Mark Kingston compliments Tennessee lineup ahead of series

South Carolina and Tennessee are both out of the SEC race heading into the final weekend of the regular season, but that won’t stop them both from playing a hard-fought series with NCAA Tournament seeding on the line.

Tennessee has won four of its last five games, while South Carolina has lost seven of its last eight.

The Gamecocks would certainly much rather end the season on a winning note against the Volunteers, but they know it will be a tall task against a very good Tennessee lineup.

“We think obviously with them their identity is they have power arms,” coach Mark Kingston said. “They like to really come at you on the mound with power arms and then offensively they’re pretty left-handed. They’re a momentum offense. They like to feed off energy and momentum.”

Tennessee is likely to throw right-handed pitcher Andrew Lindsey in the first game of the series, then Chase Dollander in the second game.

Lindsey currently boasts a 1-2 record with a 1.18 ERA, having struck out 49 while walking 16. He’s allowed 41 hits in 183 at-bats, giving opponents a .224 average off him. Dollander has a 6-5 record with a 4.35 ERA, with 94 strikeouts and 25 walks. Opponents are hitting .240 off Dollander.

But the Tennessee lineup can get the job done at the plate, too.

“There’s a lot of really good players in that lineup,” Kingston said. “I don’t want to say just one or two because there’s a lot of good ones in there. They have some returning players that have gotten better. They’ve brought some guys out of the portal that have helped them.”

Kansas transfer Maui Ahuna was one of the most notable transfer portal additions in college baseball this offseason, and he has proven why this spring. He’s hitting .320 with 16 doubles and seven home runs, driving in 36 runs.

The Tennessee lineup has five players with double-digit home runs on the season, too, led by senior Griffin Merritt‘s 16. Blake Burke has 15, Christian Moore has 13 and Jared Dickey and Zane Denton both have 12.

South Carolina will need to be locked in all weekend, though the Gamecocks have plenty of power in their own right.

“It’s a good team, no question about it,” Kingston said. “But so are we, so we’ll see.”

The first two games will be at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday night with a broadcast on SEC Network +. The series finale will be carried on linear television on the SEC Network, with first pitch set for 2 p.m. on Saturday.

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