March 30, 2009

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina went 4-1 on the week with midweek victories at College of Charleston and vs. Georgia Southern as well as two wins in a three-game series at Kentucky … Carolina is now 18-7 on the year and 4-5 in the SEC, tied for sixth place over and in third place in the Eastern Division … South Carolina travels back to Charleston, S.C. on Tuesday to face The Citadel, returns home to meet Furman on Wednesday night and hosts SEC-leading Arkansas at Carolina Stadium this weekend.

South Carolina Baseball Notebook

Record: 18-7
SEC: 4-5
Home: 12-4
Away: 6-3

This Week: 4-1
3/24/09 – at College of Charleston (W, 14-2)
3/25/09 – vs. Georgia Southern (W, 2-1)
3/28/09 – at Kentucky (W, 20-19)
3/28/09 – at Kentucky (L, 5-4)
3/29/09 – at Kentucky (W, 4-2)

NOTES:

Saturdays’ 20-19 win over Kentucky had many career highs, personal bests and team highs set … Individual notes include the following …

Jackie Bradley, Jr.
– Set career-high with four hits
– Tied career-high with three runs scored (also scored three runs vs. Duquesne 2/21/09)
– Tied career-high with three RBI (also tallied three RBI vs. Duquesne 2/22/09)

Whit Merrifield
– Set career-high and single-game high for a Gamecock player this year with seven at-bats
– Tallied career-high four hits
– Recorded first career two-double game

Nick Ebert
– Tied career-high with four RBI (also tallied four RBI vs. Presbyterian 3/9/09)
– Tallied grand slam homer, first grand slam homer by a Gamecock this year

Parker Bangs
– Tied career-high with two hits (sixth time, last vs. Davidson 3/17/09)
– Tied career-high with three RBI (also tallied three RBI vs. Duquesne 2/21/09)
– Tied career-high with two runs scored (last at Auburn 4/12/08)

Andrew Crisp
– Tallied season-high with four hits
– Tied career-high with three runs scored (sixth time, last was at College of Charleston 3/24/09)
– Recorded second career two-homer game (last was vs. Georgia, NCAA Super Regional, 6/10/06)

Justin Dalles
– Set career-high with four hits
– Set career-high with three runs scored

Bobby Haney
– Tied career-high with three hits (also tallied three hits vs. Duquesne 2/22/09)
– Tied career-high with two runs scored (also scored two runs vs. Duquesne 2/22/09)
– Set career-high with two RBI

Scott Wingo
– Tied career-high with three runs scored (also scored three runs vs. UNC Asheville 2/27/08)
– Set career-high with three RBI

Team game notes from the 20-19 win include:

– South Carolina hit back-to-back home runs with Andrew Crisp and Justin Dalles in the top of the second inning. The last time Carolina went back-to-back was earlier in the week, 3/24/09, Kyle Enders and Andrew Crisp in a win at College of Charleston

– South Carolina set season-high with 20 runs scored. Previous high was 15 vs. Long Beach State (3/6/09) and at Furman (3/18/09). The most runs by the Gamecocks since Carolina scored 22 in a 22-5 win over East Carolina on Feb. 23, 2009. The most runs by South Carolina in an SEC game since a 20-3 victory at Mississippi State on March 23, 2007.

– South Carolina set season-high with 25 hits. Previous high was 22 at Furman (3/18/09). It is the most hits by the Gamecocks in a game since Carolina tallied 25 at Mississippi State on March 23, 2007. It ties for the fifth highest hit total in games under head coach Ray Tanner.

– South Carolina set season-high with six home runs. Previous high was five vs. Wofford (3/11/09). It ties for the fourth highest home run total in games under head coach Ray Tanner. It is the most home runs in a game by Carolina since the Gamecocks tallied eight vs. Georgia in a NCAA Super Regional game on June 10, 2008.

– South Carolina’s 20 runs vs. Kentucky marks the fifth time in school history that South Carolina has scored 20 or more runs in an SEC game.

