South Carolina-Tennessee baseball series altered again, wraps with Saturday doubleheader

The South Carolina-Tennessee baseball series was supposed to start Thursday, but Game 1 was pushed back to Friday afternoon. The series schedule has now been altered once again.

The Gamecocks will host Tennessee in Game 1 on Friday at 7 p.m., South Carolina announced early Friday afternoon.

The two teams will finish their series with a doubleheader on Saturday. The first game of the doubleheader will begin at 2 p.m., with Game 3 following it. Both games on Saturday will be seven innings.

USC and Tennessee were originally scheduled to play a three-game series with games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

This is a big weekend for both teams as they are fighting to host a regional and potentially a super regional, depending on what happens down the stretch.

South Carolina enters the ranked showdown with a No. 13 ranking, according to D1 Baseball. Tennessee is ranked No. 18 in the poll.

The Gamecocks are 37-15 (15-11) entering the final weekend of SEC play. Tennessee is 36-17 (14-13).

Mark Kingston compliments Tennessee lineup ahead of series

There could be a lot of runs scored this weekend once the series does get underway.

The Gamecocks would certainly like to end the season on a winning note against the Volunteers, but they know it will be a tall task against a very good Tennessee lineup.

“We think obviously with them their identity is they have power arms,” coach Mark Kingston said. “They like to really come at you on the mound with power arms and then offensively they’re pretty left-handed. They’re a momentum offense. They like to feed off energy and momentum.”

Tennessee is likely to throw right-handed pitcher Andrew Lindsey in the first game of the series, then Chase Dollander in the second game.

Lindsey currently boasts a 1-2 record with a 1.18 ERA, having struck out 49 while walking 16. He’s allowed 41 hits in 183 at-bats, giving opponents a .224 average off him. Dollander has a 6-5 record with a 4.35 ERA, with 94 strikeouts and 25 walks. Opponents are hitting .240 off Dollander.

But the Tennessee lineup can get the job done at the plate, too.

“There’s a lot of really good players in that lineup,” Kingston said. “I don’t want to say just one or two because there’s a lot of good ones in there. They have some returning players that have gotten better. They’ve brought some guys out of the portal that have helped them.”

Kansas transfer Maui Ahuna was one of the most notable transfer portal additions in college baseball this offseason, and he has proven why this spring. He’s hitting .320 with 16 doubles and seven home runs, driving in 36 runs.

The Tennessee lineup has five players with double-digit home runs on the season, too, led by senior Griffin Merritt‘s 16. Blake Burke has 15, Christian Moore has 13 and Jared Dickey and Zane Denton both have 12.

South Carolina will need to be locked in all weekend, though the Gamecocks have plenty of power in their own right.

“It’s a good team, no question about it,” Kingston said. “But so are we, so we’ll see.”