March 16, 2009

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina went 3-3 on the week with midweek victories vs. Presbyterian and Old Dominion, a loss to Wofford and a victory in one of three games at Mississippi State to open up SEC play. South Carolina is 11-4 on the year. The Gamecocks will be back in action beginning Tuesday hosting Davidson at 7 p.m., will head to Greenville, S.C. to face Furman at Fluor Field on Wednesday night, also a 7 p.m. start and will conclude the week with a three-game SEC series at home vs. LSU … Sunday’s game will be televised on SportSouth.

South Carolina Baseball Notebook

Record: 11-4
SEC: 1-2
Home: 9-2
Away: 2-2

This Week: 3-3
3/9/09 – vs. Presbyterian (W, 6-5)
3/10/09 – vs. Old Dominion (W, 13-3)
3/11/09 – vs. Wofford (L, 16-8)
3/14/09 – at Mississippi State (L, 13-6)
3/14-15/09 – at Mississippi State (L, 10-3)
3/15/09 – at Mississippi State (W, 5-4)

NOTES:

Junior first baseman Nick Ebert continues to swing the hot bat for Carolina … Ebert is the team’s leading hitter with a .471 batting average (16-for-34) with six HR and 15 RBI … Ebert has hit safely in seven straight games and had a streak of four straight games with a home run (vs. Long Beach State, Presbyterian, Old Dominion and Wofford) this past week … Ebert went 4-for-5 in Sunday’s 5-4 win over Mississippi State, he is the first Gamecock player this year to record four or more hits in a game (3/15) … He also was 1-for-2 with four RBI in the 6-5 win over Presbyterian (3/9) … He finished the week in six games batting 10-for-18 (.556) with three HR and nine RBI.

Junior catcher Kyle Enders saw his most action of the season this weekend as he appeared in all three games vs. Mississippi State including a start at designated hitter in second game and a start at catcher in the series finale … In the 5-4 win over Mississippi State, Enders went 2-for-3 with a double, HR as well as two RBI in the victory.

Not to be outdone at catcher is junior Justin Dalles … Dalles is among the team’s leaders in hitting at .390 (16-for-41) with four HR and 12 RBI … Dalles had Carolina’s game-winning RBI single in the 5-4 win over Mississippi State.

Senior left-handed pitcher Alex Farotto has been clutch out of the bullpen for the Gamecocks … Farotto improved to 2-0 on the year with a win in relief in Sunday’s 5-4 victory over Mississippi state .,. Farotto went 3.1 innings and allowed just one run on three hits in the win … He struck out six and walked four as well … The six strikeouts is a season-high … Farotto has factored in all five games he has appeared as he owns three saves along with his 2-0 record … He owns a ERA of 0.77 and has struck out 17 batters in 11.2 innings.

The South Carolina offense has now homered in 14 of 15 games this season … The Gamecocks had a home run in 13 straight games before going without one in the second game of the series vs. Mississippi State … Carolina still has 28 homers on the year, five more at this point than last year’s total … Through 15 games last season (2008), the Gamecocks had 23 homers.

South Carolina is 8-0 when tallying 10 or more hits in a game … South Carolina’s 14-hit total in Sunday’s 5-4 win over Mississippi State was the second highest total of hits in a game this year for the Gamecocks … As a team, South Carolina is batting .302 (152-for-503) … Carolina is also 10-0 on the year when the team out-hits its opponent … The team has scored 108 runs.

South Carolina is 2-0 in one-run games and 4-0 in two-run games year … Carolina’s record is 6-1 this season in games decided by three runs or less.

The Gamecock pitching staff owns a team ERA of 5.08 after 15 games this season … The staff has 139 strikeouts in 131.0 innings pitched … Opponents are batting just .241 against the Gamecocks.

South Carolina is also fielding .972 (393 putouts, 154 assists, 16 errors).

Senior infielder Andrew Crisp is closing in on a milestone as his seven hits in six games this week put his career total at 198 hits, just two shy of 200 … The Gamecocks have 21 players in school history that have tallied 200 or more hits … Crisp hit .304 (7-for-23) on the week with a pair of homers and five RBI … Crisp is hitting .310 for the season (18-for-58).

Freshman left-hander Adam Westmoreland picked up his second win of the year in a predetermined split in last Tuesday’s 13-3 win over Old Dominion … Westmoreland also started and had a no-decision vs. Mississippi State in the 5-4 victory … He is 2-0 this year with a 3.38 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched … Opponents are hitting just .161 against him.

Freshman left-hander Michael Roth earned his first career win at the collegiate level in the 6-5 victory over Presbyterian … Roth, who is also a position player, pitched three scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win … He allowed just one walk.

Junior left-hander Grimes Medlin picked up his first career save with the final out recorded in the 5-4 win over Mississippi State.

Next Week:
3/17 – vs. Davidson (7 p.m.)
3/18 – at Furman (at Flour Field in Greenville, S.C.) (7 p.m.)
3/20 – vs. LSU (7 p.m.)
3/21 – vs. LSU (4 p.m.)
3/22 – vs. LSU (1:30 p.m.) (SportSouth)
All times Eastern