No. 6 South Carolina vs. Missouri: Preview, Game Times, How to Watch and more

The Gamecocks (17-4, 3-0) will face the Missouri Tigers (16-5, 3-0) this weekend in an early battle for first place in the SEC East. Carolina enters the series coming off of a loss to Winthrop that snapped a ten game winning streak. South Carolina has only ever faced the Tigers in conference play and leads the all-time series 5-1.

The Tigers also enter the weekend coming off of a loss after falling to Air Force 4-2 on Wednesday night. Despite getting swept by Milwaukee in early March, Mizzou has had a good start to their season. They began SEC play by sweeping Georgia in Athens last weekend, outscoring the Bulldogs 19-5. However, the Tigers have not played a very strong schedule and the Gamecocks will be the toughest team they've faced so far.

The Gamecocks have continued to struggle to find consistent offensive production, particularly from the bottom of the order. Despite having two players (Caldwell and Martin) among the league leaders in batting average, Carolina's average is 11th in the SEC. Fortunately, Missouri has not been particularly dangerous offensively this season and is dead last in the league in batting average. The Tigers only have three players hitting .300 or above and two of them aren't regular starters.

Pitching is a completely different story for both teams, with Mizzou ranked 2nd in the league in ERA and Carolina ranked 4th. Those ERAs are also good for 6th nationally for Missouri and 15th nationally for the Gamecocks.

Wil Crowe will be the Friday night starter for the Gamecocks once again. The sophomore righty earned SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week honors for his performance against Kentucky in which he allowed only one unearned run while striking out ten hitters. He has a 2.67 ERA and leads the SEC in strikeouts with 41. Junior lefty Jack Wynkoop will start on Saturday. His 2.10 ERA is the best among USC's weekend starters and he has 28 strikeouts and 6 walks. Sunday's Gamecock starter will be freshman RHP Clarke Schmidt. He has been impressive each of the last two weekends in his first starts for the Gamecocks and has a 2.45 ERA, 21 strikeouts and 4 walks.

Missouri's Friday night starter will be Reggie McClain, a junior right-hander with a 1.64 ERA, 37 strikeouts and 7 walks. Freshman RHP Tanner Houck will start on Saturday. He has a 3.21 ERA with 29 strikeouts and 3 walks this year. Peter Fairbanks, another junior right-hander, will start on Sunday. His ERA is 1.52 and he has 28 strikeouts and 6 walks.

Game 1, Friday

Start Time: 7 pm

How to Watch: SEC Network Plus

How to Listen: 107.5 The Game and 1320 AM The Fan

Game 2, Saturday

Start Time: 3:30 pm

How to Watch: SEC Network

How to Listen: 107.5 The Game and 1320 AM The Fan

Game 3, Sunday

Start Time: 2 pm

How to Watch: SEC Network Plus

How to Listen: 107.5 The Game and 1320 AM The Fan