The No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks (32-5, 12-3 SEC) travel to Columbia, S.C., this weekend to face the No. 20 South Carolina Gamecocks (26-11, 8-7 SEC) for a three-game SEC weekend series inside Founders Park.
After dropping their first series of the season to Alabama, the second-ranked Razorbacks returned home Tuesday and earned an impressive midweek sweep of Texas Tech. Meanwhile, Mark Kingston’s 20th-ranked Gamecocks squad enters this weekend coming off a series win in Gainesville, Fla., and a midweek win over The Citadel to clinch its fifth win in its last six contests.
Game Information
Game 1 – Friday 6:00 p.m. CT / SECN+
Game 2 – Saturday 2:00 p.m. CT / SECN+
Game 3 – Sunday 12:30 p.m. CT / SECN+
Pitching Matchups
Friday:
(ARK) LHP Hagen Smith: 7-0, 1.53 ERA, 89K/17BB, 47.0 IP vs (USC) RHP Roman Kimball: 2-1, 4.71 ERA, 28K/22BB, 21.0 IP
Saturday:
(ARK) LHP Mason Molina: 3-0, 3.32 ERA, 65K/21BB, 43.1 IP vs (USC) RHP Eli Jones: 3-1, 3.57 ERA, 38K/12BB, 45.1 IP
Sunday:
(ARK) RHP Brady Tygart: 3-1, 2.59 ERA, 52K/21BB, 42.1 IP vs (USC) TBD
The three-headed monster that is the Arkansas starting rotation is coming off of a really solid week in Tuscaloosa. Despite the series loss, Smith, Molina and Tygart combined to give up only three runs.
Friday night’s matchup is Smith vs. Kimball. Kimball is not typically a starter for South Carolina. With only three starts on the year he is generally a bullpen piece. Mark Kingston pitting him against the Razorback ace on Friday is a defensive move, meaning the Gamecocks are not expecting to do much offensively in Game 1.
This continues a pattern Arkansas has seen a lot recently, which is the opposing team starting its ace in Game 2 rather than Game 1 to avoid Smith.
Saturday will see the Gamecocks’ best starter in Eli Jones, who is 3-1 through his 9 starts with an ERA of 3.57. Jones is a veteran righty who struck out 10 Hog batters last season in Fayetteville.
Molina continues to be the go-to man on Saturdays for Dave Van Horn and pitching coach Matt Hobbs as he will look to improve upon his outing last Saturday.
Game 3 is all Tygart. The right-hander has struggled with command in conference play, but when he is on the curveball is filthy and un-hittable. He could be the key to the series for the Hogs.
South Carolina has yet to announce its Sunday starter.
Gamecocks’ Key Bullpen Arms
LHP Garrett Gainey – 14 APP, 0-2, 3.91 ERA, 34K/5BB, 23.0 IP
RHP Chris Veach – 16 APP, 2-1, 4.70 ERA, 30K/14BB, 23.0 IP
RHP Ty Good – 14 APP, 4-0, 2.53 ERA, 39K/13BB, 32.0 IP
RHP Tyler Pitzer – 11 APP, 4-1, 3.59 ERA, 39K/12BB, 28.1 IP
RHP Dylan Eskew – 11 APP, 2-2, 4.74 ERA, 31K/13BB, 38.0 IP
The Gamecock bullpen is full of quality right-handers, headlined by Good, who is Mark Kingston’s go-to man out of the bullpen.
Names such as Gainey, Veach and Pitzer are also ones to look out for this weekend if the Razorback bats can get to the starters early.
Eskew is a likely candidate to start for South Carolina on Sunday as he has eight starts on the season in his 11 appearances.
The Gamecock staff as a whole holds an ERA of 4.50, which ranks seventh in the conference. Opponents are batting .234 off of Gamecock pitching with 176 runs against them on the season.
Gamecock Offense Revolves Around Patience
Crazy stat of the day: The South Carolina Gamecocks are 13th in the SEC in team batting average but fourth in on-base percentage.
South Carolina batters have drawn an SEC-high 263 walks in 2024. It’s safe to say that patience is something the Gamecock offense prides itself on.
Don’t get it twisted, though, this offense certainly has its fair share of high-powered bats. The two biggest names are returners from the 2023 squad, Ethan Petry and Cole Messina. Petry is batting a team-leading .323 with 15 home runs and on-base percentage of .491. South Carolina catcher Cole Messina has an average of .291 with 10 long balls and 33 RBI.
Other names to watch this weekend are Kennedy Jones, Talmadge Leroy and Dylan Brewer.
There are six South Carolina hitters with OBPs over .400 and an astounding seven with at least 20 walks, with Petry’s 35 leading the team.
The name of the game is timely hitting with the Gamecocks. If the Hogs hand them free passes, South Carolina will take advantage.
Three Keys to The Series
- Do. Not. Walk. Them. This one shouldn’t be too hard to understand. If the Razorback pitching staff cannot throw strikes this weekend, South Carolina will make them pay. Tygart and Molina’s command, or lack there of, is key to winning or losing the series.
- Outfield Production. The Razorback outfielders must contribute offensively this weekend for the Hogs to find success at the plate. Kendall Diggs’ status is still questionable, so we may see Peyton Holt, Will Edmunson, Ty Wilmsmeyer and maybe even Jayson Jones out there at least on Friday. In SEC play, these are the Arkansas outfielders’ batting averages: .210, .240, .180, .273. Those numbers have to improve, and that improvement needs to start in Columbia.
- Control The Base Paths. South Carolina likes to run, and it is very successful when it does (44/53 on steal attempts in 2024). Combine that with obscenely high OBPs and you get something dangerous. Arkansas catchers, whether it be Hudson White, Ryder Helfrick or Parker Rowland, have to be aware of runners at first and second.
Prediction
Smith pitches on Friday. On Saturday, Molina goes up against a tough opponent in Jones. Something tells me the Hogs drop Game 2 to bring it to a classic Sunday rubber match. That means it’ll come down to Tygart, with some wishful thinking in tow. I think Tygart will find his command and have a great outing. With the offense doing just enough, the Razorbacks take Game 3 in South Carolina.
If my predictions come to fruition, Arkansas will return home 14-4 in conference play before facing Florida within the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium next weekend.