Gamecocks Face UCLA Bruins for CWS Championship

The Gamecock baseball team stands on the brink of a first-ever national championship. However, they are the underdogs as UCLA, the media darlings, has a decimating pitching staff.

Rob Rasmussen, Trevor Bauer, and Gerrit Cole are the big three starting pitchers for UCLA. Those three starters are arguably the best trio of starters in college baseball. All three of the UCLA starters have at least 11 wins, 117 strikeouts and an ERA under 3.30. The UCLA bullpen is also very strong and deep.

The Bruins have named right-handed pitcher, Gerrit Cole (11-3), as their starter against the Gamecocks on Monday night. He has an ERA of 3.26 in 116 innings. Opponents are batting just .194 against Cole on the year. Cole strikes out, on average, about 12 batters every nine innings.

Tanner has not yet announced his starter. Both of the Gamecock aces, Blake Cooper and Sam Dyson, will be unavailable to pitch on Monday. Tanner will most probably pick between Jay Brown and Tyler Webb. Both Brown (RHP) and Webb (LHP) have pitched gems this season against SEC opponents. Another outside possibility is Norman Nolan Belcher, a left handed starter who has pitched lights out at times, but against less than SEC competition.

Unlike the UCLA Bruins, the Gamecocks have battled their way through the CWS losers bracket on their half of the field. The toll on the Gamecocks to climb that mountain was its pitching staff. The Gamecock pitching staff needs time to rest. In fact, Sam Dyson has pitched so much in the CWS, he is unlikely able to pitch again as a Gamecock starter. Still, Wednesday is a ways off and Dyson is in great shape.

The UCLA lineup is solid, but it seems no better than a middle of the pack SEC offense. One thing that jumps out . . . UCLA has a lot of left-handed hitters in the middle of their lineup. See the chart below.



I predict lefty Tyler Webb (3-2), 4.00 ERA, will get the nod for Monday.

Webb has pitched very well as a starter at times this year. He won SEC Freshman of the Week after shutting down Tennessee to complete a Gamecock sweep on the road. In that game, Webb went 5.2 innings. He allowed just one hit, a bunt single, and struck out six batters while walking only three. In that early season appearance, Webb did not let Tennessee get a runner past second base.