The Gamecocks begin the SEC tournament today. They earned the #1 seed and play #8 Auburn at 5:30. If they win today, they’ll play the winner of the #4 Vanderbilt and #5 Georgia game after tomorrow. That game will start 30 minutes after the end of the 5:30 game. If they lose, they’ll play an elimination game against the loser of #4 Vanderbilt and #5 Georgia 30 minutes after the end of the 10:30 am game tomorrow. They’ve already played all three teams this year going 2-1 against Vanderbilt, 3-0 against Auburn and 2-1 against Georgia. Here are some quick refreshers on these teams.
Auburn
South Carolina played Auburn at home 4 weeks ago. The Gamecocks swept on the heels of strong starting pitching. This game will be more like a road game than a neutral one because the crowd will be decidedly in Auburn’s favor.
Auburn’s pitching isn’t the most dominant in the league. The pitchers are capable of getting hot and playing well, so don’t assume that we’ll get easy runs. The strength of the Tigers is their offense. Casey McElroy, Tony Caldwell and Dan Gameche are the three big hitters you need to be aware of. They can hit for average and power. It’s hard to beat a team three times in a season, and even harder to do it four times. If USC pulls off the feat, it will be a superb start to the post season.
Georgia
South Carolina took 2 of 3 from Georgia at home during the opening weekend of conference play. We said at the time that we couldn’t tell if that was a good win or not because we couldn’t get a feel for Georgia. We still don’t have a great feel for how good this Georgia team is. They are sitting right at .500 and need to win three games in the SEC tournament to become eligible for the NCAA tournament.
Georgia has a few good pitchers and several that aren’t too hot. Starters Alex Wood and Michael Palazzone are solid. Wood beat USC on Friday night, and Palazzone pitched very well on Saturday. Georgia has a strong closer in Tyler Maloof.
From the plate, there are about 4 guys you’ll want to remember. Zach Cone is a strong batter with lots of next level potential. Kyler Farmer, Levi Hyams and Chase Davidson are the other leading batters to be aware of. Georgia is a better team than their record would indicate, and they are capable of getting hits and scoring runs if you let them.
Vanderbilt
The Commodores are arguably the most talented team in the conference. They have been around the top of the polls all year and are the darlings of every analyst who announces their game. From that standpoint they may be underachieving having lost series to both South Carolina and Florida. Nonetheless, they are a very good team.
On the mound, the Dores have strong starting pitching in Sonny Gray and Grayson Garvin. They are both dominant pitchers who will probably go high in the draft. Jack Armstrong has come on as a standout reliever, but anyone they bring out of the pen is pretty good.
At the plate, there are several players with gaudy numbers. Tony Kemp, a freshman, is usually their lead off hitter. Aaron Westlake is the most dangerous hitter on their team. We would be well advised to pitch around him if we get the chance. Anthony Gomez and Jason Esposito, who are both strong batters in their own right, are usually close to Westlake in the order and in performance.
What the Gamecocks Need: I don’t know. The Gamecocks have already earned a national seed in my opinion, but I was left off of the NCAA selection committee again this year. They may be able to go 0-2 and retain their seed, but I would be nervous about relying on that. The committee has said before that they want the conference tournaments to mean something, so they try to weigh performance in the tournaments heavily. If the Gamecocks win one or two games this week, they should be fine for a national seed.
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