: Gamecocks, Tide clash in Tuscaloosa with much riding on outcome
WHAT: South Carolina (39-13, 17-9) at Alabama (31-21, 15-12
WHERE: Sewell-Thomas Stadium (8,500), Tuscaloosa, AL
WHEN: Thursday 8 p.m.; Friday 8 p.m. Saturday 3 p.m. (All times Eastern)
RADIO/TV: Gamecock Radio Network (107.5 FM in Columbia with Andy Demetra and Tommy Moody); SEC Network Plus (Mick Gillispie, Lance Cormier & Scott McClanahan) ALL-TIME SERIES: South Carolina leads 31-26
LAST TIME: USC won 9-3 on April 27, 2014.
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS:
Thursday: USC RHP Clarke Schmidt (9-2, 2.46 ERA, 91.1 IP, 17 BB, 102 K) vs. Alabama RHP Geoffrey Bramblett (5-3, 2.71 ERA, 79.2 IP, 28 BB, 67 K)
Friday: USC RHP Braden Webb (9-4, 3.48 ERA, 77.2 IP, 40 BB, 100 K) vs. Alabama RHP Jake Walters (5-3, 2.03 ERA, 75.1 IP, 29 BB, 76 K)
Saturday: USC RHP Adam Hill (6-0, 3.18 ERA, 56.2 IP, 22 BB, 66 K) vs. Alabama TBA
The first meeting on the diamond between South Carolina and Alabama in more than two years has huge implications for both teams and their post-season aspirations.
Most likely, USC must win the series to secure a top four seed for the SEC Tournament and keep their national seed hopes alive. Alabama is safely into the SEC Tournament, but could still finish as a top four seed if they sweep the Gamecocks and get help from Ole Miss (at Texas A&M) and LSU (vs. Fla.).
Both teams come into the series feeling good about themselves. The Gamecocks have a two-game winning streak after beating Texas A&M Sunday and The Citadel Tuesday night in the final regular season home game.
“We certainly wanted to go to Tuscaloosa with some momentum and feeling good about ourselves,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said. “We had 16 hits and 16 runs (Tuesday), so hopefully our guys are feeling pretty decent about themselves as we go down there for our last regular season SEC series.
“We’ll get on the bus (Wednesday) with a good frame of mind and feeling good about ourselves and the way we performed tonight. Hopefully we’ll go into our last regular season series and play our best baseball.”
Alabama swept Arkansas on the road last weekend and is 5-1 in its last two SEC series.
STATS + FACTS by DOUG ADAMS
Gamecocks at Alabama: The Crimson Tide has won 14 of the 24 meetings in Tuscaloosa...The two teams last met in 2014 with Carolina taking two of three in Columbia...This is the first series in Tuscaloosa since 2011. USC won two of three...The Gamecocks have won seven of the last eight games in the series.
SEC TOURNEY: The SEC Tournament begins Tuesday in Hoover, Ala...South Carolina did not play Mississippi State and LSU in the regular season...USC went a combined 5-3 against Florida (1-1), Texas A&M (1-2) and Ole Miss (3-0)... Six SEC teams have at least 17 conference wins entering the final weekend of the regular season. In 2015, only five teams won 17 games. Two more teams have a chance of winning at least 17 conference games...Florida plays LSU this weekend. The Gators head into the weekend at the top of the SEC ladder. The Tigers won the regular season title last season with a 21-8 record.
SEC WINS: The Gamecocks enter the last weekend of the regular season with a 17-9 record in SEC play...Carolina won 13 SEC games last season...The most SEC wins under Coach Holbrook is 18 in 2014...USC won 21 conference games in 2010, 22 in 2011 and 18 in 2012...The most SEC wins for the Gamecocks since joining the league is 25 in 2000. USC also won 20+ games in 2002, 2010, and 2011. Carolina won 19 SEC games in 1998 and 2003.
WHERE OPPONENTS RANKED: Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, hereis where USC’s opponents this season are ranked in the various national polls.
Baseball America
1. Florida
2. Texas A&M
6. Ole Miss
12. Vanderbilt
23. Clemson
D1Baseball.com
1. Florida
2. Texas A&M
7. Ole Miss
12. Vanderbilt
19. Clemson
20. Coastal Carolina
USA Today Coaches Poll
1. Florida
2. Texas A&M
7. Vanderbilt
12. Ole Miss
15. Coastal Carolina
20. North Carolina
Collegiate Baseball
1. Florida
3. Texas A&M
10. Vanderbilt
12. Ole Miss
25. Coastal Carolina
NCBWA
1. Florida
2. Texas A&M
6. Ole Miss
7. Vanderbilt
16. Clemson
17. North Carolina
23. Coastal Carolina
Texas A&M Recap: Texas A&M shut out the Gamecocks 3-0 on Friday. The first run of the game was scored in the seventh inning. Carolina had five hits and three walks but had 12 strikeouts...The Aggies defeated Carolina 5-2 on Saturday. USC had three hits and four walks. They were 0-10 with runners on and 0-6 with runners in scoring position..The one through five hitters were a combined 0-14 with one RBI, four walks and a hit by pitch...Carolina avoided the sweep on Sunday with a 10-7 victory...Kyle Simonds started for A&M on Sunday. He threw a no hitter last week against Vanderbilt. He pitched 2.1 innings allowing three runs, two earned, on three hits and two walks...Dom Thompson-Williams hit two home runs and had three runs batted in....USC scored four runs in the third inning on Sunday. It scored three runs in the first 20 innings of the series against A&M...The 11 base on balls by the Gamecocks on Sunday is a season high.
