Ole Miss Baseball Scouting Report: Facing the South Carolina Gamecocks

The top-25 South Carolina Gamecocks have a 14-3 record and will venture to Oxford this weekend to open SEC play against the Ole Miss Rebels.

The SEC baseball season is officially underway, and this Ole Miss Rebels look ready to prove the doubters wrong in conference play.

The Rebels host the South Carolina Gamecocks this weekend who are looking to make some noise after residing at the top of the conference standings all season long. Here are three things to know about the Gamecocks before they come to Oxford this weekend.

Ole Miss LHP Gunnar Dennis / Ole Miss Athletics

Battle Tested  

Every year the Gamecocks play a series against the Clemson Tigers, one of the best in-state rivalries in college baseball. After the Friday night game was postponed, the Palmetto Classic produced a 12-inning 5-4 Tigers win, an instant classic that saw two passionate teams going at it.

South Carolina is not going to crumble under the pressure of a big-time Friday night game in Swayze. The series against top-10 Clemson did produce two losses, but both were one-run games that could have gone either way. 

Ole Miss will need to apply pressure early and often to keep South 
Carolina on its toes. 

Big Hitters

The Gamecocks are hitting for a .278 average as a team and have multiple guys hitting over .300. The fifth-year senior Dylan Brewer leads the way for the Gamecocks, and the former Clemson transfer has a whopping .415 average so far this season. 

Cole Messina leads the team in home runs with seven but also ranks second on the team in strikeouts. 

It seems that the Gamecocks work really quality at-bats but have a lot of swing-and-miss in their game. Friday night should be an interesting matchup that could favor South Carolina as Gunnar Dennis is someone who gets strikeouts but also pitches to contact a lot.

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Impressive Arms

The South Carolina pitching staff is statistically one of the best in the country. Their 2.21 ERA is good enough for not just second in the SEC but the country as well. Also, they are holding opposing hitters to a .187 average. 

The staff is anchored by Junior RHP Eli Jones. Jones boasts a 1.40 ERA and has 17 strikeouts through 19.1 innings, and he will get the ball Friday night. The weekend matchups are as follows:

Friday: Eli Jones vs Gunnar Dennis 

Saturday: Dylan Eskew vs Liam Doyle

Sunday: TBD vs Grayson Saunier

The Rebels will be the underdogs, but it is very difficult to go on the road and win a series in the SEC. Friday night will tell us a lot about Gunnar Dennis and this lineup. 

If the Rebels can win this series, it could be an indication that they plan to make some noise and return to the postseason once again after missing last season. 

First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on Friday and will be broadcast on SEC Network+.