South Carolina strives to extend winning on midweek road trip to Charleston
When The Citadel traveled to Columbia earlier this season, South Carolina found itself in an uncomfortable place against an in-state foe.
Nearly a year after being topped by the Gamecocks in the Regional round of the NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs were out for blood, jumping out to an early 4-0 lead. USC prevailed, however, behind a four-RBI performance from first baseman Christian Walker.
Two weeks later, Carolina will aim to handle business against The Citadel once again, this time on the road.
The Gamecocks enter the week fresh off a sweep of Tennessee. Against the Vols, they had their most dominant pitching performance of the season, allowing only one run in 27 innings despite being without Steven Neff and Tyler Webb due to injuries. Neff, who has been out of action since injuring his shoulder two and half weeks ago, appears to be in improved condition, however, and will make the start against the Bulldogs tonight.
The pitchers head to Charleston at their most stable point of the season, boasting a 2.47 team earned run average. Standing out among the group is right-handed reliever John Taylor, who has firmly secured himself as the setup man for closer Matt Price. Taylor comes into the matchup 2-0 with a .68 ERA and 32 strikeouts.
On the other side of the ball, Carolina’s bats heated up with the return of outfielders Jackie Bradley Jr. and Adam Matthews. Matthews had been out of the lineup since straining his hamstring against Florida, while Bradley went down last week with a back injury suffered while lifting weights.
USC enters the week riding a nine-game winning streak, opposed to The Citadel, who has lost six of its last eight. The Bulldogs come into the matchup with a .272 team batting average and 15 home runs, which is only half of Carolina’s season total. Against the Gamecocks, they were able to bring home four runs off seven hits before being shut down after the fourth inning.
As far as pitching is concerned, right-hander Bryce Hines pitched four scoreless innings before giving up four runs in the fifth during the matchup two weeks ago, and the team as whole boasts a 4.91 ERA this season.
The Gamecocks have won four straight against The Citadel, dating back to last season. Playing in Charleston this time, however, the Bulldogs will aim to take advantage of their home crowd in hopes of upsetting streaking Carolina.