re: Regionals: Ole Miss & Vanderbilt Advance to the Supers! (Unsticky Admins)

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No. 1 South Carolina (42-16, 18-12 in SEC East) Roster | Statistics
30th appearance (15th straight), at-large, second place in SEC East
Top 200 Prospects: C Grayson Greiner (74), LHP Jordan Montgomery (119), 3B/OF Joey Pankake (150)

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It’s hardly been a smooth ride for South Carolina, as second-year head coach Chad Holbrook has had to piece together a lineup wracked by injuries, but the Gamecocks are always there at the end. They went 14-4 down the stretch in the regular season before their customary early exit—that’s pretty much what it is at this point—from the SEC tournament, and they’ll host a regional for the fifth straight year, matching Virginia for the longest such streak in the country. Almost half of South Carolina’s lineup has been shelved at one point or another, most notably sophomore second baseman Max Schrock (.270/.344/.450, 5 HR), a freshman All-American in 2013 who missed most of the second half with a stress fracture in his back. Schrock did return to assume some DH duties late in the season and delivered a few very timely hits. Through it all, junior catcher Grayson Greiner (.328/.403/.515, 8 HR) has been a rock behind the plate and has steadily picked up his offense over his career. Greiner and fellow junior Kyle Martin (.329/.383/.434, 5 HR), playing an everyday role at first base after two years mostly as a reserve, have anchored the middle of the order. Martin gives the Gamecocks a valuable power threat from the left side, helping make up for the loss of Schrock, ordinarily their best lefthanded bat. The Gamecocks have been able to weather their myriad injuries because they’re one of the best pitching teams in the country, their 2.37 ERA ranking eighth nationally. Friday night starter Jordan Montgomery (7-5, 3.52) doesn’t have dominant stuff, working at 88-92 mph from the left side with a great changeup, but is a proven SEC performer, as is sophomore Jack Wynkoop (7-5, 2.71), another lefty changeup specialist. Freshman righty Will Crowe (7-3, 3.05) has shown a much louder arsenal with a fastball reaching 94 mph and looks like the next Gamecocks ace, though he’s settled in as the Sunday starter this year. If you’re going to beat South Carolina, you need to get to the starters because the its bullpen is nearly untouchable. Star closer Joel Seddon (3-1, 0.85, 14 SV) leads a group that features five pitchers with ERAs under 2.00, and the Gamecocks are 29-1 when leading after six innings.

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does anyone have the heart to tell a.j. reed his amish beard is god awful?

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PM seriously considering throwing Nola, but i think in the end he'll go with Poche.

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any other sec teams named starters yet for Game 1 ?

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Texas A&M is one of the toughest teams to figure out in this field. The Aggies have series wins over Florida, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and LSU this season, but also have struggled at times against vastly inferior opponents. Basically, it’s a case of which A&M team shows up this weekend. A&M’s offense isn’t as good as its .286 batting average would indicate, but freshman duo of Nick Banks and Ryne Birk can cause some trouble for opposing teams. Birk is hitting .301 with two homers and 15 RBIs, while Banks is one of the nation’s top first-year players, hitting .348 with more power potential than his two homers would indicate. First baseman Cole Lankford is the top threat in this lineup with a .333 average, four homers and 42 RBIs, while a big key to the weekend is A) getting OF Krey Bratsen, who’s 18-for-19 in stolen bases, on base, and B) getting Blake Allemand in the mix. The Aggies seem to flourish offensively when Allemand was hitting atop the lineup. That needs to return. Also, the Aggies will be without OF Jonathan Moroney this weekend because of a broken hand, while SS Logan Taylor is 50-50 after suffering a dislocated knee cap against LSU a few weeks ago ... On the mound, the Aggies have an a talented ace righthanded pitcher in Daniel Mengden, who has been solid as of late, sits 89-93 with his fastball, and has a potentially wipeout, low-80s slider, to go with his fastball. Meanwhile, sophomore righty Grayson Long can touch 94 on the gun and has good overall stuff, while righthander Parker Ray is a tough guy to face in a potential third game. Ray sinks his pitches and has a terrific 79-81 changeup that just buries hitters. The bullpen is a concern for this A&M club, but power-armed AJ Minter (1.31, 20.2 IP) and Corey Ray (2.17, 29 IP), along with lefty specialist Ty Schlottmann, have a chance to keep things together at the back-end of games.

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