March 24, 2008
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina (15-5) returns to action on the baseball diamond on Tuesday night with a non-conference tilt vs. Furman (11-8). First pitch is set for 7 pm at Sarge Frye Field with live video broadcast available at gamecocksonline.com as well as live radio coverage on 107.5 FM with Tommy Moody and Derek Scott on the call. The Gamecocks are No. 9 in this week’s USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll as well as No. 10 in the nation in this week’s rankings from Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and Rivals.com.
Tuesday Pitching Matchup
South Carolina: Nick Godwin, Sr. (RHP) 2-2, 3.22 ERA, 22.1 IP, 20 K, 6 BB
Furman: Kevin Gaid, So. (RHP) 0-0, 6.75 ERA, 1.1 IP, 2 K, 1 BB
Series Results
South Carolina leads series history 100-51-2
Last Meeting
April 4, 2007 South Carolina (10), Furman (0) Columbia, S.C.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Record: 15-5 (4-2 SEC)
12-3 in home games
3-2 in road games
0-0 in neutral games
5-3 vs. top 25 teams
Last Week: 4-0
Tuesday, Mar. 18 – W, 13-1 at College of Charleston
Friday, Mar. 21 – W, 9-1 vs. Mississippi State
Saturday, Mar. 22 – W, 4-1 vs. Mississippi State
Sunday, Mar. 23 – W, 10-3 vs. Mississippi State
NOTEBOOK
South Carolina went 4-0 on the week with a win on Tuesday night at College of Charleston and a sweep of Mississippi State in Columbia … South Carolina has won five straight series vs. the Bulldogs (2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008) … Carolina sits in a tie for second place in the SEC Eastern Division after six games with a 4-2 conference mark.
The Gamecocks outscored MSU 23-4 in the three wins over the weekend … The team batted .313 (30-for-96) in the three games with the Gamecock pitching staff recording a team ERA of 1.67.
All four of Carolina’s wins last week featured quality starts from the Gamecock arms … Senior RHP Nick Godwin got things started last Tuesday in the Lowcountry with a career-high eight innings pitched in the 13-1 win … He allowed just one run on two hits while striking out six and walking two batters … The six strikeouts tied a career-high for Godwin as well.
Junior RHP Mike Cisco kept things going for Carolina on Friday night in a 9-1 victory vs. MSU … Cisco improved to 4-0 in 7.2 innings of work limiting MSU to one run on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk … Cisco on the year is 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 33 innings pitched
Junior LHP Will Atwood followed suit on Saturday tying his career-high in innings pitched with a seven inning stint vs. MSU … He allowed just one run on four hits to pick up his second straight win vs. an SEC team … Atwood is 2-0 with a 3.10 ERA on the year.
Sophomore RHP Blake Cooper closed the weekend out for Carolina with eight innings of work in Sunday’s win vs. Mississippi State … Cooper scattered 10 hits and allowed just three runs to pick up the win … He is 3-2 with a 3.41 ERA on the year.
Saturday’s 4-1 win vs. MSU also featured the first career save for Brandon Todd … The senior right-hander pitched two hitless innings of relief … He owns 12 strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work … Carolina relievers Craig Thomas and Parker Bangs also had scoreless outings of relief out of the pen for the Gamecocks … Thomas has 12 strikeouts in 12 innings pitched and Bangs has set down 16 batters by strikeout in 9.1 innings.
South Carolina continues to be impressive in 15 victories this season with a total of 156 runs in those wins … That averages to 10.4 runs per contest … 10 of the 15 wins on the year have featured at least 10 runs scored by the Gamecock offense … Carolina has also hit .350 in the wins with the team ERA at 2.35 as well.
Carolina designated hitter Phil Disher recorded his fourth career grand slam in Sunday’s 10-3 win vs. Mississippi State … Disher leads the team in home runs with six on the year and has 19 RBI as well … Disher’s grand slam was also the third hit by Carolina this season … He went 4-for-8 in the series vs. MSU with three walks as well.
Junior Andrew Crisp continues to be a spark at second base … He currently owns a 13-game hitting streak and is among the team’s leading hitters with a .357 average (20-for-56).
Junior first baseman Justin Smoak is now four home runs shy of the school record (48-Hank Small) as his home run in Saturday’s win vs. Mississippi State gives him 44 in his career at Carolina … Smoak is tied with Landon Powell (2001-04) for fourth on the All-Time list as well as for the school record for home runs by a switch hitter.
Junior third baseman James Darnell tied the South Carolina single-game record with three home runs in one game, in 13-1 win at College of Charleston on Tuesday night … Became only 11th player in South Carolina history to accomplish the feat … The five-hit total and five RBIs in Tuesday’s win were also career highs for Darnell … Extended his hitting streak to eight games hitting safely in all four Gamecock games this week … Team’s leading hitter in conference play through six SEC contests with .407 batting average.
Junior shortstop Reese Havens was 4-for-10 with five runs scored in the weekend series vs. MSU … Havens continues to lead the team in batting average at .386 (32-for-83) as well as runs scored (25) and RBI (29).
As a team, Carolina is batting .318 (228-for-717) with 172 runs scored, 33 HR and 164 RBI … Carolina has homered in 19 of 20 games this year … The pitching staff has an ERA of 3.54 in 184.1 innings of work with 170 strikeouts.
NEXT WEEK
Tuesday, Mar. 25 – vs. Furman – 7 pm
Wednesday, Mar. 26 – vs. College of Charleston – 7 pm
Friday, Mar. 28 – vs. Kentucky – 7 pm
Saturday, Mar. 29 – vs. Kentucky – 4 pm
Sunday, Mar. 30 – vs. Kentucky – 1:30 pm
