May 16, 2007

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina (38-15, 15-12 SEC) hosts its final SEC series of the year with a three-game set against Georgia (22-31, 10-17 SEC) beginning on Thursday night at Sarge Frye Field. First pitch for the opener is set for 7 pm with Friday’s game also at 7 pm and the finale scheduled for 4 pm and televised live on FSN South. As part of the Farewell to Sarge Frye Field tribute, Friday night’s game will feature a giveaway of Sarge Frye Field replica stadiums for the first 1,500 fans as well as a post-game fireworks display. Friday night will also be Senior Day. The All-Era teams will be presented on Saturday before the series finale.

***NOTE TO FANS — There will be no parking available for baseball fans for the Georgia series in the lot adjacent to Beckham Field (softball stadium) due to this weekend’s NCAA Softball Regional. The lot is reserved for softball-related personnel.

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS

Thursday
SC Mike Cisco, So. (RHP) 4-2, 4.12 ERA, 63.1 IP, 55 K, 13 BB
GA Stephen Dodson, So. (RHP) 4-5, 2.76 ERA, 75.0 IP, 48 K, 19 BB

Friday
SC Arik Hempy, Jr. (LHP) 5-1, 1.62 ERA, 44.1 IP, 47 K, 18 BB
GA Nathan Moreau, So. (LHP) 5-2, 4.46 ERA, 66.2 IP, 45 K, 22 BB

Saturday
SC Blake Cooper, Fr. (RHP) 7-1, 3.48 ERA, 51.2 IP, 38 K, 19 BB
Or
Harris Honeycutt, Jr. (RHP) 7-5, 3.79 ERA, 76.0 IP, 89 K, 33 BB
GA Trevor Holder, So. (RHP) 2-3, 4.34 ERA, 58.0 IP, 53 K, 24 BB

QUICK RECAP
South Carolina went 3-1 last week defeating The Citadel 12-3 on Wednesday night and winning two of three games at Tennessee this past weekend. Carolina sits in second place in the Eastern Division and fourth place overall with one SEC weekend left. The Gamecocks’ series win at Tennessee marked the first time since 1999 that Carolina had won a series in Knoxville. Carolina has been nearly unstoppable on in the third game of an SEC series with an 8-1 record in those games played and an average of 10.8 runs in the nine contests.

HOME RUNS
The Gamecocks knocked out eight home runs in the Tennessee series and now own 98 on the season, currently the eighth highest total in school history. Four Gamecocks have 10 or more home runs (James Darnell (17), Travis Jones (16), Justin Smoak (17) and Phil Disher (13)). South Carolina has been on a terror at the plate lately with 31 home runs in the last 13 games and at least one in each contest.

South Carolina’s game high for home runs is five, set on April 22 in an 11-9 win at Ole Miss. 13 different position players have hit at least one home run this season.

Justin Smoak became the 20th player in school history to reach the 30 home run mark when he homered at Ole Miss in Sunday’s win. Smoak currently has 34 career home runs in his second season in the garnet and black.

A LOOK AT SOME RECORDS

TEAM RECORDS ((single-season)Place   Season      HR1)      1985        1442)      1986        1273)      2002        122        1998        1225)      2001        1106)      2004        1067)      2000        1058)      2007        989)      1997        9410)     2006        92
INDIVIDUALCareer Home Runs (30 or more)TTL Player          Years Lettered48      Hank Small      1972-73-74-7547      Garrett Carter      1985-86-87-8845      Jeff Parnell        1990-91-92-9344      Landon Powell      2001-02-03-0443      Chris Boyle     1981-82-83-8442      Steve Pearce        2004-0541      Tripp Kelly     1998-99-00-0141      Charlie Aldrich     1985-86-8738      Eric Stanton        1996-97-9836      Derick Urquhart     1995-96-97-9834      Ryan Bordenick      1995-96-97-9834      Justin Smoak        2006-0733      Jim Curl        1978-79-80-8132      Joe Datin       1985-8631      Michael Campbell    2003-04-05-0631      Brendan Winn        2004-0531      Yaron Peters        2001-0231      Jerry Shepherd      1991-9231      Dave Hollins        1985-86-8730      Jeff Barns      1985-86-87

