PREVIEW: Surging Kentucky hosts South Carolina in Lexington

Fresh off of winning four of its last five games (three against ranked opponents), Kentucky will look to keep its late-season surge going this weekend when it hosts South Carolina at Kentucky Proud Park.

This series would mean a lot to both teams, as Kentucky has now turned its eyes towards potentially hosting a third consecutive Regional while South Carolina is not even on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament as of right now. Last season, the College World Series bound Wildcats lost two of three to Carolina in Columbia.

First pitch for Friday night’s series opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST.

South Carolina Gamecocks (24-18, 4-14)

Former LSU head coach and 2009 College World Series Champion Paul Mainieri was hired as South Carolina’s new head coach after Mark Kingston was fired in the offseason. Mainieri’s 1,505 coaching wins ranked as the 11th most in NCAA history. Under Kingston (2018-2024), the Gamecocks made four NCAA Tournament appearances but never reached the College World Series.

Mainieri hasn’t quite gotten off to the start in Columbia that he may have expected, as the Gamecocks are just 24-18 overall with a less-than-stellar 4-14 conference record. Currently, South Carolina is not projected to make the NCAA Tournament.

As a team, South Carolina is hitting for a dreadful .269 team batting average (191th in NCAA) with a 5.35 team earned run average (97th in NCAA). In short, there isn’t one area that this team is excelling at right now.

With notable Kentucky killers Cade Messina and Gavin Casas no longer apart of the program, junior outfielders Nathan Hall and Ethan Petry are leading the Gamecocks with a .353 batting average. Hall and Petry are tied for the team-lead in batting average, doubles (10) and RBI (34). Petry, who was named a D1Baseball Preseason Second Team All-American, leads the team with 10 home runs.

📍 Lexington#Gamecocks | #ForeverToThee pic.twitter.com/wUA6peYDh2

— Gamecock Baseball (@GamecockBasebll) April 25, 2025

There is a vast drop-off following Hall and Petry among Carolina’s offensive players, as the rest of the bunch (16 players) are hitting for just a combined .247 batting average.

Carolina’s pitching staff had not been great this season either until last weekend at No. 11 Ole Miss, where sophomore right-hander Brandon Stone enjoyed the best start of his young career. In Thursday’s series opener, Stone pitched a complete game in which he held Ole Miss to just two runs on six hits with only 86 pitches thrown.

Their three starting pitchers that Kentucky will face this weekend (Stone, LHP Jake McCoy and LHP Jarvis Evans Jr.) boast a combined 5.86 ERA in 124 1/3 innings pitched this season. Pitching however was a catalyst for the Gamecocks’ upset series victory over the Rebels last weekend, which was their first of the season.

Kentucky Wildcats (23-15, 8-10)

Kentucky had been *so close* to a marquee SEC series victory through its first five weeks of the conference slate. The series win over Texas A&M in College Station was impressive, but A&M wasn’t quite the team they are right now. The ‘Cats however took care of business and took two of three from No. 4 Tennessee in Knoxville last weekend, drummed No. 19 Louisville 17-5 on Tuesday and look to be one of the hottest teams in College Baseball at the moment.

“The Cats are hot,” outfielder Carson Hansen proclaimed following their run-rule victory over Louisville on Tuesday. This could not be more true, as national media outlets are starting to pay more and more attention to this scrappy Kentucky team, which is now projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Keep on winning and a potential third consecutive Regional is on the table.

Following his stellar 3-3 game with a home run, a triple and a single against Louisville, senior third baseman Patrick Herrera improved his batting average to a team-leading .328. The ‘Cats now have three batters over .300, with freshman shortstop Tyler Bell (.318) and senior outfielder Cole Hage (.310) rounding out the trio. Hage however has been less than stellar against SEC competition, as his average is a lowly .203.

We’ll get another look at Kentucky’s starting rotation this weekend, which has been one of the best in the entirety of the SEC. Right-hander Nic McCay, who is the reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week, boasts an SEC-best .177 opponent batting average while sophomore left-hander Ben Cleaver boasts a 3.31 ERA (fourth in conference) against SEC teams.

A series win for the ‘Cats this weekend would get them one step closer to clinching a trip to the Big Dance, and a step closer for a potential Regional host berth.

ALL-TIME SERIES: South Carolina leads 61-46

Probable Starters

Friday, April 25, 2025 (Kentucky Proud Park – 6:30 p.m. EST) SEC Network+
UK: RHP Nate Harris (3-2, 3.89 ERA, 34.2 IP) vs SC: RHP Brandon Stone (2-4, 4.93 ERA, 42.0 IP)
Saturday, April 26, 2025 (Kentucky Proud Park – 4:00 p.m. EST) SEC Network+
UK: RHP Nic McCay (4-0, 3.08 ERA, 49.2 IP) vs SC: LHP Jake McCoy (4-3, 6.44 ERA, 43.1 IP)
Sunday, April 27, 2025 (Kentucky Proud Park – 1:00 p.m. EST) SEC Network+
UK: LHP Ben Cleaver (4-2, 2.83 ERA, 54.0 IP) vs SC: LHP Jarvis Evans Jr. (3-2, 6.23 ERA, 39.0 IP)

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