UK travels to Jacksonville, Alabama on February 18 for a weekend set to start the season against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Jacksonville, AL is in Calhoun County, sandwiched in the middle of Atlanta and Birmingham. Jacksonville State plays on beautiful Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium, opened in 1995. Jim Case holds just over 2000 fans and boasts an AstroTurf playing surface. It is fairly symmetrical as it goes 320 in right, 325 in left, and 400 in center. The alleys are 365 in right and 370 in left.
The Gamecocks are were OVC team that went 26-27 (16-14) a year ago. They have now moved to the ASun. They are coached by the stadium's namesake, Jim Case. He's been at the helm of the Gamecocks since 2002 and is 612-502 (.549). They have won the OVC regular season three times and the OVC tournament 5 times, while Case is also 3 time OVC COTY, the last of which of these came in 2019. That year they were the 4 seed in the Oxford Regional where they actually beat Illinois and Clemson to play in the regional finals before Ole Miss ended their season.
In 2022 the Gamecocks will have a pretty experienced team. They return 2 of their 3 weekend starters as well as 6 guys that started over 20 games a year ago. They compliment that with 7 freshmen as well as some transfer newcomers including Alabama transfer T.J. Reeves. Reeves started 39 games in the OF for Alabama as a freshman in 2019 and hit .255, he started all 15 in 2020, but saw just 22 starts in 27 games as a third year player hitting .229. I imagine he'll easily find a home in the Gamecock outfield.
One player I am kind of surprised returned to Jacksonville is redshirt senior Alex Carnigan. Carnigan will catch for JSU and hit .374 a year ago while starting and playing 37 games. Thought he might be able to use that big year to find a P5 school, but he'll be a thorn in our side on the first weekend instead.
Carson Crowe also returns and should be out in the OF as well. He hit .299 a year ago and was tied for the team league for home runs (&) as well as leading the team in doubles (16). He has a tendency to strikeout a good bit, but the power is there. Cole Frederick is a utility guy that JSU will move around and who could start at 2nd, SS or even in the OF. He hit .286 a year ago with 8 doubles and 6 home runs. After that, the quality takes a big step down. Overall, JSU hit .281 as a team a year ago.
On the mound, as I mentioned, JSU returns two of their weekend guys. They lose 11th round MLB pick Christian Edwards who was their ace a year ago and had a 2.48 ERA. Colin Casey (3.63) and Dylan Hathcock (4.62) will try to pick up the slack. I also suspect Isaiah Magwood (5.03) will move from the midweek to the weekend. Hathcock will be one of only 2 lefties on the JSU staff. As a team they had a 4.30 ERA a year ago, but they lost 5 of their top 7 arms. So, they will have to have a lot of guys step up. They didn’t really add too much in terms of transfers in the pitching staff.
Overall, UK should win these three handily and there shouldn’t be too many guys on the Gamecock roster that UK pitchers, or hitters, will have to actually fear.
The Gamecocks are were OVC team that went 26-27 (16-14) a year ago. They have now moved to the ASun. They are coached by the stadium's namesake, Jim Case. He's been at the helm of the Gamecocks since 2002 and is 612-502 (.549). They have won the OVC regular season three times and the OVC tournament 5 times, while Case is also 3 time OVC COTY, the last of which of these came in 2019. That year they were the 4 seed in the Oxford Regional where they actually beat Illinois and Clemson to play in the regional finals before Ole Miss ended their season.
In 2022 the Gamecocks will have a pretty experienced team. They return 2 of their 3 weekend starters as well as 6 guys that started over 20 games a year ago. They compliment that with 7 freshmen as well as some transfer newcomers including Alabama transfer T.J. Reeves. Reeves started 39 games in the OF for Alabama as a freshman in 2019 and hit .255, he started all 15 in 2020, but saw just 22 starts in 27 games as a third year player hitting .229. I imagine he'll easily find a home in the Gamecock outfield.
One player I am kind of surprised returned to Jacksonville is redshirt senior Alex Carnigan. Carnigan will catch for JSU and hit .374 a year ago while starting and playing 37 games. Thought he might be able to use that big year to find a P5 school, but he'll be a thorn in our side on the first weekend instead.
Carson Crowe also returns and should be out in the OF as well. He hit .299 a year ago and was tied for the team league for home runs (&) as well as leading the team in doubles (16). He has a tendency to strikeout a good bit, but the power is there. Cole Frederick is a utility guy that JSU will move around and who could start at 2nd, SS or even in the OF. He hit .286 a year ago with 8 doubles and 6 home runs. After that, the quality takes a big step down. Overall, JSU hit .281 as a team a year ago.
On the mound, as I mentioned, JSU returns two of their weekend guys. They lose 11th round MLB pick Christian Edwards who was their ace a year ago and had a 2.48 ERA. Colin Casey (3.63) and Dylan Hathcock (4.62) will try to pick up the slack. I also suspect Isaiah Magwood (5.03) will move from the midweek to the weekend. Hathcock will be one of only 2 lefties on the JSU staff. As a team they had a 4.30 ERA a year ago, but they lost 5 of their top 7 arms. So, they will have to have a lot of guys step up. They didn’t really add too much in terms of transfers in the pitching staff.
Overall, UK should win these three handily and there shouldn’t be too many guys on the Gamecock roster that UK pitchers, or hitters, will have to actually fear.
