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South Carolina’s final home game of the season was rained out, so they will head into the last weekend of the regular season at 30-21 (15-12 SEC) and with a little extra rest. The Gamecocks wrap up the regular season on the road at Blue Bell Park in College Station. Carolina is 7-4 all-time against the Aggies and won the series in 2015 in their only other trip to College Station.
The Gamecocks are in fifth place in the SEC heading into the final weekend of conference play. They’ve clinched a spot in the SEC Tournament in Hoover and are in the running for a top four finish in the conference, which would give them a bye for the single-elimination round of the tournament. The Gamecocks will probably need a series win in addition to a few things breaking their way in other conference matchups for that to happen. But for a team that was 6-9 with just one SEC series win at the midpoint of conference play, this is a great position to be in heading into the last series.
SEC Standings
| SEC East | SEC West |
|---|---|
| SEC East | SEC West |
| Florida (20-7, .741) | Arkansas (17-10, .630) |
| Georgia (16-11, .593) | Ole Miss (16-11, .593) |
| South Carolina (15-12, .596) | LSU (14-13, .519) |
| Kentucky (13-14, .481) | Auburn (13-14, .481) |
| Vanderbilt (13-14, .481) | Texas A&M (12-15, .444) |
| Tennessee (11-16, .407) | Mississippi State (12-15, .444) |
| Missouri (10-17, (.370) | Alabama (7-20, .259) |
The Aggies are 35-17 (12-15 SEC) and coming off of a midweek win over Sam Houston State. Their only SEC series wins this season are against LSU, Alabama, and Mississippi State, and they were swept at Arkansas last weekend.
The biggest strength of this Texas A&M team is the pitching. The Aggies have a better ERA than any team in the conference besides Florida and have given up the fewest home runs (28) of any SEC team this season. The Aggie offense, while not one of the best in the SEC, is still pretty good. The A&M hitters are led by Michael Helman (.361/.451/.519). The Gamecocks will also need to watch out for Braden Shewmake (.327/.399/.454) and Logan Foster (.304/.403/.512), who leads the team in home runs with eight. The Aggies don’t attempt to steal very often, but Helman and Shewmake each have 11 stolen bases this year. The Carolina pitching and defense should still be able to hold the Aggies in check, but they’ll need a good weekend from the offense as well if they want to finish the season with a road series win.
USC vs Texas A&M Stats
| Stat | South Carolina | Texas A&M |
|---|---|---|
| Stat | South Carolina | Texas A&M |
| Batting Average | 0.276 | 0.284 |
| On-Base % | 0.369 | 0.365 |
| Slugging % | 0.451 | 0.425 |
| ERA | 4.34 | 3.33 |
| Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio | 2.08 | 2.57 |
| Fielding % | 0.982 | 0.972 |
Freshman RHP Logan Chapman (4.67 ERA, 46 SO, 28 BB) will start for the Gamecocks in Thursday’s opener. The Aggie starter will be junior RHP Mitchell Kilkenny (2.85 ERA, 74 SO, 22 BB).
The Friday starter for Carolina will be junior RHP Adam Hill (4.08 ERA, 87 SO, 37 BB). Sophomore LHP John Doxakis (3.15 ERA, 64 SO, 24 BB) will start for Texas A&M.
Sophomore RHP Cody Morris (4.22 ERA, 69 SO, 26 BB) will be the Gamecocks starter for the regular season finale on Saturday. Texas A&M has not named a Saturday starter.
Game 1: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Game 2: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Game 3: Saturday, 3 p.m.
Watch: The first two games will be available on SEC Network Plus. Saturday’s game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
Listen: 107.5 The Game & The Gamecock Radio Network