The Citadel Recap: USC defeated The Citadel 16-4 to improve its overall lead in the series to 130-48-1...Carolina defeated the Bulldogs 6-3 on March 1, 2016 in Charleston...The 16 runs are the most the Gamecocks have scored against the Bulldogs since scoring 16 on May 25, 2001. The Gamecocks won that game 16-0...Carolina has won five straight in the series.
Founders Park: The Gamecocks are 30-4 this season at Founders Park...The weekend series loss to A&M was Carolina’s first weekend series loss at Founders Park since losing to LSU in 2015. The Tigers took two of three on the last weekend of the 2015 regular season...The other two losses this season in Columbia were to College of Charleston on March 29, 2016 and to Florida on April 29, 2016. Carolina lost both games 5-4.
10 Runs: The Gamecocks scored 10 runs on Sunday against the Aggies. They scored nine runs in the previous five games. It is tied for the most allowed by Texas A&M this season as the Aggies allowed 10 runs to Auburn on March 20, 2016 and 10 to Florida on April 3, 2016...Carolina came back on Tuesday night to score 16 runs against The Citadel. It was the first time they scored at least 10 runs in back-to-back games since doing it three straight games in March against USC Upstate, Davidson and Arkansas.
The Five-Game Gamecock Slump
Kentucky Game 2: 1-7 with runners on...0-4 RISP...3-10 with 2 out;
Kentucky Game 3: 5-30 with runners on...2-17 RISP...5-15 with 2 out.
Presbyterian: 0-12 with runners on...0-3 RISP...0-8 with 2 out
Texas A&M Game 1: 2-17 with runners on...1-10 RISP...2-11 with 2 out
Texas A&M Game 2: 0-10 with runners on...0-6 RISP...0-9 with 2 out
Totals...8-76 (.105)...3-40 (.075)...10-53 (.189)
Carolina went 1-4 in that five game span.
Next Two Games
Texas A&M Game 3: 5-17 with runners on...5-12 RISP...2-8 with 2 out
The Citadel: 11-27 with runners on...9-19 RISP...3-12 with 2 out
Totals: 16-44 (.364)...14-31 (.452)...5-20 (.250)
USC won those two games and outscored its opponents 26-11.
Strikeouts: Clarke Schmidt has 102 strikeouts on the season while Braden Webb has 100 strikeouts. The last time USC had two pitchers with at least 100 strikeouts in the same season was 2010 when Sam Dyson had 101 and Blake Cooper had 126...Jack Wynkoop led the squad in 2015 with 86...The last Gamecock with 100 strikeouts in a season was Michael Roth in 2011 with 112...The Carolina pitching staff had 456 strikeouts in 57 games in 2015. They have 500 in 52 games in 2016...Webb has 79 strikeouts in nine SEC games this season.
Fielding: USC had two errors on Friday and two again on Saturday against A&M. They had five errors on the weekend. They had four errors combined in the previous 11 games...The Gamecocks had one error on Tuesday.
Gene Cone: Went 0-1 with two walks, and a hit by pitch in Game 2 against A&M...Led the game off Sunday with a hit. The pitcher for A&M, Kyle Simonds, threw a no-hitter last week against Vanderbilt. He walked in his second plate appearance...Hit in the lead-off spot in 35 straight games...Hitting .417 in SEC play. ... Went 2-3 with a walk and two runs scored on Tuesday against The Citadel.
Madison Stokes: Hit his first career home run on Saturday against A&M...Started at first base on Tuesday against The Citadel.
Alex Destino: Hit in the three spot in 10 straight games...Hitting .318 against SEC opponents...2-2 with one RBI, two walks and three runs scored on Tuesday against The Citadel...The three runs scored tied his career high of three against Texas A&M on May 15, 2015.
Dom Thompson-Williams: Went 3-3 with two home runs, three runs batted in, and two walks on Sunday against the Aggies. The two home runs were his first in conference play this season...Hit in the clean-up spot in five straight games...He scored four of the 10 runs on Sunday...1-2 with two runs scored on Tuesday against The Citadel.
Marcus Mooney: Hit in the two spot in four of the last five games...Hitting .244 in SEC play.
Jonah Bride: Started every game this season at third base...Second on the team with 27 hits in SEC play...Went 4-5 with five runs batted in versus The Citadel on Tuesday...The five runs batted in and four hits are both career highs. His previous career high for hits was three and his previous career high for runs batted in was two.
John Jones: Before The Citadel game, he had one hit in his last 22 at bats...Went 1-5 with two runs batted in on Tuesday. His hit was in his first plate appearance...Hitting .230 in SEC play.
