Preview: Gamecocks clash with Ole Miss in first SEC road series

WHAT: South Carolina (20-2, 3-0) at Ole Miss (20-2, 2-1)

WHERE: Swayze Field (10,323), Oxford, Mississippi

WHEN: Thursday 7:30 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); SEC Network Plus Thursday and Friday; SEC Network Saturday (Mike Couzens and Ben McDonald)

ALL-TIME SERIES: USC leads 32-22

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS:

Thursday: USC RHP Clarke Schmidt (5-0, 1.27 ERA, 35.1 IP, 43 K, 6 BB) vs. MIS RHP Brady Bramlett (4-0, 2.03 ERA, 26.2 IP, 39 K, 7 BB)

Friday: USC RHP Braden Webb (4-1, 1.71 ERA, 26.1 IP, 28 K, 17 BB) vs. MIS Chad Smith (2-1, 3.91 ERA, 25.1 IP, 22 K, 13 BB)

Saturday: USC RHP Adam Hill (4-0, 2.42 ERA, 22.1 IP, 37 K, 4 BB) vs. MIS RHP Sean Johnson (3-0, 1.96 ERA, 23.0 IP, 13 K, 9 BB)

In the wake of South Carolina’s home sweep over Arkansas last weekend, Gamecocks coach Chad Holbrook has no plans to alter his team’s lineup when USC squares off with Ole Miss Thursday night in the first of a three-game series in Oxford. After all, you stick with what works.

So, Holbrook will likely trot out a batting order featuring Gene Cone (five straight games at leadoff) and freshman L.T. Tolbert in the top two spots, a solid middle portion with DH John Jones (.422), LF Alex Destino (.364) and CF Dom Thompson-Williams (.395; reached base in all 22 games) and a bottom half of hot corner defensive wizard Jonah Bride (.263), freshman catcher Chris Cullen (.291), 2B D.C. Arendas (.255) and SS Marcus Mooney (.313).

Holbrook utilized the identical lineup in all three wins over the Razorbacks, and he credits the lineup stability for a part of USC’s success so far this season. The Gamecocks’ current team batting average of .325 is 68 points above last season’s mediocre .257 mark.

“We’ve been a little more consistent (with the lineup) over the past three or four games,” Holbrook said Tuesday. “There will still be other guys that play from time to time. I don’t know if it will be that way (same lineup) every single game. I like the flow we had last weekend against Arkansas.”

Like many coaches, Holbrook desires a stable lineup, but at the same time wants to get promising young players such as outfielders T.J. Hopkins, Danny Blair and Clark Scolamiero some playing time as well. Moreover, catcher is such a physically demanding position that asking Cullen to catch every game us unrealistic.

Adding to the lineup intrigue is the probably return of Madison Stoke from injury to the lineup within the next couple of weeks.

“There might by some juggling going on a little bit, but for the most part there are seven or eight guys that are going to be in there about every game,” Holbrook said. “We’re going to keep it consistent like that. But there a few other guys that I want to get in there and give them some consistent at-bats to give our lineup some versatility. For the most part, we have the lineup we are going to put on the field every day, but there are two or three more guys that can be added to the mix.”

Thursday night’s series opener features a sparkling pitching matchup between USC’s Clarke Schmidt and Brady Bramlett of Ole Miss.

Schmidt is one of only three SEC pitchers with five wins on the season, and has allowed just five runs on 22 hits in 35.1 innings. Opponents are hitting just .180 against him.

Bramlett, meanwhile, leads the SEC with 19 strikeouts looking and has allowed just 19 hits and seven runs with 39 strikeouts in 26.2 innings.

“Brady Bramlett is a legitimate Friday night guy who is going to pose a lot of problems for us,” Holbrook said. “He’s a strike-thrower. He doesn’t give you any free passes. He’s mainly a fastball guy. They have three power arms they are going to throw at us. So, we’ll have to be ready to play our best baseball to have a chance. I don’t see any chinks in their armor.”

