COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte baseball team will head down I-77 on Wednesday night for a battle against No. 21 South Carolina. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on SEC Network Plus.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Wednesday night marks the second all-time meeting between Queens and South Carolina. The two schools met for the first-time last season and the Gamecocks took the opener 12-0. Despite the loss, Nick Brassington made a SportsCenter Top 10 catch as he brought back a potential Gamecocks home run.
 
QUEENS ROYALS (0-3 overall, 0-0 ASUN)

• The Royals head into Wednesday night searching for their first victory after being swept by 2023 regional qualifier, Samford. Despite totaling only six hits, four walks, and four runs in the first two games, the Royals offense bounced back in the series finale plating six runs on eight hits, including two extra base-hits.
• Veteran returners JJ Sousa, Connor Manco, and Will Budnick led the offensive charge for the Royals on opening weekend as the trio each belted a home run.
• In his first collegiate series, freshman Jake Barbour applied pressure from the leadoff spot reaching base in all three games. The rookie knocked his first career hit in the series finale beating out an infield single.
• In his 22nd career appearance as a Royal, graduate student Joseph Rodriguez twirled 3.2 solid innings on Sunday surrendering a pair of earned runs and fanning three Bulldogs.
• The Royals will look to clean up their defensive miscues after totaling six errors on the weekend.

 
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS (3-0 overall, 0-0 SEC)

• The 21^st ranked Gamecocks started their season on fire as they swept Miami (OH) in their opening weekend series. South Carolina outscored the RedHawks 30-5 across the weekend.
• In the series finale on Sunday, the Gamecocks bullpen combined to throw a 7.0 inning no-hitter while striking out nine batters.
• Ethan Petry was electric for the Gamecocks on opening weekend. In Saturday's matchup, the preseason All-SEC First Team nominee belted two home runs in South Carolina's 11-4 win.
• Five different Gamecocks, including Cole Messina, Dylan Brewer, Jackson Blake, Tyler Causey, and Parker Noland collected three hits on the weekend as the team collectively hit .286.
• Eli Jones and Dylan Askew mailed in quality starts for the Gamecocks as they combined to give up only one run, four walks, and strikeout 11.
• Wednesday's game against the Royals will be South Carolina's second of two midweek matchups. South Carolina is set to take on Winthrop University today, February 20^th with first pitch scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
• Mark Kingston is entering his sixth season as head coach of the storied Gamecock program. In his time as head coach of South Carolina, he has guided the program to two Super Regional appearances, and a regional host in 2023. Before South Carolina, Kingston was the head coach at USF where he guided the Bulls to two regionals across three seasons. 

 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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