C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
South Carolina finally starts its series with Clemson Saturday afternoon, and before arguably the best rivalry in sports starts, I wanted to write down a few thoughts on the series, what the rescheduling means and just the team as a whole before game one Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.
--A reminder that if South Carolina wins this series, then it still has 12 of these left in the regular season (10 in the SEC). And if it loses, there’s still 12 more series to go. A win or loss here doesn’t define a season and the Gamecocks are going to be a different team in six weeks than they are over these next two games. It’s fun, and maybe the best rivalry in college baseball, but won’t define a season.
--For starters about the series, the Friday game was rescheduled because of rain and I think it sets up especially well for South Carolina, especially if the Gamecocks can take at least one of the first two games. They’d then go into the May game with likely Will Sanders starting (if things hold) against Clemson in a midweek game. Any time a top 100 prospect can start on a midweek, it’s always a good thing.
--I don’t know how the Gamecocks are planning on setting up the pitching rotation now that Friday is off, but the assumption is starting Thomas Farr (0-0, 1.50 ERA) on Saturday and Brannon Jordan Sunday against Davis Sharpe and Mat Clark for Clemson. If that holds and is the case, the best match up of the weekend will be Farr and Sharpe, a traditional Friday night starter in the SEC and a preseason All-American in Sharpe. In series like this, winners are typically decided by whichever team doesn’t blink first and getting a good performance from either Farr or Sharpe could catapult a team to winning game one and the series.
Jordan was good in his first outing, limiting his hits, but struggled with command and will need to be better opposite a lefty in Clark (if that’s how things ultimately go), who has had a lot of success against South Carolina in his career.
--All of the starters will be at their full pitch counts this weekend, which is certainly beneficial for South Carolina and the hope is to get full starts out of whomever they start.
--What will be interesting is seeing the emotion and intensity with reduced crowds. The two home venues especially are insanely packed during that specific game and the crowd and intensity can spark a run or two in the middle of a game. Without a full house in Greenville or Columbia this weekend, it’ll be interesting to see if that’s a factor.
--In looking at Clemson, it’s a very pitching-heavy team with some decent hitters. Sharpe obviously leaves the charge for the Tigers, but Clark’s good and freshman Ty Olenchuk had a really good start to his year with 4.2 scoreless innings in his first-career start last week. Caden Grice is also a very good freshman pitcher for Clemson who struggled in a Sunday start last week.
--There are a few offensive pieces the Gamecocks will have to be wary of. Bryce Teodosio is hitting .455 on the season but the Gamecocks will have to watch for guys like Dylan Brewer, who’s slashing .375/.750/.571 with three RBI to start the year and Jonathan French, slashing .333/.333/.833 and leads the team with two homers.
It’s not an incredibly potent Clemson offense numbers-wise—slashing .293/.400/.467 as a team—and it doesn’t hit for a lot of power but is averaging six runs per game and has some pieces.
--Outside of Wes Clarke, who will be someone not really pitched to this series, I’m intrigued to see how Brady Allen plays. This is his third go-around in this series and will be imperative to set the table and get on base for South Carolina and make it so it’s impossible to pitch around Clarke and some of the other bats in that lineup. If Clemson does not pitch to Clarke, I’ll be intrigued to see how guys near the bottom of the order—Brennan Milone, Jeff Heinrich and Colin Burgess—fair. I think all three could make major impacts on this series, and it’ll be fun to watch Milone play since he missed last season’s series with a hip injury.
--From a pitching standpoint for South Carolina, getting length out of whichever pitchers start will be big but getting another pitcher added to the bullpen for this series, and potentially Julian Bosnic is going to be huge. If Bosnic does to the pen for this series then it gives South Carolina another lefty who can ratchet it up to 92 miles per our out of the bullpen who can get strikeouts at a high, high clip. Brett Kerry, obviously, is going to be a big piece, but Andrew Peters has looked really good in his two outings as well.
The bullpen as a whole has been very, very good to start—20 innings, three earned runs, 27 strikeouts and eight walks with a 1.35 ERA, 0.900 WHIP and throwing 63 percent of pitches for strikes—and having multiple options out there could help swing a game or two this weekend.
--Even though this won’t define a season, I think this will be a fun series between a top 20 South Carolina team and a Clemson team on the cusp of the top 25. It should show something about the Gamecocks’ ability to match up against Power 5 programs. All in all, it should be a fun jam-packed weekend of some good baseball.
