Tennessee & South Carolina baseball game schedule altered for Friday, no doubleheader
In what seems like a mess that’s not getting any cleaner, Tennessee and South Carolina baseball once again have a change to their weekend series plans.
Instead of a doubleheader Friday afternoon beginning at 3 pm ET, there will not be just one game played on Friday and it will start with a 7 pm ET first pitch. This is due to the excessive rain sitting in the outfield currently at Founders Park. The plan is for the rain to be cleared by game time and the Vols and Gamecocks can finally get started.
Because of the second altered start time this weekend, there will now be a doubleheader played on Saturday with first pitch at 2 pm ET. The doubleheader will consist of two seven inning games, stipulated by the SEC ‘getaway day’ regulations. Game two of the doubleheader should begin approximately an hour after the conclusion of game one.
Friday’s game one of the series will be streamed on the SEC Network+. Saturday’s game one of the doubleheader will air on the SEC Network (2 pm ET) and the series-finale that follows will be streamed on the SEC Network+.
Preseason picked fourth in the East by the league’s head coaches, the Gamecocks are currently third with a 15-11 record in conference and are 37-15 overall. Mark Kingston’s squad dropped an 11-9 decision to Charlotte in the final midweek game of the year on Tuesday and have lost seven of their last nine SEC games coming into the final weekend. South Carolina is still, however, ranked 13th in this week’s D1 Baseball poll and own the third-best RPI ranking in the country. As a team, the Gamecocks are 11th in the league with a batting average of .287, but are 25-5 at home on the year.
Tennessee (36-17, 14-13 SEC) enters the weekend coming off a series-win over Kentucky last week, taking two of three games. It’s all but a guaranteed lock for postseason play, however, both teams are fighting for the right to host a regional at their respected home ballparks.
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South Carolina announced that righty Eli Jones (4-3, 3.40 ERA) would start game one, countering fellow righty Andrew Lindsey (1-2, 2.98 ERA) of Tennessee. The Vols will start right-hander Chase Dollander (6-5, 4.35 ERA) in game two. The Gamecocks listed ‘TBA’ as their starters for games two and three. Tennessee did the same for game three.
Drew Beam (6-4, 4.45 ERA) has started every weekend for the Vols, but has been hit hard in three of his past five outings. The righty could be in line to start game three, or Tony Vitello and staff could go with bullpen arms to finish the series. If not Beam, expect a combination of AJ Russell, Seth Halvorsen, Camden Sewell or Chase Burns to pitch before the SEC Tournament gets started in Hoover on Tuesday.
The Gamecocks will likely turn to righthander Jack Mahoney and lefty Matthew Becker to start the two final games as a bevy of injuries have gone through their staff this season.
Keep up to date with everything Tennessee – South Carolina this weekend by reading the weekend preview and by following Volquest on Twitter.
