South Carolina baseball releases pitching rotation for opening weekend vs. Miami (Ohio)

College baseball gets underway this weekend and South Carolina has announced its pitching rotation for its opening series against Miami (Ohio).

The Gamecocks will face the Terrapins in a three-game series, beginning on Friday.

Eli Jones will get the ball for the Gamecocks in Game 1 on Friday. Dylan Eskew will be the starter for Game 2 on Saturday, followed by Roman Kimball on Sunday.

Jones is a junior who appeared in 23 games, with six starts in 2023. He finished the year with a 4-5 record and a 3.95 ERA. The Georgia native also started six games for South Carolina as a freshman in 2022.

Eskew is also a junior and is moving into the starting rotation after appearing in only five games for South Carolina last season. He started his college career at Chipola College in Florida. Eskew was drafted in the 24th round of the 2019 MLB draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Kimball is a redshirt sophomore who missed all of the 2023 season with an injury. Prior to coming to South Carolina, he pitched at Notre Dame, helping the Fighting Irish to the College World Series in 2022.

Kimball was 4-0 with 32 strikeouts in 25 innings during his time at Notre Dame.

South Carolina is coming off of a 42-21 season in 2023. It was the best season of head coach Mark Kingston’s tenure. The Gamecocks won the Columbia Regional, before falling to Florida in a Super Regional.

Kingston has made the NCAA Tournament in three of his five seasons in Columbia. However, the Gamecocks have not reached the College World Series since 2012.

South Carolina will look to change that this season with a squad that returns plenty of offense but has question marks on the mound.

The Gamecocks will get an idea of just how strong their pitching staff will be in 2024 beginning this weekend against Miami (Ohio).

After facing the RedHawks this weekend and Belmont the next weekend, the schedule gets tough in a hurry.

The Gamecocks will play a three-game series against rival Clemson the first weekend in March.

South Carolina will host Clemson on Friday, March 1, before playing at Segra Park in Columbia on Saturday, March 2. The rivalry series will conclude on Sunday, March 3 at Clemson’s Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

South Carolina was ranked No. 25 in the D1Baseball preseason poll. The Gamecocks will look to outplay that ranking throughout the 2024 season.