The NCAA Columbia baseball regional is set to begin on Friday at Founders Park with 2nd seeded South Carolina squaring off with the #3-seed Virginia Cavaliers. First pitch is set for 12 noon on ESPN2 with the second game pitting the top-seed Old Dominion against fourth seeded Jacksonville at 7pm.
Junior right hander Brett Kerry (5-1,1.90 ERA, 9 BB, 83 SO) will get the ball for USC and will be opposed by senior left handed pitcher Andrew Abbott (8-5, 2.63 ERA, 28 BB, 136 SO) of the Cavaliers.
On Thursday, USC head coach Mark Kingston, junior outfielder Brady Allen, and Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor met with the media to discuss the regional. Friday’s game between USC and UVA will be the first meeting between the two teams since the 2011 College World Series semifinals, a contest won by the Gamecocks 3-2 en route to their second consecutive national championship.
Kingston says his team is relatively healthy, including the trio of George Callil, Brennan Milone, and Braylen Wimmer. He also believes that Brett Kerry has the perfect make-up for a day one starter in an NCAA regional. Meantime, O’Connor says he’s very confident in his starting pitcher and believes Abbott’s experience on “Team USA” could pay dividends for the Cavaliers on Friday.
