Again, please post any thoughts on the series in the comments thread.
The games are at 7 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Radio for Columbia is 107.5 FM. USC game notes are here.
THREE FOR THE GAMECOCKS
- Duquesne. The Dukes are not what you would call a good team this year. In fact, they're what you would call pretty bad. They're 0-7 and haven't lost a game by fewer than seven runs. Duquesne's starting pitchers' ERA for the three-game set against South Carolina are 18.32, 27.00 and 6.23, respectively.
- Motivation. Just look at what Charlotte coach Loren Hibbs said after his team cooled the Gamecocks' bats in Wednesday's game.
"I certainly wouldn't want to be the team (Duquesne) coming in here this weekend, they are walking right into a hornet's nest," Hibbs said.
Granted, Hibbs has been something of an unwilling fan since last year's NCAA tournament. But the point is a valid one: South Carolina has every reason to go out and mash against the Dukes. Here's hoping they do it.
- Mike Cisco. The Friday starter is 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA, eight strikeouts and a pair of walks in 12.1 innings. He also happens to be 10-1 for his career against non-SEC teams.
TWO FOR THE DUKES
- No invincibility. As the game against Charlotte showed, the Gamecocks offense can be silenced, or at least stifled enough to make a winnable game. Get a couple of good pitching performances and patch together some offense, and Duquesne could come out with a series win.
- Mike Carroll. He's the Dukes' best offensive player in terms of average, hitting .455. (OBP is .600) But all five of his hits are singles. (When you're team's been outscored 92-16, the bar for "best offensive player" is set pretty low, though I think Carroll's probably a good player no matter which team he's on.)