Gamecocks travel to Texas for big road test

Fresh off a weekend sweep of Mercer and a little-too-exciting midweek victory over The Citadel, the South Carolina Gamecocks will put their 11-0 record and No. 10/No. 12 rankings on the line against the No. 19/No. 20 Texas Longhorns in a meeting of two storied programs. Will there be some long-overdue revenge for the 2002 national championship game?

Texas, sitting at 8-5, has won eight of its past 10 games and was selected to finish third in the Big 12’s preseason coaches poll. Zach Zubia paces the Longhorns at the plate with a gaudy .433 average and 12 RBIs and 10 runs scored in the past 10 games, while ace Ty Madden hurled a complete game shutout earlier this month.

The Gamecocks will send righty Thomas Farr (2-0, 1.56 ERA, 6 BB, 20 SO) to the hill to oppose fellow right-hander Madden (2-1, 1.35 ERA, 6 BB, 30 SO) in the series opener. For Game 2, right-handed Brannon Jordan (1-0, 3.46 ERA, 11 BB, 23 SO) gets the ball for South Carolina, going against righty Tristan Stevens (0-1, 4.96 ERA, 5 BB, 10 SO). Finally, in another matchup of right-handed pitchers, Julian Bosnic (1-0, 0.90 ERA, 8 BB, 21 SO) will be on the mound for the Gamecocks in Game 3 against Kolby Kubicheck (2-1, 1.93 ERA, 3 BB, 20 SO).

Game 1 is set for 7:30 p.m., while Game 2 was moved up to 3:30 p.m. under threat of rain. First pitch for the series closer on Sunday is at noon. All three games will be aired on the Longhorn Network.