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As Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks used to say, “Let’s play two.”

That’s what the second-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks and 24 th ranked East Carolina Pirates will do on Saturday at Sarge Frye Field in Columbia.

The teams were scheduled to open the season on Friday at 3 p.m., but that game was postponed until Saturday and will be part of a day-night doubleheader. The first game will start at 1:30 while game two will be played under the lights at 7 p.m.

Sunday’s first pitch is still scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

East Carolina senior right-hander TJ Hose will get the starting nod in the Pirates' season opener on Saturday against #2 South Carolina. The Pirates will meet the Gamecocks at 7 in the second game of a doubleheader due to Friday's rainout.

 

HIGH EXPECTATIONS

After missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years during Billy Godwin’s first year at the helm of the program in 2006, East Carolina returned to regional play last season. The Pirates went 1-2 in the Chapel Hill Regional.

The Diamond Bucs will look to build on that momentum this season. After finishing second in always strong Conference USA last season, the Pirates were picked by the league’s coaches to come in behind national-power Rice again this year.

As East Carolina senior catcher Corey Kemp plainly stated recently, this Pirate team won’t be content with anything less than a trip to Omaha. That is the expectation and has been since the late Keith LeClair led the program during the 1998 to 2002 seasons.

 

THE ROAD TO OMAHA RUNS THROUGH COLUMBIA

East Carolina has aspirations of playing in Rosenblatt Stadium in the College World Series in mid-June. Well, what better way to gauge what needs to be done to achieve that goal than playing a program that went there three consecutive times from 2002 to 2004 and has appeared in eight super regionals over the last nine seasons.

The Pirates have been a mainstay in the NCAA Tournament themselves, as they’ve appeared in eight regionals in the last nine years—including Super Regionals in 2001 and 2004. The 2004 Super Regional saw the then Randy Mazey-led Bucs drop two hard fought games—4-2 and 5-3—to the Gamecocks in Columbia.

The ECU program is now looking to take that next step and realize Coach LeClair’s dream of playing in Omaha.

POTENT AT THE PLATE

Both East Carolina and South Carolina are expected to put up plenty of runs this season.

The Pirates should have the deepest line-up—one through nine—that they’ve had since the 2004 season. While this team may or may not hit 100 home runs, they certainly have the potential to produce at least 70 or 80 round trippers.

Sophomore left-handed slugger Kyle Roller promises to be atop this power surge. After playing sparingly in the first half of 2007, Roller flourished after taking over as the Pirates’ starting designated hitter around the midway point. He concluded the season with a .306 mark at the plate and blasted 11 home runs.

ECU’s top returning hitter is junior utility player Stephen Batts. Batts, who will likely start at first base and/or left field this weekend, hit .323 as a sophomore. He led the team in triples (4) and RBIs (56) while also connecting for six home runs.

The Gamecocks line-up is also power-packed. After blasting 113 home runs a year ago, USC returns the dangerous trio of James Darnell, Phil Disher and Justin Smoak. All three are candidates for the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award, which is presented annually to the top player in college baseball.

Darnell, who starts at third base, was named Second Team All-SEC in 2007 when he hit .331 with 19 home runs and 63 RBI.

Designated hitter/catcher Phil Disher earned third-team All-America honors from NCBWA after hitting .328 with 15 home runs and driving in 63 runs.

Switch-hitting first baseman Justin Smoak, who is ranked among the top five pro prospects in college baseball, finished his sophomore campaign with a .315 average. He had team-highs in home runs (22) and RBIs (73).

 

TALENTED, BUT UNPROVEN

The majority of the question marks surrounding each program as it prepares to start the 2008 season involve the pitching staff. Both squads know they have talent on the mound, but with the exception of a handful of individuals they are inexperienced.

Senior righty T.J. Hose (6-5, 3.97), who had a strong summer at the Cape after being the Pirates’ Friday night guy a season ago, will start the opener. He will square off against the Gamecocks’ Mike Cisco. The right-handed junior compiled a 6-2 mark with a 3.84 ERA in 2007.

Freshman Seth Maness will make his first career appearance and start in the nightcap of the twin bill. His counterpart will be 2006 Freshman All-American Blake Cooper (7-2, 4.48), who missed last season.

Auburn transfer Justin Bristow, who finished 1-6 with a 9.30 ERA over 30 innings with the Tigers, will get the ball on Sunday. South Carolina has opted to start converted reliever Craig Thomas. The junior southpaw had a 2.45 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 7.1 innings of relief last year.

FANTASTIC IN FEBRUARY

Since 2000, the Gamecocks are 75-3 in the month of February.

 

RETURN TRIPS

East Carolina sophomore outfielder Jonathan Ratledge was at South Carolina last season.

The Gamecocks will return this visit by the Pirates by playing three games at Clark-LeClair Stadium during the 2010 campaign.

 

SUPER REGIONAL-LIKE ATMOSPHERE

This weekend’s series will not only feature two quality teams that could possibly contend for a super regional berth, but it will also likely include a super regional-like atmosphere. The Gamecocks and Pirates are among the nation’s leaders in attendance every season. There will likely be 5,000-plus fans for all three games. East Carolina travels well for baseball and with it being the season-opening series versus the nation’s second-ranked team, expect a few hundred Pirates to be at “The Sarge” this weekend.

 

STARTING PITCHING

As East Carolina coach Billy Godwin stated, it will likely be starting pitching that goes a long way in deciding what happens this weekend. He would love to get six or seven innings out of his rotation in order to minimize the need to call on a largely inexperienced bullpen.

 

SERIES PROJECTION

There could be a lot of runs scored this weekend in Columbia. Neither team will likely sweep the other. With the home field advantage and a little more proven arms, it is tough not to take the Gamecocks to win the series, 2-1. However, if the Pirates can get strong relief pitching, they could very well have enough offense to outscore Ray Tanner’s club and take the series.

 

Check back Sunday when CUSA Fans will have pictures from all three games of the series.