March 1, 2009
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina is 4-0 after two weeks of play. The Gamecocks defeated nationally-ranked Clemson on Saturday 3-1 on the road at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Carolina will next be in action on Tuesday vs. Georgia State. Game time for the contest has been changed to 4 p.m. to accommodate fans due to forecasted cold temperatures in the Columbia area.
South Carolina Baseball Notebook
Record: 4-0
SEC: 0-0
Home: 3-0
Away: 1-0
This Week: 1-0
2/28/09 – At Clemson (W, 3-1)
NOTES:
South Carolina went 1-0 on the week with a 3-1 victory at Clemson on Saturday afternoon … Carolina has defeated Clemson five straight games in addition to victories in eight of the last nine contests … Head coach Ray Tanner is now 24-20 at Carolina vs. the Tigers … Sunday’s game at Carolina Stadium in Columbia was canceled due to poor weather conditions … Attempts will be made to reschedule the game.
Sophomore RHP Sam Dyson continued his strong start on the mound as he worked a solid 6.1 innings in Saturday’s victory … Dyson, in his second of the start of the year, retired the first 13 batters he faced and limited Clemson to just one run on two hits with five strikeouts and one walk in 6.1 innings of work … On the year, Dyson is 1-0 with a 0.79 ERA and just three hits allowed in 11.1 innings … He has struck out 11 batters … Dyson is 9-0 in his career with the Gamecocks.
Senior LHP Alex Farotto worked 2.2 scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win vs. the Tigers … Farotto is 1-0 with one save in two appearances and has five scoreless innings pitched out of the bullpen.
Saturday’s game-winning hit for Carolina came off the bat of junior outfielder DeAngelo Mack … Mack launched a one-out solo home run to left center to give Carolina its go-ahead run … He is hitting .333 (4-for-13) with three homers and seven RBI on the year … His slugging percentage is 1.083 … He has also walked six times and is at .556 for on-base percentage.
Sophomore outfielder Whit Merrifield is finding his way on base as well … Merrifield is batting .364 (4-for-11) with four runs scored, a triple and two RBI …Merrifield has also walked four times and has an on-base percentage of .529 … He hit his second career triple in the win at Clemson.
Carolina’s leading hitter after four games is junior catcher Justin Dalles … He has hit safely in all four contests and is at a .500 (5-for-10) clip with a double, a homer and three RBI.
Dalles and junior first baseman Jeffery Jones are the two Gamecock players to have hit safely in all four games … Jones is batting .286 (4-for-14) with a run scored and two RBI … Junior shortstop Bobby Haney has a hit in three straight games and is batting.313 (5-for-16) … Haney had a key RBI base hit the win over Clemson.
The South Carolina pitching staff is 4-0 with a 1.25 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 36 innings pitched … Opponents are batting just .107 on the year (12 hits in 112 at-bats).
Carolina has made just one error in four games and is fielding .993 (108 putouts, 42 assists, 1 error).
South Carolina will meet Georgia State on Tuesday … It is the first game in the series since 1998 … Carolina leads the all-time series 6-4 … South Carolina defeated the Panthers 12-6 on Mar. 24, 1998 and 15-0 on Mar. 25, 1998, the last time they played … Game time for Tuesday’s contest has been changed 4 p.m. due to forecasted cold temperatures in Columbia, S.C.
South Carolina also meets Charleston Southern on Wednesday night with first pitch at 7 p.m. … Charleston Southern head coach Stuart Lake served as an assistant for SC head coach Ray Tanner from 1999-2002 … Carolina is 65-11 all-time vs. the Buccaneers with a 6-3 win on Mar. 21, 2006, the last contest vs. CSU.
South Carolina’s weekend series will feature perennial Big West power Long Beach State traveling to Carolina Stadium for three games … This will be the first ever meeting between the Gamecocks and Dirtbags … South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner and Long Beach State head coach Mike Weathers worked on the same coaching staff on the 2003 USA National Team … Tanner served as head coach with Weathers with the squad as one of his assistants … Coach Tanner also worked previously with former Long Beach State head coach Dave Snow on the 1995 and 1996 U.S. National teams including the squad that played in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Ga.
Next Week:
3/3 – vs. Georgia State (4 p.m.)
3/4 – vs. Charleston Southern (7 p.m.)
3/6 – vs. Long Beach State (7 p.m.)
3/7 – vs. Long Beach State (4 p.m.)
3/8 – vs. Long Beach State (1:30 p.m.)
