South Carolina baseball: what to know for George Washington series
After salvaging a series on opening weekend, South Carolina enters its final weekend of tune-up baseball before 12 straight series against high-major opponents.
The Gamecocks welcome in George Washington for a three-game series with a sweep pushing their win streak to five games. Here’s how the series shapes up.
Game times/how to watch and listen
Friday: 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus, 107.5 FM)
Saturday: 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus, 107.5 FM)
Sunday: 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus, 107.5 FM)
Probable pitching rotation
Friday: RHP Will Sanders (1-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. RHP Harrison Cohen (0-1, 3.60 ERA)
Saturday: RHP James Hicks (0-1, 8.31 ERA) vs. RHP Connor Harris (0-1, 6.00 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs. RHP Justin Solt (0-1, 45.00 ERA)
Gamecock Sunday starter candidates
With Julian Bosnic still on the shelf for the time being, South Carolina and Mark Kingston are being non-committal in terms of who will get the ball Sunday after Josiah Sightler gave up five runs, four earned, in 2.2 innings with three strikeouts.
One of the primary candidates is Wesley Sweatt, who has looked good to start the year. He came in on Opening Day and picked up a save then pitched 3.1 innings of scoreless baseball with a strikeout. Hitters are only batting .154 off Sweatt, who’s ratcheted his fastball into the low-90s with a good slider.
Sweatt’s started in the past and could slide back into that role after his opening weekend performance.
Sightler could still start, although him in shorter spurts as a lefty out of the bullpen could be effective. Noah Hall started in his time at App State but could be more impactful twice out of the pen on a weekend.
CJ Weins also started some last year but threw an inning Tuesday and is a likely bullpen piece.
Scouting George Washington
The Colonials are coming off getting swept by UT Rio Grande Valley where they were outscored 33-4 over three games although one of those was a 23-3 loss.
As a team, they’re slashing .208/.252/.260 with just five extra-base hits, all doubles. They’ve struck out 27 times to just five walks. It’s a small sample size but Logan Leax has four hits in eight at-bats and Michael Ludowig is hitting .400 in 10 at-bats with a .455 on-base percentage.
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Pitching-wise, George Washington’s staff sits with an 11.25 ERA to start opening weekend with a 2.167 WHIP in 24 innings. The staff has a .314 batting average against.
Cohen pitched a good game on Opening Day, allowing just two earned runs in five innings with five strikeouts. Rich Pfluger also had a good outing with a scoreless three innings in relief.
South Carolina veterans leading the way
With so many new faces on the roster, the Gamecocks are relying heavily on their group of veterans, both new to the roster and returning.
Andrew Eyster and Braylen Wimmer have both gotten off to good starts, combining to slash .500/.525/.684 with 12 RBI. Brandt Belk and Kevin Madden each are contributing heavily with Madden hitting .375 to start the year and Belk getting on base at a .400 clip and a team-best six walks.
Michael Braswell has been electric to start but the older guys with multiple years in college baseball are pacing the offense early.
As a team, the Gamecocks are slashing .313/.410/.469 with 21 walks to 29 strikeouts.
