No. 22 South Carolina vs. Georgia: Weekend Preview

The South Carolina Gamecocks open conference play this weekend with a familiar foe when the Georgia Bulldogs come to Columbia. The Gamecocks (14-3) are fresh off a weekend sweep of Valparaiso, adding a midweek victory against The Citadel, and have climbed to No. 20 in Baseball America’s poll and 22nd in the D1Baseball’s.

UGA (15-2) is coming off a weekend sweep and midweek win of its own, tallying victories against Presbyterian and Georgia State respectively. Last season, the Bulldogs swept the Gamecocks in Athens, so South Carolina will be looking for some payback here.

The Gamecocks will start things off by sending freshman right-hander Wesley Sweatt to the mound on Friday. Sweatt has stepped into the Game 1 starting role since the injury to Carmen Mlodzinski, which will keep him out for the better part of a month, and is 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA, three walks, and eight strikeouts. Junior righty Reid Morgan will take the ball on Saturday, sporting a 2-0 record with a 1.84 ERA and just one walk against 27 strikeouts.

As the Gamecocks did last weekend, they have yet to settle on a starter for Game 3. Last week, it was freshman Brett Kelly, who had previously been closing out games. Against Valpo, Kelly went five innings, allowing six hits and three runs while striking out six with no walks.

Georgia will counter with sophomore right-hander Emerson Hancock (4-0, 0.38 ERA, 6 BB, 25 SO), sophomore southpaw C.J. Smith (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 BB, 14 SO), and junior righty Tony Locey (3-0, 2.45 ERA, 10 BB, 32 SO).

Game 1: Friday, 7 p.m.

Game 2: Saturday, 4 p.m.

Game 3: Sunday, 1:30 p.m.

Watch: All three games are available on SEC Network Plus.

Listen: 107.5 The Game