April 23, 2007
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina (31-10) sits at No. 5 in this week’s ESPN/Sports Weekly coaches’ poll and also rank No. 7 by Rivals.com, No. 9 by Baseball America and No. 10 in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 released on Monday afternoon. Carolina plays five games this week beginning on Tuesday night (April 24) hosting Davidson (17-24) at 7 pm at Sarge Frye Field. The Gamecocks will also travel to Clemson on Wednesday night and play a three-game series beginning on Friday at Alabama in SEC action.
TUESDAY’S PITCHING MATCHUP
South Carolina: Forrest Beverly, Sr. (LHP) – 0-0, 5.40 ERA, 5.0 IP, 6 K, 3 BB
Davidson: TBA
South Carolina
31-10, 10-8 SEC
home: 18-4
away: 9-6
neutral: 4-0
Last Week (3-2)
Tuesday — vs. Wofford, W, 8-0
Wednesday — vs. Clemson, W, 4-2
Friday — at Ole Miss, L, 8-5
Saturday — at Ole Miss, L, 6-0
Sunday — at Ole Miss, W, 11-9
QUICK RECAP
South Carolina went 3-2 on the week with midweek non-conference wins vs. Wofford and Clemson along with one of three wins at Ole Miss … Carolina owns a 31-10 record with a 10-8 mark in the SEC … The Gamecocks sit in a tie for second place in the SEC Eastern Division and in a three-way tie for fourth place overall.
A CLOSER LOOK AT SUNDAY’S WIN
Sunday’s 11-9 victory over Ole Miss featured a season-high five home runs for the Gamecocks … Reese Havens tallied his first multi-home run game of his career with a pair against the Rebels … Justin Smoak, Phil Disher and Jon Willard also hit homers to lead the Gamecocks at the plate.
AT THE PLATE
South Carolina is among the nation’s leaders in home runs with 72 in 41 games this season … The Gamecocks are batting .306 at the plate (452-for-1478) this year … The 11-9 win also featured a game-winning pinch-hit RBI single from Drew Martin.
JEFFORDS
Carolina reliever Jeff Jeffords continues to impress out of the bullpen with two scoreless innings of work for the Gamecocks allowing just one hit … Jeffords is 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA in 13 appearances and 27 innings pitched with 33 strikeouts to just five walks … He earned his first save of the year on Sunday.
SMOAK
With a home run and a double on Sunday, Justin Smoak extended his hitting streak to 22 games … Smoak is batting .339 on the year with 13 HR and 49 RBI to go along with 10 doubles … With his home run on Sunday, Smoak became the 21st player in school history to reach the 30-career home run total at Carolina.
DARNELL
James Darnell leads the team with a .348 batting average, 13 HR and 46 RBI … Darnell had homered in four straight games (last Sat. vs. Auburn, last Sun. vs. Auburn, Tues. vs. Wofford, Wed. vs. Clemson) and came close to tying the school record when he hit a triple off the wall in left center in Friday’s game at Ole Miss.
HEMPY
Junior LHP Arik Hempy was solid on the mound for Carolina despite a loss on Saturday … Hempy limited the Rebels to two runs on five hits in seven innings of work with six strikeouts and no walks … Hempy is 3-1 with a 2.05 ERA in 26.1 innings pitched .
ON THE MOUND
The Gamecock pitching staff owns a 3.14 ERA with 391 strikeouts and 136 walks in 375.1 innings.
THE CLEMSON SERIES
With Wednesday’s win vs. Clemson, the Gamecocks earn a series victory vs. the Tigers, the first since the 2001 season … South Carolina had defeated Clemson in the first three contests between the two schools on the year … Both teams will meet one more time this Wednesday at Doug Kingsmore stadium.
THIS WEEK
Tuesday — vs. Davidson — 7 pm
Wednesday — at Clemson — 7:15 pm
Friday — at Alabama — 6:30 pm CT
Saturday — at Alabama — 4 pm CT
Sunday — at Alabama 2 pm CT
