HOOVER, Ala. – No. 10 seed South Carolina has started 2-0 in SEC Tournament play for the first time since 2004, the year the team won the championship. Next up is No. 11 seed LSU, a team that was also on the NCAA Tournament bubble entering play in Hoover, but certainly seems to have solidified its spot in next week's action.
The Gameco*cks (35-21) moved up to No. 17 in the updated RPI on Thursday after the win and face a Tigers (38-20) team that has moved up six spots to No. 24 in that metric over the last two days. First pitch today is set for approximately 5:30 p.m. with coverage on the SEC Network.
South Carolina season stats | LSU season stats
Leading off
Opponent: LSU Tigers (38-20)
Time: Approximately 5:30 p.m.
Place: Hoover Metropolitan Stadium (10,800)
Broadcast: SEC Network
Pitching probables
RHP Tyler Pitzer: 4-1, 4.66 ERA, 38.2 IP, 20 BB, 53 K
RHP Thatcher Hurd: 2-4, 6.49 ERA, 34.2 IP, 21 BB, 43 K
South Carolina notes
-- South Carolina will hand the ball to freshman Tyler Pitzer on Thursday against the Tigers for his fifth start this season while also having 12 appearances out of the bullpen. On the year, he has a 4.66 ERA giving up 37 hits and 20 walks in 38 2/3 innings. The right-hander has 53 strikeouts on the year and has also earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors, which came after a starting performance against Vanderbilt.
Pitzer picked up the victory over the Commodores throwing 6 1/3 innings and the only two runs that came in on his watch were unearned. He gave up three hits, walked one and had nine strikeouts on the afternoon as the Gameco*cks polished off the series sweep with a 10-2 victory.
-- The Gameco*cks and LSU met last year in the SEC Tournament. After splitting the season series at a game apiece, the Tigers took the date in Hoover, 10-3, putting up four multi-run innings on the day.
LSU notes
-- The Tigers are sending UCLA transfer Thatcher Hurd to the mound, who spent one year on the west coast before joining the national championship-winning program last year. Hurd didn't pitch great for the Tigers until late in the season in 2023, and South Carolina was one of the teams that got him on track.
In the SEC Tournament last year, the righty threw four innings of no-hit ball before Ethan Petry cranked a solo home run in the fifth. Hurd lost command in the sixth and ultimately walked in a run before being replaced giving up three earned runs on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. He'd go on to allow three earned runs in 12 innings of work in the College World Series.
-- The Gameco*cks will see a familiar face in the opposite dugout with junior Michael Braswell as the starting shortstop for the Tigers. Braswell was a Freshman All-SEC player his first year with the South Carolina program hitting .284 overall and had a 16-game hitting streak to begin his career. He hit .255 as a sophom*ore with eight doubles, one home run and a .372 on-base percentage.
Braswell's offensive numbers have spiked with the Tigers hitting .302 with 12 doubles and two home runs and a .407 on-base percentage.
Braswell was hit in the arm with a pitch in the top of the ninth inning on Wednesday in the win over Kentucky. He stayed in the game to run, but was removed from the game defensively in the bottom of the ninth.
-- With all the talk of Charlie Condon, Jac Caglianone and even Christian Moore this season, lost in the shuffle is LSU third baseman Tommy White, who's put together a pretty impressive season, too. LSU just wasn't as impressive as a team for much of the year as the others. White leads the team in the Triple Crown categories of average (.347), home runs (24) and RBIs (68). He has 25 walks and only 34 strikeouts on the season while committing only two errors at third base.
Jared Jones is also an impressive bat hitting .289 with 23 home runs and 51 RBIs while freshman second baseman Steven Milam is hitting .310 with 30 walks against only 30 strikeouts.
-- LSU has ridden its two starting pitchers – Gage Jump and Luke Holman – to triple digits the first two games of the tournament. One reliever each game – Griffin Herring and Gavin Guidry – have thrown 35 pitches or less out of the bullpen so the Tigers should have a fresh pitching staff, minus the starters. Herring can certainly bounce back, if needed, against the Gameco*cks and Guidry probably could, too.