The one-on-one matchup between Bramlett and USC’s John Jones (.422, 6 HR, 31 RBI, .687 slugging pct.), the reigning SEC Player of the Week and perhaps the hottest hitter in the country, could be worth the price of admission by itself.

STATS + FACTS by DOUG ADAMS

USC holds a 13-11 edge over Ole Miss in Oxford...USC took two out of three against Ole Miss in 2014...This is USC’s first trip to Oxford since 2011. Ole Miss won two of those three games...USC’s last series win in Oxford was in 2009 when it won two of three...The last four games in the series have been decided by two runs or less.

Scouting Ole Miss: The 20-2 start for Ole Miss is tied for the best start after 22 games in program history...Ranked seventh by Baseball America, sixth in Collegiate Baseball and ninth in USA Today...The Rebels dropped the SEC opener to Tennessee last weekend 3-2 but bounced back to take the next two games 6-4, and 10-7...Defeated UT Martin 8-2 on Tuesday...Ole Miss is 13-1 at home this season...The Rebels’ only home loss this season came against Louisville on Feb. 27...JB Woodman and Cameron Dishon lead the Rebels with four homers on the year...Woodman has 21 runs batted in and is tied for the team lead with Tate Blackman...Woodman also leads the team with seven stolen bases...The Rebel pitching staff has a 2.42 ERA and has 190 strikeouts to 64 walks.

SEC Opening Weekend Sweep: The sweep against Arkansas was USC’s first against the Razorbacks since the 2010 season when USC defeated Arkansas 3-2, 5-0, and 5-3 in Fayetteville that year...USC started the 2015 SEC season with a three-game sweep of Kentucky in Columbia. USC defeated the Wildcats 10-1, 4-3 and 6-4 (10). USC went on the road the following week and lost two of three to Missouri.

10-Plus Hits in a Game: USC has at least 10 hits in 13 of 22 games this season including four of the last five games.

Keep It Going: USC opened the season with a 10-game win streak before losing consecutive games to Clemson. Since losing to the Tigers in Greenville and in Clemson, USC has won 10 in a row.

John Jones: In the series against Arkansas, he went 7-14 with eight runs batted in, and four runs scored.

LT Tolbert: Tied for second on the team with five doubles ... Against the Razorbacks last weekend, he went 5-11 with five runs scored.

Dom Thompson-Williams: Leads the team with 28 runs scored ... Four homers and 20 RBI this season.

Alex Destino: Batting .364 with four home runs and 22 runs batted in ... Currently has a 14 game hitting streak.

Clarke Schmidt: Struck out 11 in seven innings of work against Arkansas Friday night.

Braden Webb: The Gamecock pitching staff walked eight batters last weekend against Arkansas. Webb was responsible for four of the eight ... Allowed 10 runs this season but only five are earned.

Adam Hill: Started on Sunday against Arkansas and allowed five runs on four hits in three innings of work.

Reed Scott: Pitched six innings against Ole Miss on March 15, 2014 allowing no runs on three hits. He struck out six ... Record of 1-0 with a 2.65 ERA in nine appearances.

Josh Reagan: Record of 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 10 appearances...His 10 appearances leads the Gamecock pitching staff ... Allowed no runs on seven hits in 16.2 innings of work.

Taylor Widener: Record of 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in four starts ... Pitched 1/3 of an inning against the Rebels on March 14, 2014.

SEC SCHEDULE (March 24-27)

(ALL THREE GAME SERIES)

South Carolina at Ole Miss

LSU at Texas A&M

Georgia at Mississippi State

Florida at Kentucky

Vanderbilt at Missouri

Auburn at Arkansas

Tennessee at Alabama

SEC EAST STANDINGS

South Carolina 3-0

Florida 3-0

Kentucky 2-1

Georgia 1-2

Tennessee 1-2

Vanderbilt 1-2

Missouri 0-3

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