South Carolina hosts Auburn this weekend for three games which will all be televised. To get you ready for the stadium or some time on the couch, here’s your Tiger preview.
This year’s Auburn team is a lot like last year’s team. They are strongest at the plate and struggle at times on the mound. They are 9-9 in conference which is good enough for a three way tie in the West.
Series: South Carolina leads the overall series 34-19, and has won every weekend series against Auburn since 1997.
Let’s break this down for ya…
Pitching: South Carolina has settled on their rotation. They’ll send Michael Roth to the mound on Friday and follow with Colby Holmes on Saturday and Forrest Koumas on Sunday. Holmes hasn’t had his best outings the last two weeks and could be on a short leash. If any one of the starters gets in trouble early, look for Steven Neff, Tyler Webb or Jose Mata to come in for middle relief.
Auburn’s rotation isn’t quite as settled. Junior Right hander Jon Luke Jacobs (1-3, 3.90 ERA) is the Firday night starter. Saturday night’s starter will probably be another junior right-hander named Derek Varnadore (4-1, 3.67 ERA). Sunday is officially TBA, but we could see Zach Blatt (2-3, 7.80) or Cory Luckie (1-1, 4.60). The preferred relievers appear to be Ethan Wallen (4-3, 3.51) and Dillon Ortman (0-0, 4.15). Slade Smith (2-0, 6.92) also appears to get action out of the pen if Wallen and Ortman aren’t available. Varnadore leads the team in strike-outs with 55 in 56.1 innings. Luckie also strikes out his share with 48 in 43 innings worked.
Batting: South Carolina is Jackie Bradley Jr. and Adam Matthews. Freshman DeSean Anderson will see time in centerfield, and Robert Beary and / or Jake Williams will be the replacement in the field for Adam Matthews. 1B Christian Walker is leading the team in batting and has been on a tear. He went on a tear at Mississippi State going 10-11 and then went 2-4 against Liberty midweek. Scott Wingo, Peter Mooney and Brady Thomas have all been hitting well lately too.
Auburn excels from the plate. Their big power hitters are Casey McElroy and catcher Tony Caldwell. Each has 6 home runs. McElroy is more productive all around and has 40 RBI. Most of the rest of the Tiger line up boasts 300 plus averages. 3B Dan Gameche is batting .319. Wes Gilmer is hitting .311 and 2B Justin Hartgett is batting .310. RF Justin Fradejas and Cullen Walker are batting over .300 as well. There’s no real easy spot in the order, but if there is a bright side, it’s that there isn’t a tremendous amount of power in the line up, so you can get away with a mistake or two.
What the Gamecocks need: It all depends on what your definition of a successful regular season is. I’ve always felt that a great regular season is one where your team has a national seed; a home regional is a minimum. Another possible regular season goal would be to win the East. Winning the East is actually going to be much harder this year. If that’s what we’re aiming for, then South Carolina probably needs a sweep. Vanderbilt and Florida don’t look like they are going to stumble anytime soon. If we’re only shooting for a Top 8 National Seed, then 2 out of 3 will be fine.
What will happen: Your guess is as good as mine. We’re 6 series into the season, and this team seems to find different ways to win all the time. The only constant thus far this season is that this team wins their weekend series. You can bet against them if you want to, but I wouldn’t.
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