No. 8 South Carolina vs. USC Upstate: Preview, TV info, injury report and more

The Gamecocks got a nice win and their 12th shutout of the season against Davidson Tuesday night and will try to extend their three-game winning streak as they take on USC Upstate tonight. South Carolina is 7-0 against USC Upstate all-time.

The USC Upstate Spartans are 14-29 overall and 4-13 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.  The Spartans did upset Kentucky early in the season, but do not have many quality wins other than that and have only won one weekend series. They are currently on a five-game losing streak, including losing to Wofford on Tuesday night.  The Spartans are hitting .239 with a .319 on-base percentage. Their ERA is 5.95 and opponents are hitting .346 against them.

The Gamecocks are 31-10 (10-8 SEC) now and are 5th in the RPI rankings that came out Tuesday.  The Gamecocks were 4th in the country in ERA at the beginning of the week and have since improved their ERA to 2.05. Opponents are hitting .219 against the Gamecocks. South Carolina is hitting .283 with an on-base percentage of .356.

Freshman right-hander Matthew Vogel will start for the Gamecocks tonight. He has an ERA of 8.49 through 11.2 innings of work. This will be his seventh appearance but only his second start for the Gamecocks.

The Gamecocks are still fighting through a lot of injuries, but Coach Holbrook said Tuesday night in his press conference that he believes the team has come to grips with having some guys miss time after initially receiving a bit of a shock when the injuries piled up last week. Greiner (thumb) and Pankake (hamstring) both have minor injuries that they're "sucking it up" and playing through. Bright (elbow) is getting better, but he still can't throw. Bright could hit if necessary, and Holbrook is hopeful he will be able to play this weekend. Holbrook said he is not optimistic about Schrock (back) being able to return any time soon and that Max may be out for the remainder of the season. Elliot Caldwell was held out Tuesday with a sore back and will likely be out tonight as well. Vince Fiori is definitely out for the rest of the week. Beal has a broken nose, but is cleared to pitch and could possibly pitch tonight.

Start time: 7 p.m.

Location: Columbia, S.C. (Carolina Stadium)

TV: FOX Sports South

Radio: 107.5 The Game