SOUTH CAROLINA DOWN THE HOME STRETCH IN THE SEC
South Carolina heads down the home stretch of the SEC season with two series left in the league for a total of six games. Carolina is on the road this week at Tennessee before closing out league play at home vs. Georgia. Below are results dating back the last seven seasons of South Carolina in its final nine games of the conference schedule.

Year        First 21        Last 9      Final SEC record2000:       18-3        7-2     25-52001:       10-11       7-2     17-132002:       14-6        7-2     21-82003:       10-11       9-0     19-112004:       11-10       6-3     17-132005:       12-9        4-5     16-142006:       13-8        2-7     15-152007:       11-10       4-2     -------TOTALS  99-68 (.593)    46-23 (.667)    130-79 (.622)

THE CISCO KID
Sophomore right-hander Mike Cisco returns to the SEC rotation this weekend, as he will pitch the first game of the series vs. Georgia on Thursday night. Cisco put together quality starts and earned wins vs. Clemson and The Citadel in midweek non-conference match-ups including a career-high 10 strikeouts vs. the Bulldogs last week. On the year, Cisco is 4-2 with a 4.12 ERA in 12 games with 63.1 innings of work.

HEMPY CONTINUES TO SHINE
South Carolina left-hander Arik Hempy continues to shine for the Gamecocks allowing just one run in 4.2 innings of work of Friday’s victory over Tennessee last weekend. Hempy has been stellar since returning to the SEC rotation with a 5-1 overall record and a 1.62 ERA in 44.1 innings. He has struck out 47 batters to 18 walks and limited opponents to a .193 batting average. His 1.14 ERA in the SEC is best among all conference pitchers as well.

JEFFORDS CONTINUES TO SHINE OUT OF THE BULLPEN
Junior RHP Jeff Jeffords is making a habit out of being successful out of the bullpen for the Gamecocks. Jeffords owns a 5-1 record with a 1.82 ERA in 18 appearances with 39.2 innings pitched. He has 49 strikeouts to 11 walks allowed. Jeffords earned a win out of the bullpen at Tennessee on Friday night in relief of Hempy with 4.1 hitless innings of relief. His six strikeouts also matched a season-high that he set at Mississippi State in late March. Jeffords has four of his five wins in SEC play along with all three of his saves. His ERA vs. SEC teams is 1.76.

CRISP HITTING
Sophomore outfielder Andrew Crisp was stellar in Knoxville with an 8-for-13 series against Tennessee including a pair of home runs and he also threw out a runner trying to score on Friday night. Crisp jumped his average to .309 and has six HR and 21 RBI on the year. He has started 47 games and played in 51 contests.

DISHER SHOWS SOME POP
Junior Phil Disher showed off his offensive skills this past weekend vs. Tennessee with a home run in each of the three games at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Disher is batting .333 this year with 13 HR and 47 RBI to go along with 11 doubles.

DARNELL DELIVERS
James Darnell is the team leader in hitting at a .335 clip (63-for-188) with six doubles, two triples and 17 home runs. A month ago Darnell had four consecutive home runs, when he hit a pair of three-run homers on Saturday and Sunday vs. Auburn along with a pair of solo shots vs. Wofford and Clemson in the midweek contests. The four consecutive homers was one short of the school record.

THE PITCHERS
The Gamecock pitching staff continues to be among the conference leaders with a team ERA of 3.64. The Gamecock pitchers have 501 strikeouts to 188 walks in 479.1 innings of work with opponents batting just .240 on the year.

South Carolina’s average of 9.4 strikeouts per game is best in the nation.