Chris Cullen: Played in 42 games this season with 35 starts....Went 0-1 with a walk and a run scored on Tuesday against The Citadel.
LT Tolbert: RBI single in the fifth inning of Sunday’s game against A&M...RBI single in the eighth inning on Tuesday against the Bulldogs...Started 24 of the 26 SEC games...Played shortstop on Tuesday against the Bulldogs.
TJ Hopkins: Has 23 starts this season with six coming in center field...Singled in the fourth inning of Sunday’s game against A&M but left the game due to a potential injury...Hitting .282 in conference play. He has 11 hits in 39 at bats.
DC Arendas: Started on Tuesday night at second base against The Citadel...It was his first start since May 8, 2016 at Kentucky...Played in 23 of the 26 SEC games. . .Went 2-4 with a grand slam on Tuesday against the Bulldogs. It was his third home run this season.
Brandon McIlwain: Went 1-2 with a RBI against The Citadel. The hit and RBI were both the first of his career.
Clarke Schmidt: Pitched 7.2 innings against the Aggies allowing three runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out four...The four strikeouts against the Aggies was a season low. His previous season low was five against Missouri on April 22, 2016, in 5.2 innings. ... The 7.2 innings last Friday was his longest outing since throwing a complete game at Georgia on April 15, 2016.
Braden Webb: Pitched 5.2 innings against A&M allowing four runs, three earned, on seven hits and two walks. He struck out seven...In his last two starts, he has allowed nine runs, eight earned, on 13 hits and four walks in 12.2 innings. He has 17 strikeouts in that span. The Gamecock offense has two runs in his last two starts.
Adam Hill: Allowed five hits and three runs in 2.2 innings on Sunday against the Aggies...The 2.2 innings on Sunday was his shortest outing of the season...6-0 with a 3.18 ERA in 12 starts this season.
Tyler Johnson: Entered Sunday’s game against A&M with a 10-7 lead with two outs and a runner on second in the ninth inning. He struck out his batter on four pitches to pick up his sixth save of the season...1-2 with 3.28 ERA in 23 appearances.
Josh Reagan: Pitched Sunday against A&M allowing two runs on three hits and four walks in 4.1 innings of relief. He struck out two...Has 24 appearances on the season with a 1.67 ERA...Earned the win on Sunday to improve his record to 2-2...The 4.1 innings against A&M was just shy of his season high of 4.2 against Clemson on March 6, 2016.
Reed Scott: Pitched 1.1 innings on Friday against A&M. He faced four batters striking out one...Pitched 3.1 innings on Saturday against the Aggies. He allowed one run on two hits and two walks...The 3.1 innings is tied for his second longest outing of the season. His season high is four innings on April 16, 2016 at Georgia...3-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 24 appearances.
Taylor Widener: Pitched 2 innings on Sunday against the Aggies allowing two runs on two hits. He struck out two...3-2 with a 3.95 ERA in 12 appearances. He has eight starts this season.
Colie Bowers: Started on Tuesday night against The Citadel. It was his second start of the season and his first appearance since April 20, 2016 against Furman. His other start came against Davidson on March 16, 2016 against Davidson...Pitched four innings against The Bulldogs allowing one run on three hits. He had four strikeouts...The four innings pitched against The Citadel is a season high. His previous season high was two innings.
Brandon Murray: Made his 20th appearance of the season on Tuesday...Pitched 1.2 innings against the Bulldogs allowing three runs on five hits and one walk.
Tyler Haswell: Made an appearance on Tuesday against the Bulldogs. It was his first appearance since the Georgia game on April 16, 2016...Pitched 1.1 innings facing six batters. He walked two and struck out two.
Matthew Vogel: Pitched one inning against the Bulldogs. He faced five batters allowing two walks and struck out one. It was his first appearance since the Tennessee game on April 10, 2016.
Vince Fiori: Pitched the ninth inning against The Citadel. It was his first appearance since the North Carolina game on April 13, 2016.
SEC SCHEDULE (May 19-21)
(All 3-Game Series)
South Carolina at Alabama
Florida at LSU
Ole Miss at Texas A&M
Arkansas at Mississippi State
Auburn at Vanderbilt
Tennessee at Georgia
Missouri at Kentucky
SEC EAST STANDINGS (As of May 19)
Florida 18-8
South Carolina 17-9
Vanderbilt 15-12
Kentucky 13-14
Georgia 10-17
Missouri 8-19
Tennessee 7-20
SEC TOURNAMENT SEEDING LADDER (As of May 19)
1. Florida 18-8
2. Texas A&M 18-9 (Wins tiebreaker vs. Miss. State)
3. Mississippi State 18-9
4. South Carolina 17-9
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5. Ole Miss 17-10 (Wins tiebreaker vs. LSU)
6. LSU 17-10
7. Alabama 15-12 (Wins tiebreaker vs. Vanderbilt)
8. Vanderbilt 15-12
9. Kentucky 13-14
10. Georgia 10-17
11. Missouri 8-19 (Wins tiebreaker vs. Auburn)
12. Auburn 8-19
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13. Tennessee 7-20
14. Arkansas 7-20
