Preview: USC hosts Charleston Southern with start of SEC play on horizon
WHAT: Charleston Southern (8-5) at South Carolina (12-2)
WHERE: Founders Park, Columbia, SC;
WHEN: Friday 7 p.m.; Saturday 4 p.m.; Sunday 1:30 p.m.
RADIO/TV: Gamecock Radio Network on 107.5 FM in Columbia (Andy Demetra, Brad Muller and Tommy Moody); SEC Network Plus (Derek Scott, Burch Antley and Trey Dyson).
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS:
Friday: USC RHP Clarke Schmidt (3-0, 0.43 ERA, 21.0 IP, 23 K, 5 BB) vs. CSU RHP Evan Raynor (3-0, 0.43 ERA, 21.0 IP, 19 K, 7 BB).
Saturday: USC RHP Braden Webb (2-1, 2.51 ERA, 14.1 IP, 17 K, 11 BB) vs. CSU LHP Daniel Johnston (2-1, 4.34 ERA, 18.2 IP, 14 K, 6 BB)
Sunday: USC RHP Aaron Hill (3-0, 0.64 ERA, 14.0 IP, 24 K, 2 BB) vs. CSU RHP Jon Piriz (0-1, 1.93 ERA, 14.0 IP, 12 K, 2 BB)
Even though South Carolina’s team batting average sits at .312 after 14 games, Chad Holbrook is a little annoyed at the way the Gamecocks have hit the ball lately.
Over the last four games USC has seen its team batting average plummet 27 points from the .339 mark after last Friday’s rousing series-opening win over Clemson. The Gamecocks have compiled seven or fewer hits in three of the last four games and have stranded 32 runners on base. The average during that four-game span? A less than impressive .235 (29-123). Just six hits have gone for extra bases.
“We have to sustain our offense and be more consistent from the first inning through the ninth inning,” Holbrook said. “That’s where I want to see us improve. I’m getting close to settling in on some things. We will have a lot more consistent lineup real soon and that should help the offensive output. There is something to be said for when kids know where they will be each and every day.”
A recent glitch plaguing the Gamecock offense? Too many two-out hits when nobody is on base.
“We have to start some of our rallies with no outs or one out,” Holbrook said. “Maybe we’ll get a big knock. I have no concerns about our team offensively. We’re hitting right around .300 and we have done some good things from a walk-to-strikeout ratio. But we have to do our best to speed the tempo up and work a little bit faster. We didn’t play a fast game (Wednesday). Win, lose or draw, we’re going to try to play faster.”
Granted, Furman lefthander Harry Norman (5.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs) is a rare commodity – a soft throwing southpaw that keeps hitters off-balance rather than overpowering them.
“We don’t see many pitchers like that in our league, the soft-throwing lefty,” Holbrook said. “I let our lefties stay in there. I could have mass substituted and put some righties in there, but not let them match up against us, but I wanted those guys to show if they would scratch and fight a little bit and find a way to do something productive.”
In Wednesday night’s 5-4 victory over Furman, the Gamecocks collected seven hits and scored only two runs in their final seven at-bats after John Jones (SEC leading .480 average, 4 HR, 21 RBI, .780 slugging pct., .594 OBP) and Alex Destino (.339-3-17) walloped back-to-back homers in the bottom of the first.
“I don’t have an explanation for how we performed offensively for the last six or seven innings, but we have to figure something out,” Holbrook said. “It feels good we found a way to win. We need to play better. I think we will.”
Besides USC’s offensive approach at the plate, another emerging storyline for this weekend is the weekend debut of promising freshman right-hander Aaron Hill, who was stellar in three weeknight starts against Appalachian State, The Citadel and Wofford before being promoted to the weekend starting this Sunday.
Hill and established Friday night starter Clarke Schmidt both have ERAs under 1.00 with impressive walk-to-strikeout ratios better than 4-to-1. Hill’s ratio is a resounding 12-to-1.
Webb struck out a season-high seven batters in last Saturday's loss to Clemson in Greenville. He has 17 strikeouts in 14.1 IP and opponents are batting .148 against him.
The Gamecocks bullpen was stellar in the midweek wins over Wofford and Furman. In 13.0 innings, USC relievers combined to allow two runs and 10 hits with 14 strikeouts and three walks.
Wednesday night, Tyler Haswell and Reed Scott settled the game down after a frantic start (USC led 5-3 after three innings) by throwing strikes (66.2 strike percentage; one walk) and working quickly on the mound.
“They threw a strike on the first pitch and they can locate off-speed pitches,” Holbrook said. “It makes a world of difference when you can throw an off-speed pitch for a strike early in the count and get ahead. Then the hitter doesn’t know what is coming. They pitched ahead.”
This weekend’s three-game series with Charleston Southern marks another matchup between Holbrook and a branch of the Ray Tanner coaching tree.
Former Gamecock assistant Stuart Lake (1999-2002) is now in his eighth season at the helm of his alma mater. He was named CSU head coach following the 2008 season and has led a renaissance of the Charleston Southern program, including an overhaul of the Buccaneers’ facilities.
Charleston Southern beat USC, 4-1, at Founders Park in 2014 en route to a 30-win campaign.
“They have brought good teams here in the past that have played us tough,” Holbrook said. “It will be a special weekend for Stuart and an important weekend for us because it’s our last non-conference weekend and we need to play well. It’s always great for Coach Tanner’s former assistants to come play here. Hopefully, we will continue to improve and play better.”
CSU is riding a five-game winning streak after sweeping UMass last weekend and won a pair of midweek contests this week against North Carolina Central and USC Upstate. Outfielder Chris Singleton has been the most productive player at the plate for the Bucs thus far as he is batting .389 (18-for-47) with four doubles and a team-high 15 RBI. Senior outfielder Sly Edwards leads CSU in hitting with a .413 batting average (19-for-46) with nine runs scored and seven RBI.
On the mound, senior RHP Evan Raynor has a perfect 3-0 record and a 0.43 ERA (identical stats to Schmidt). Raynor has 19 strikeouts in 21.0 innings with opponents batting .116 against him. Senior RHP Chayce Hubbard has been the primary closer with three saves.
NOTES
-- Junior OF Dom Thompson-Williams has reached base safely in all 14 games this season. He was 2-for-4 in Wednesday's 5-4 winover Furman and 3-for-3 with a HR and three RBI Tuesday vs. Wofford. DTW is batting .385 this season with two HRs and 8 RBI.
-- Junior LHP Josh Reagan has not allowed a run in six relief appearances totaling 10.1 IP. He pitched a perfect 9th inning in Wednesday's win over Furman for his fourth save of the season.
-- Gamecock pitchers own a team ERA of 2.03, second best in the SEC, with the best OBA in the conference at .189.
-- USC 3B Jonah Bride leads the SEC with 8 HBP.
-- Freshman L.T. Tolbert has started games at four different positions so far this season.
-- Four different players have started in CF so far this seaosn. DTW started in center in both midweek games vs. Wofford and Furman.
SEC SCHEDULE (March 11-13)
THREE-GAME SERIES
Charleston Southern at South Carolina
Western Illinois at Arkansas
Oral Roberts at Auburn
USC Upstate at Kentucky
UC Irvine at Tennessee
Xavier at Vanderbilt
Lipscomb at Georgia
Harvard at Florida
Youngstown State at Missouri
Houston at Alabama
Grambling State at Ole Miss
Oregon at Mississippi State
Fresno State at Texas A&M
Ball State at LSU
