Series Primer: South Carolina vs. Penn

South Carolina prepares to face their toughest non-conference opponent to date this weekend in the Penn Quakers.

So far this season, Mark Kingston and South Carolina's Baseball team have been wrecking opposing pitching staffs and simultaneously have kept their opponents' bats in check, leading to five consecutive blowout victories. One critique of the Gamecocks' wins so far has been the level of competition they've faced, as the three different opponents they've faced to this point put up a combined record of 75-99 in 2022.

In this particular facet, the Gamecocks will be tested more this weekend when they take on the Ivy League's Penn Quakers, who went 33-15 this past Spring. The Quakers return five starters from a batting lineup that pummeled their competition last season through gorilla ball, aiming to produce runs through extra-base hits and homers. Penn's top player out of this returning group is junior third baseman Wyatt Henseler, who batted an astonishing .383 in 188 plate appearances in 2022, hitting fourteen homers and batting in 53 runs in the process.

On the pitching side, Penn returns two of their top pitchers from last season's staff in Owen Coady and Cole Zaiffiro, two arms who, based on their stat lines from last season, rarely miss their spots, posting WHIPs of 1.40 and 1.13, respectively. Behind those two, things are a little murkier for the Quaker's bullpen, but Penn has enough experienced and talented players on their squad to make the Gamecocks work harder for a potential series win this weekend.

Another interesting note is that Penn has yet to play a game this month. In contrast, South Carolina has played five in the past week, which could potentially give the Gamecocks an advantage through the multiple lineup changes they've been able to implement already this season, showing the coaches what they can afford to run personnel-wise.

How To Watch South Carolina vs. Penn

• Series Timeline: Friday-Sunday, February 24th-26th, 2023.
• Game times: 4:00 pm ET for Game 1, 2:00 pm ET for Game 2, & 1:30 pm ET for Game 3.
• TV: SEC Network Plus (All Games)
• Stadium: Founders Park (Columbia, SC)
• Live stream on fuboTV: Start with a 7-day free trial!

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