The South Carolina baseball team continues its road to Omaha as it hosts a Super Regional starting Saturday against Oklahoma State.
Four Gamecocks and five Cowboys have been selected in the 2016 MLB Draft so far, but they all have other things on their minds right now.
This series will be a phenomenal pitching matchup as both teams are loaded with strong starting pitching. During Friday’s press conference, South Carolina head coach Chad Holbrook mentioned they still are not sure who will start Saturday’s game. Normal Friday night starter Clarke Schmidt has struggled in his past few outings, but Holbrook also mentioned they’re not planning to follow the same weekend rotation.
“We’re wrestling with it … It’s going to be Braden or Clarke. They’re our two freshest arms and are ready to go but I don’t know, and I’m not going to name a game two starter because all hands are on deck. We’re going to go about this super regional differently than we have in the past as far as a regular weekend series because of how far we were extended last week.”
Oklahoma State is not as questionable as to who will be starting. It announced Thomas Hatch will take the mound for the series opener. Hatch pitched the first game of the Clemson regional, shutting out Nebraska over seven innings, and gave up six hits but struck out 10.
The Cowboys' other starters were fantastic during the regional. Tyler Buffett threw seven innings during the first game against Clemson and gave up seven hits but just one run while striking out six. Jensen Elliott pitched the final game, giving up one run on four hits over six innings while fanning eight.
Elliott pitched on Sunday when the Cowboys last played and won the Clemson Regional. The Gamecocks were not as fortunate. After dropping their regional opener 5-4 to Rhode Island, they had to battle back and won four straight elimination games, putting a strain on the entire team. Game seven was also postponed to Tuesday due to weather. So the Gamecocks have had a much shorter rest.
“I think [OSU] has the upper hand in regards to they’re a little more fresher than we are,” Holbrook said. “They weren’t as taxed in their regional from a pitching standpoint as much as we were; obviously coming out of the loser’s bracket is very very difficult, they didn’t have to do that; they’re well rested, we’re not. But hopefully the adrenaline, the fact that we’re playing at home ... will level the playing field a little bit.”
Playing in an environment like Founders Park is challenging, especially as the Gamecocks went 34-5 at home this season, but Oklahoma State isn’t too concerned. Head coach Josh Holliday mentioned that they have learned to play and get better on the road, after a rough start to their season:
“The kids have played unbelievably well on the road this year. We started on the road for seven games and it wasn’t pretty, we went 2-5. But it sped up our growth process ... We’ve learned to play on the road, by necessity, and we’ve learned to play on the road through failure and with that I think we’re better prepared for this type of challenge.”
Holbrook will again face the challenge of too many talented infielders, after DC Arendas' and Hunter Taylor’s outstanding performances. Holbrook found a way to make it work for Monday’s game, but the question still stands of how he will create the lineup for this series. John Jones had a minor breakthrough, pinch hitting on Tuesday and hitting a two-RBI double to secure the victory, which could also find him a spot in the lineup.
With the extra days' rest, Oklahoma State seems to have a clearer picture heading into game one of the Supers, and the Gamecocks need to figure some pretty important things out. Once they decide their starter, they have to hope the bats stay hot after scoring 47 runs in the final four regional wins. If the offense can maintain some of the power they had in the regionals against these tough Oklahoma State starters, it will definitely be a battle.