Florida vs South Carolina Super Regional Preview

Florida baseball is set to face off against South Carolina in a best of three series inside Condron Family Ballpark from June 9-11.

The Gators will compete the program’s 11th Super Regional and their first against the Gamecocks.

Despite being swept earlier in the season, Florida holds a 16-11 record vs. South Carolina across the previous 27 matchups and have won 12 of the last 15 meetings in Gainesville. The Gators own a 29-22 mark in the series under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan, which includes a 16-5 record at home. South Carolina is 3-0 against Florida in the NCAA Tournament, all of which took place in the College World Series, most recently in 2012.

DATES, TIMES, AND BROADCAST INFO

Friday, June 9th at 6:00 PM / ESPN2

Saturday, June 10th at 3:00 PM / ESPN2

Sunday, June 11th (if necessary) / TBD

It’s important to note that rain is expected in Gainesville this weekend, which may result in game time changes.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1: RHP Brandon Sproat (7-3, 4.70 ERA) vs RHP James Hicks (8-1, 3.32 ERA)

Game 2: RHP Hurston Waldrep vs RHP Jack Mahoney (7-3, 4.05 ERA)

Game 3: LHP Jac Caglianone (6-3, 4.14 ERA) vs TBD

James Hicks tossed a combined four innings of relief against Florida earlier in the season, allowing two earned runs, four hits, and two walks.

Mahoney started game two against the Gators, earning the win in his five innings pitched. The right hander allowed two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three.

South Carolina has not named a game three starter at this time.

SCOUTING THE GAMECOCKS

South Carolina enters the Super Regionals holding a record of 42-19 (16-13 SEC).

After sweeping Florida earlier this year, the Gamecocks dropped their last four SEC series, including series losses to Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky, all teams in which Florida defeated throughout the 2023 season.

Mark Kingston’s ballclub finished the regular season unranked, according to D1Baseball’s top 25 poll. However, the NCAA selection committee granted South Carolina the 15th overall seed, which earned them the right to host their regional in Columbia.

South Carolina cruised through the opening round of the NCAA tournament, finishing with a 3-0 record while outscoring opponents 41-11.

The Gamecocks are hitting .275/.412/.504 as a team with 115 home runs, which ranks 10th amongst division one teams.

South Carolina has pitched to a 4.17 ERA across 425 frames, ranking 14th in all of college baseball in that statistic. Their pitching staff strikes out 10.2 batters per nine innings, which is good enough for 20th in the country.

Defensively, South Carolina holds a sound .974 fielding percentage.

The top half of South Carolina’s order is as dangerous as they come, including four players holding a batting over .300 and four with double digit home run totals.

KEY PLAYER TO WATCH

Infielder Ethan Petry: The true freshman led the Gamecocks with a .374 batting average in 2023 and was named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes award. The 6-4, 230-pound slugger blasted 23 home runs throughout the year including two against the Gators earlier this season. Petry also leads South Carolina in RBI (75) and on base percentage (.470).

KEYS TO VICTORY FOR FLORIDA 

FINDING DIFFERENT WAYS TO SCORE

Florida’s offense scuffled at times throughout the Gainesville Regional, totaling just seven runs in their first two games. The Gators vastly improved in the last thee games, scoring 21 runs in 25 innings at the plate.

The Gators can’t afford a slow start this weekend and will need to be effective offensively as they are set to face a superior pitching staff compared to any team they faced last week.

Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad relied heavily on the long ball in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, much like they have all season. You can’t ever count out the home run ball with this Florida team, but it’s important the Gators find different ways to score against a top tier South Carolina pitching staff.

QUALITY STARTS

The Gators pitching staff seems to feed off each other, meaning it’s important that Florida’s starting pitcher is on their A-game in Gainesville.

If Florida can get 5+ innings from each of their starters, the Gators’ bullpen is more than capable of finishing off a three-game series.

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA COMMUNICATIONS

 

 

Nick Marcinko
Nick is a recent graduate from the University of Florida with a degree in Telecommunications. He is passionate about all sports but specifically baseball and football. Nick interned at Inside the Gators and worked part time with Knights247 before joining the Gator Country family. Nick enjoys spending his free time golfing and at the beach.