After winning two out of three games in its season-opening series against No. 25 College of Charleston, No. 5 South Carolina now turns its attention to another in-state opponent: Furman.
The Gamecocks (2-1) face the Paladins (1-2) Tuesday afternoon in their first mid-week game of the season.
South Carolina opened up 2015 with a 6-3 loss to College of Charleston last Friday, but bounced back with two wins against the Cougars (7-1, 8-3) during Saturday’s doubleheader.
Furman started the year off at home against Akron, losing twice in the three game series.
Since Chad Holbrook took over as South Carolina head coach beginning in the 2013 season, the Gamecocks are 3-1 against Furman.
The Gamecocks came up with just four hits and three runs on opening day, but South Carolina’s offense came alive and scored 15 runs and had 20 hits over the course of Saturday’s doubleheader.
One of the Gamecocks’ most productive hitters against College of Charleston was senior first baseman Kyle Martin. The Greenville, South Carolina native is hitting a team-high .444 through nine at-bats.
Junior second baseman Max Schrock also found himself on the basepaths frequently against the Cougars thanks to his patience at the plate. Schrock walked five times against College of Charleston and has an on-base percentage of .571.
Meanwhile, Furman’s pitchers struggled against Akron and gave up 8.33 runs per game during the series.
The Gamecocks will look to improve and seek more consistency at the plate while trying to capitalize off of the Paladins’ early-season struggles on the mound.
“I don’t think we collectively as a group swung the bat the way we’re capable of, but the more plate appearances we’ll get, I think we’ll continue to improve,” Holbrook said.
Part of Furman’s problem of giving up large amounts of runs through its first series can be contributed to its defense. The Paladins committed seven errors last weekend against Akron.
South Carolina’s defense was nothing short of impressive, though, as the Gamecocks played error-free baseball through the first 27 innings of the season.
“Our infielders played great defense, all of them,” Holbrook said. “I’ve moved them around and I’ve always thought that was one of the strengths of our team."
After junior Jack Wynkoop, sophomore Wil Crowe and sophomore Josh Reagan all started on the mound for the Gamecocks against College of Charleston, Holbrook will turn to sophomore Matthew Vogel to pitch on Tuesday.
Vogel, a Medford, New York native, pitched on eight different occasions last season, starting two times. Vogel pitched 14.1 innings in 2014 and finished with a 6.91 ERA. One of Vogel’s better performances came last season against Stetson when he pitched two scoreless frames. Vogel’s start on Tuesday will be his first appearance of the season.
The Gamecock bullpen can expect to get its fair share of work in, which is to be expected when playing mid-week games against non-conference opponents.
South Carolina relievers combined to pitch 10 innings last weekend while surrendering only two runs.
After facing Furman, South Carolina opens up a three game series against Northeastern on Friday, Feb. 20 at Carolina Stadium.