Gamecocks travel to Greenville Tuesday to take on Furman
An unblemished six-game homestand pushed the Gamecocks into a first-place tie atop the SEC East with No. 15 Florida last week. Three games and two losses later, No. 5 South Carolina finds itself in the same situation entering this week.
South Carolina (26-5, 7-5 SEC) received help from No. 12 Kentucky, which pummeled the Gators Friday 17-1 and 9-8 Sunday, allowing the Gamecocks to remain stagnant atop the conference standings.
Dropping their second conference series of the year, head coach Chad Holbrook had nothing but praise for the Arkansas team that took two of three from his squad.
“Their ERA is terrific; they’re very difficult to play in that stadium,” Holbrook said. “It can get loud, it’s a great home-field advantage for them.”
A midweek matchup with Furman (11-21, 2-7 SoCon) will offer South Carolina the opportunity to get back on track before this weekend when Florida visits Columbia.
The Paladins, which dropped a 5-0 decision to the Gamecocks earlier this season, are winless on the month, and are currently riding a five-game losing streak, dropping games to Samford, Clemson and Davidson.
The two teams will play at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C., where the Gamecocks dismantled rival Clemson 10-2 earlier this year on their way to a three-game sweep of the Tigers.
A familiar face will line up across from South Carolina Tuesday, as ex-Gamecock Greg Harrison has become a permanent fixture in the Paladins lineup this season.
Harrison, who transferred from South Carolina after his freshman season, found his way to Furman after spending time at Spartanburg Methodist.
Now a senior, Harrison leads the team in RBIs with 23 and boasts a .320 batting average on the season. He has struck out only seven times in 125 plate appearances this season, tied for the lowest on the team. The former Hilton Head High School graduate and 2009 South Carolina signee went 0-3 against the Gamecocks earlier this season.
The Gamecocks will start junior Evan Beal on the mound, who has been lights out so far this season.
Through 9.1 total innings, Beal has yet to give up a run, while only allowing two hits. Opposing batters are hitting .067 against him.
Coming off an injury that kept him out of the beginning of the season, so far this year Beal has preached pitching to contact, allowing the defense to make plays behind him.
“I kept trying to pitch to weak contact as much as I could, you know, not trying to punch anyone out; the strikeouts will come,” Beal said after his start against Appalachian State. “Just throwing to weak contact and letting the defense do work. It’s a whole lot easier on my arm. I think that when you have a defense as good as ours, you need to utilize it.”
Beal made his first appearance of the season after injury against Coastal Carolina, going four innings and allowing no hits.
Junior Joel Seddon has continued his dominance in the closer position this season, converting eight saves in eight chances, while allowing no runs. Seddon has recorded 25 strikeouts in 17 innings and has given up a mere four hits all season.