After falling to the LSU Tigers in heartbreaking fashion on Thursday night, South Carolina’s baseball team has little time to pick themselves up before playing a game against the No. 3 seed Kentucky Wildcats that will decide whether they make it to the semifinals of the SEC Baseball Tournament or go home and await hearing their spot in the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky was one of the two Top 5 teams the Gamecocks defeated in the regular season, with Carolina winning the series two games to one.

Mark Kingston‘s squad won what was essentially a war of attrition against the Wildcats in their first go-round, and that will likely be the same kind of battle the two teams endure once again on Friday. The Gamecocks have already used 11 pitchers in three days, with Chris Veach having made two appearances and throwing over 80 pitches total. Kentucky has used 10 pitchers after getting blown out by LSU in the second round and staving off the Arkansas Razorbacks in an elimination game on Thursday.

In terms of who could be available for both teams, South Carolina still hasn’t used pitchers like Parker Marlatt, Roman Kimball, and Tyler Dean, and could use pitchers like Dylan Eskew and Matthew Becker who pitched on Tuesday against Alabama. The Cats, on the other hand, have two starters available in Mason Moore and Dominic Niman, along with relievers in Johnny Hummel and Cameron O’Brien who could potentially go despite throwing close to 20 pitches each against the Tigers.

Eskew did go six and a third innings against Kentucky back on April 28th, and although he wouldn’t be able to go deep into this game, his pitch-to-contact style might be the Gamecocks’ best bet to try and stifle the No. 1 offense from SEC play. The Wildcats also aren’t an overpowering team on the mound as far as strikeouts are concerned and were tied for the third-highest walk total in league play, something Cole Messina and Carolina could use to their advantage.

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