No. 21 Aggies Face South Carolina in Weekend Series
The No. 21 Texas A&M Aggies baseball team hopes to win its fifth consecutive weekend series. Standing in its way are the South Carolina Gamecocks. The series begins on Friday at 6:32 p.m. from Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park in College Station, Texas.
The series will continue on Saturday at 2:02 p.m. and Sunday at 1:02 p.m.
Over the last four weekends, A&M (27-15, 12-9 SEC) has beaten Kentucky, No. 10 Georgia, No. 3 Arkansas, and No. 22 Vanderbilt. If the Aggies can win the series against the Gamecocks, it will be the first time they've won five weekend series in a row since 2017.
The Aggies are on somewhat of a hot streak recently, especially on the mound. Nathan Dettmer has allowed two runs or less in five consecutive starts and is 4-0 with a 1.39 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 32 1/3 innings. He earned SEC Pitcher of the Week honors following the Georiga series.
In the month of April, Jacob Palish allowed just one run in eight appearances, striking out 27 over 18 2/3 innings for a .48 ERA. He struck out 16 while allowing just two walks during that time.
Dylan Rock reached base safely in 34 consecutive games and in 41 of 42 total games played. Three times he reached base with a pinch-hit in his only at-bat of the game. Through 21 SEC games, Rock leads the league with 28 runs scored, is third in on-base percentage with .476, fourth in total bases with 60, and walks with 19. His slugging percentage of .741 is good enough for fifth in the SEC while his 23 RBIs and nine home runs are fifth and sixth in the league respectively. Rock earned SEC Player of the Week honors in mid-April.
The Gamecocks (23-20, 9-12 SEC) arrive in College Station riding a four-game winning streak that includes a three-game sweep of Alabama last weekend.
As a team, South Carolina is batting .266 with h43 homers and 44 stolen bases in 43 games. Andrew Eyster leads the team with a .344 batting average, nine doubles, and 42 RBIs. His eight home runs are good enough for second on the squad.
Brandon Belk is hitting .340 with 34 runs, nine doubles, five homers, 30 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases. Braylen Wimmer is also having an impressive season batting .316 with 30 runs scored, eight doubles, five homers, 30 RBIs, and 11 stolen bags.
From the mound, the Gamecocks pitchers hold a 5.08 ERA, .263 opponent's batting average, and 401 strikeouts in 372 2/3 innings. Leading the way is Will Sanders at 6-2 with a 3.82 ERA at 71 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings.
South Carolina leads the all-time series with a 10-7 mark, including a 5-4 win at the 2011 College World Series on the way to its second title.
You can follow Timm Hamm on Twitter at @IndyCarTim
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