Baseball leans on pitching in preparing for undefeated Kentucky
In preparation for South Carolina’s first true road series of the season, pitcher Michael Roth told the team’s newcomers to learn from the mistake he made on his first trip to Lexington, Ky.
“I just told them to pack pretty heavily, because my freshman year when we went, they said the weather was supposed to be great, and it snowed on Sunday during pregame infield,” Roth said. “I wasn’t prepared, so I just told them to pack pretty heavily. We’re just trying to go get lucky in Kentucky.”
The Gamecocks have needed more than luck to enter their first SEC series with a 15-1 record, as they’ve leaned on a pitching staff that will look to battle unusual conditions against the undefeated Wildcats.
Statistically, the two clubs are comparable in pitching, though USC has an edge in most categories. Kentucky leads the nation in strikeouts per nine innings. In strikeouts to walks, USC has 162 to 35, while Kentucky has 178 to 46. In ERA, South Carolina has an edge with 1.73, while the Wildcats’ average is 3.00. The Gamecocks have allowed fewer runs and hits.
While Kentucky’s nonconference schedule has been about as challenging as getting into a home basketball game at USC, South Carolina coach Ray Tanner is still wary of facing a confident team on the road.
“They are one of those teams that are better at home than they are on the road, at least with my experience with Kentucky,” Tanner said. “They’re talented and maybe they haven’t played the toughest schedule in the country, but they’ve played good opponents and they’ve played them close — they’ve won some games with their bats.”
Tanner likes to combat the bats with the bullpen in matching situations, such as playing a left-handed pitcher for left-handed hitters, which is “unconventional across the board in college baseball.” Tanner also doesn’t want to push his starters too far and use the bullpen to win games.
“That’s why we won most of our games,” Tanner said.
With the new, more woodlike bats, first baseman Christian Walker has been happy with the offense, as the Gamecocks have averaged slightly more than five runs per game. Walker calls that a good offensive day, but said the pitching gives the hitters momentum at the plate.
“It takes a lot of pressure off, knowing you don’t have to put two or three every inning to win a game,” Walker said. “Even though we like scoring runs and giving our pitchers some pad to work with, at the same time it’s good to know that they’re there and they’ve got our backs. You can win a game 2-0 or 2-1 and not have to worry about it.”
Roth said since most of the pitchers are veterans, they “expect to do well, no matter what.” They also take on the role of helping the young players along, especially with the middle infield starting six different players this season.
Though Tanner said the team isn’t where he would have wanted it to be by this point in the season, he said he would’ve taken a 14-2 record going into the series with Kentucky, so he’s happy with the 15-1 mark. Furthermore, he knows his team could have embarked on the trip to Kentucky with an entirely different record, as the Gamecocks have played seven one-run games this season, only being on the losing end of one against Clemson.
“That’s the good thing about this team — you never really hit the panic button,” Walker said. “No matter how much we’re down or how much we’re up, we still play the same ... If anything, we’re always comfortable. It’s a great quality to have as a team, and it’s going to win you a lot of games.”
The Gamecocks are hoping for favorable weather to help them win this weekend’s series. No snow is scheduled to fall, but scattered thunderstorms are in the forecast for Friday and Saturday. And while the trip to Kentucky always presents challenges, there is one thing USC also enjoys there.
“I’m kind of pumped for the Jacuzzi bathtubs they have in the hotel,” center fielder Evan Marzilli said.