--A reminder that if South Carolina wins this series, then it still has 12 of these left in the regular season (10 in the SEC). And if it loses, there’s still 12 more series to go. A win or loss here doesn’t define a season and the Gamecocks are going to be a different team in six weeks than they are over these next two games. It’s fun, and maybe the best rivalry in college baseball, but won’t define a season.
--For starters about the series, the Friday game was rescheduled because of rain and I think it sets up especially well for South Carolina, especially if the Gamecocks can take at least one of the first two games. They’d then go into the May game with likely Will Sanders starting (if things hold) against Clemson in a midweek game. Any time a top 100 prospect can start on a midweek, it’s always a good thing.
--I don’t know how the Gamecocks are planning on setting up the pitching rotation now that Friday is off, but the assumption is starting Thomas Farr (0-0, 1.50 ERA) on Saturday and Brannon Jordan Sunday against Davis Sharpe and Mat Clark for Clemson. If that holds and is the case, the best match up of the weekend will be Farr and Sharpe, a traditional Friday night starter in the SEC and a preseason All-American in Sharpe. In series like this, winners are typically decided by whichever team doesn’t blink first and getting a good performance from either Farr or Sharpe could catapult a team to winning game one and the series.
Jordan was good in his first outing, limiting his hits, but struggled with command and will need to be better opposite a lefty in Clark (if that’s how things ultimately go), who has had a lot of success against South Carolina in his career.
--All of the starters will be at their full pitch counts this weekend, which is certainly beneficial for South Carolina and the hope is to get full starts out of whomever they start.
--What will be interesting is seeing the emotion and intensity with reduced crowds. The two home venues especially are insanely packed during that specific game and the crowd and intensity can spark a run or two in the middle of a game. Without a full house in Greenville or Columbia this weekend, it’ll be interesting to see if that’s a factor.
--In looking at Clemson, it’s a very pitching-heavy team with some decent hitters. Sharpe obviously leaves the charge for the Tigers, but Clark’s good and freshman Ty Olenchuk had a really good start to his year with 4.2 scoreless innings in his first-career start last week. Caden Grice is also a very good freshman pitcher for Clemson who struggled in a Sunday start last week.
--There are a few offensive pieces the Gamecocks will have to be wary of. Bryce Teodosio is hitting .455 on the season but the Gamecocks will have to watch for guys like Dylan Brewer, who’s slashing .375/.750/.571 with three RBI to start the year and Jonathan French, slashing .333/.333/.833 and leads the team with two homers.
It’s not an incredibly potent Clemson offense numbers-wise—slashing .293/.400/.467 as a team—and it doesn’t hit for a lot of power but is averaging six runs per game and has some pieces.
--Outside of Wes Clarke, who will be someone not really pitched to this series, I’m intrigued to see how Brady Allen plays. This is his third go-around in this series and will be imperative to set the table and get on base for South Carolina and make it so it’s impossible to pitch around Clarke and some of the other bats in that lineup. If Clemson does not pitch to Clarke, I’ll be intrigued to see how guys near the bottom of the order—Brennan Milone, Jeff Heinrich and Colin Burgess—fair. I think all three could make major impacts on this series, and it’ll be fun to watch Milone play since he missed last season’s series with a hip injury.
--From a pitching standpoint for South Carolina, getting length out of whichever pitchers start will be big but getting another pitcher added to the bullpen for this series, and potentially Julian Bosnic is going to be huge. If Bosnic does to the pen for this series then it gives South Carolina another lefty who can ratchet it up to 92 miles per our out of the bullpen who can get strikeouts at a high, high clip. Brett Kerry, obviously, is going to be a big piece, but Andrew Peters has looked really good in his two outings as well.
The bullpen as a whole has been very, very good to start—20 innings, three earned runs, 27 strikeouts and eight walks with a 1.35 ERA, 0.900 WHIP and throwing 63 percent of pitches for strikes—and having multiple options out there could help swing a game or two this weekend.
--Even though this won’t define a season, I think this will be a fun series between a top 20 South Carolina team and a Clemson team on the cusp of the top 25. It should show something about the Gamecocks’ ability to match up against Power 5 programs. All in all, it should be a fun jam-packed weekend of some good baseball.
