Team to play without infielder Max Schrock this weekend
Starting your season on the road against a team that has already played 12 games immediately puts you at a disadvantage.
That disadvantage grows when you learn that the team you’re facing is No. 1/3 South Carolina, a team that has not only played — but also won — 12 games so far.
That is the task at hand for the Brown Bears, who will see how far they have come after finishing the 2013 season with a less-than-impressive 7-33 record. The Bears won just one game on the road in 23 tries last season, a 6-3 victory over Gonzaga.
Head coach Chad Holbrook downplayed the advantage the Gamecocks will have come Friday.
“Once the first pitch is thrown, they won’t think about not having played a game,” Holbrook said. “They’ll come ready to play. The first weekend is always an exciting time for a team.”
South Carolina will embrace a visit from its Ivy League opponent, as it looks to get back to full strength before the start of SEC play.
Second baseman Max Schrock tweaked his ankle in Wednesday’s 4-2 win against Stetson and will not be available for the weekend series against Brown. Schrock has started at second base every game this season for the Gamecocks.
Holbrook said that he hopes Schrock will be available next weekend when South Carolina opens up conference play against Ole Miss. In the meantime, Holbrook will shuffle the infield to compensate for Schrock’s absence.
“I’m going to do a couple things. DC (Arendas) will be in there obviously,” Holbrook said. “One of the things I like about our infield is we’ve got a few shortstops on our roster. We have a little depth.”
The Gamecocks will likely see Brown senior right-hander Anthony Galan, who finished last year with a 2-5 record. Galan made 10 appearances for the team, all as a starter and posted a 4.77 ERA over 54.2 innings — the most of any current players on the roster.
Jordan Montgomery is expected to get the rock opposite Galan Friday. South Carolina’s ace is 2-0 so far this season, but he is coming off a shaky start against Clemson Feb. 28.
Montgomery surrendered five earned runs over 5 1/3 innings but received plenty of support from the bullpen to limit the damage. Although admitting he did not play his best that night, Montgomery still managed to record a season-high nine strikeouts.
Since Bucknell rallied for four runs against Matthew Vogel on opening day, the Gamecocks’ bullpen has yet to give up a run in 36.1 consecutive innings.
Joel Seddon has been nearly perfect this season, garnering four saves on 8.2 innings pitched. Seddon still has not given up a hit or a run this season and has struck out 13.
As good as their pitching has been this year, the Gamecocks’ offense has also been a contributing factor to the team’s undefeated start. South Carolina has a team batting average of .317. Junior outfielder Connor Bright is second in the SEC with .444 mark, and he owns a 13-game hitting streak that dates back to last season.
Still, Bright said that the team tries not to look at the record, but instead takes the season day by day.
“We aren’t really worried about the record,” Bright said. “We just want to keep winning and play how we’re capable of.”