March 28, 2009 South Carolina 20, Kentucky 19
March 23, 2007 South Carolina 20, Mississippi State 3
March 21, 2006 South Carolina 21, Florida 4
March 17, 1996 South Carolina 22, Ole Miss 12
April 16, 1994 South Carolina 24, Georgia 12

South Carolina continues to have success with the Wildcats … Carolina has defeated Kentucky in three consecutive series and leads the all-time series 37-27.

Freshman outfielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. keeps performing at a high level for the Gamecocks as the product of Prince George, Va. went 7-for-15 (.467) in the series vs. Kentucky with five runs scored, a home run and three RBI … Bradley, Jr. is third on the team in hitting with a .333 average (33-for-99) with five HR and 15 RBI … He also leads the team in run scored with 27 … Bradley, Jr. has been stellar in SEC games as well with a .389 average (14-for-36) in conference games with 12 runs scored as well.

Senior third baseman Andrew Crisp also hit well against the Wildcats batting 6-for-15 (.400) in the series … Crisp had three homers on the week, two in the 20-19 win vs. Kentucky and one at College of Charleston … For the season, he is batting .330 (33-for-100) with eight HR and 22 RBI … Crisp is also hitting .351 (13-for-37) with five HR and 11 RBI in SEC games … Crisp’s six hits at Kentucky gives him 213 for his career, putting him at 15th on the South Carolina all-time list … He is two shy of Reese Havens (215) for 14th place.

Carolina went ahead for good in Sunday’s game vs. Kentucky with a RBI double off the bat of Whit Merrifield in the sixth inning … The sophomore outfielder hit .375 (6-for-16) in the series with four doubles and four runs scored … Merrifield is now up to a .293 average (29-for-99) with a team-high eight doubles.

Junior first baseman Nick Ebert continues to lead the team in hitting with a .379 average (25-for-66) … Ebert hit his first career grand slam and the team’s first grand slam of the season in the 20-19 victory over the Wildcats … He also had a big two-run single in the 4-2 victory on Sunday … Ebert reached base five times in the game with a hit and four walks, the first Gamecock player this year to walk four times in one game … He has nine HR and 27 RBI for the season.

Strong week on the mound for Blake Cooper, who won both his starts with a pair of victories on the road … The junior right-hander first helped Carolina to a 14-2 victory at the College of Charleston on Tuesday night, then bounced back and started on Sunday and hurled first complete game of the year to help Carolina clinch an SEC series on the road with a 4-2 victory over Kentucky … Sunday’s complete game victory marked the first complete game by a Gamecock pitcher this year and the second of Cooper’s career … Pitched Sunday’s game in wintry conditions with a wind chill in the 30’s.

Sophomore right-hander Sam Dyson improved to 4-1 with a victory in the series opener vs. Kentucky … Dyson owns a 4.21 ERA and has a team-high 33 strikeouts in a team-high 36.1 innings pitched … Opponents are batting just .194 against him.

Senior left-hander continues to factor in each of his appearances for the Gamecocks … Farotto has been on the bump a team-high nine times this year and sports a 3-1 record with five saves … Farotto pitched 1.2 innings to earn a save in the 20-19 victory over Kentucky on Saturday … For the season he has 20 strikeouts in 16.2 innings … Teams are batting just .143 against him.

South Carolina has homered in 21 of 25 games this year with a total of 46 … The team hit a season-high six homers in the 20-19 victory over Kentucky … Carolina is 16-5 when hitting at least one home run in a game.

South Carolina won three games decided by two runs or less this week, 2-1 vs. Georgia Southern, 20-19 vs. Kentucky and 4-2 vs. Kentucky … Carolina is now 9-1 on the year in games decided by two runs or less.

South Carolina is hitting .306 as a team (262-for-857) with 46 homers and 172 RBI … The Gamecocks are fielding .977 with just 22 errors on the year … The South Carolina pitching staff has a 5.00 ERA in 221.1 innings … The Gamecocks have 215 strikeouts to 117 walks … Opponents are batting .243 on the year.

Next Week:
3/31 – at The Citadel – 7 pm
4/1 – vs. Furman – 7 pm
4/3 – vs. Arkansas – 7 pm
4/4 – vs. Arkansas – 4 pm
4/5 – vs. Arkansas – 1:30 pm

All times Eastern