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Gamecocks To Likely Face Central Connecticut State's No. 2 Starting Pitcher

Per Central Connecticut State head coach Charlie Hickey, South Carolina's Baseball team won't face the Blue Devils' ace pitcher or best hitter.
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Mark Kingston and the South Carolina Gamecocks are gearing up for a brand season in the NCAA Regionals, where every game will have massive implications for them and their opponents. Carolina will start postseason play on Friday evening when they take on the No. 4 seed Central Connecticut State Blue Devils, a squad that's largely untested and doesn't possess as much firepower in their pitching staff or batting lineup compared to the rest of the teams in the Columbia regional.

There's a reason why the Blue Devils are the No. 4 seed in the regional, but there are still good players in their dugout. Central Connecticut possesses the Northeast Conference Pitcher of the Year in Dominic Niman, who won twelve of his fourteen starts and has compiled a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 8.29.

The Blue Devils' No. 3 batter in their lineup, Ramon Jimenez, is statistically Central Connecticut's biggest threat at the plate, slashing .347/.417/.647 with eleven homers and 57 RBIs in 190 at-bats. However, in an interview with 107.5 The Game on Wednesday afternoon, Central Connecticut State head coach Charlie Hickey revealed that neither player would take the field on Friday night, as the Blue Devils will save Niman for their second game in the double-elimination bracket while Jimenez is serving a one-game suspension.

This piece of news will obviously be music to the Gamecocks ears, as they'll see two key pieces of their team returning this weekend in All-SEC catcher Cole Messina and veteran right-handed pitcher Will Sanders. South Carolina will still need to comes into the game with a do-or-die type of mentality, because playing from the losers bracket instead of the winners bracket in their regional would make their postseason road much tougher than it already is.

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