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Feb. 15, 2007
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina (3-0) continues its early season schedule with a trip to the Low Country and Charleston, S.C. for the Crab House Shootout hosted by The Citadel at Joe Riley Park. The Gamecocks will open on Friday, Feb. 16 vs. Liberty (1-2) at 12 noon, face off against Richmond (0-0) on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 11 am and close out the weekend vs. the host Bulldogs (2-1) on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 2 pm. Live audio broadcast with Tommy Moody and Tom Price along with live stats will be available at uscsports.com.
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday
SC: Harris Honeycutt (Jr.) RHP 1-0, 1.80 ERA, 5.0 IP, 6 K, 1 BB
Liberty: Michael Solbach (Jr.) RHP 0-0, 2.25 ERA, 4.0 IP, 2 K, 2 BB
Saturday
SC: Jay Brown (Jr.) RHP 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.1 IP, 5 K, 2 BB
Richmond: Rob Berzinkas (Sr.) RHP 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP, 0 K, 0 BB
Sunday
SC: Mike Cisco (So.) RHP 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 4 K, 1 BB
The Citadel: Justin Smith (Sr.) RHP 1-0, 2.25 ERA, 8.0 IP, 11 K, 0 BB
QUICK RECAP FROM LAST WEEK
South Carolina opened the 2007 season winning all three of its games at the Hughes Brothers Challenge (Wilmington, N.C.). Carolina topped Oklahoma 13-2, defeated Western Kentucky 12-0 and held off UNC Wilmington 9-8 in 11 innings.
ON THE ROAD WITH THE GAMECOCKS
Despite opening the season on the road, the Gamecocks had quite a contingent of fans on the road in Wilmington, N.C. for the first weekend. Fans clad in Garnet and Black traveled to attend all three games at the Hughes Brothers Challenge with 2,322, a majority of Gamecock fans, at Brooks Field to see the finale vs. UNC Wilmington.
THIS WEEK IN THE RANKINGS
South Carolina is among the top three teams in the nation according to the latest national rankings released on Monday. Collegiate Baseball has tabbed the Gamecocks at No. 2 with Baseball America selecting the Gamecocks No. 3 in the nation. The NCBWA (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association) has Carolina at No. 1 in the country.
LOW COUNTRY GAMECOCKS
Three South Carolina sophomores will make their return to the Low Country this weekend. Sophomores Mike Cisco (Mt. Pleasant), Reese Havens (Sullivan’s Island) and Justin Smoak (Goose Creek) are all from the Charleston area. Last season the Gamecocks played in front of 5,351 fans vs. The Citadel at Joe Riley Park, the third largest crowd in Citadel school history.
THE GAMECOCKS IN THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY
Carolina has a near perfect record over the last seven seasons in the month of February. Dating back to the 2000 season, Carolina is 70-2 (.972) in games played in the month of February. The two losses came against Charleston Southern in 2003 and vs. Elon in 2006.
HOT AT THE PLATE
The South Carolina bats got off to a great start with the Gamecocks batting .382 (42-for-110) including 18 extra base hits (eight doubles, three triples, seven homers) in the first weekend. The .382 batting average is currently third best among SEC teams. Carolina outscored its opponents 34-10 at the Hughes Brothers Challenge.
STEADY ON THE MOUND
The Carolina pitching staff finished the weekend with a team ERA of 1.86 and allowed just 23 hits in 29 innings while striking out 30 batters. Saturday’s 12-0 shutout victory over Western Kentucky was also the first game since Ole Miss last April that the Gamecocks held its opponent scoreless.
CHISENHALL NAMED SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
South Carolina freshman Lonnie Chisenhall was named SEC Freshman of the Week after a strong opening weekend with the Garnet and Black. Chisenhall hit .500 (7-for-14) with three runs, a homer and seven RBI and also tied two single game school records in Saturday’s win over the Hilltoppers with two triples and two sacrifice flies.
The freshman from Newport, N.C. hit safely in all three games and tallied at least two hits in each contest along with two multi-RBI games. He became only the 13th player in school history to have two triples in one game and the first since Steven Tolleson did it in 2005.
Chisenhall was part of Carolina’s heralded recruiting class and was ranked the top freshman in the nation by Baseball America.
CRISP HITTING
Sophomore Andrew Crisp tallied a career-high five hits including a game-winning RBI single in the 11th inning of Sunday’s 9-8 win over UNC Wilmington. Crisp was 6-for-10 (.600) with four RBI in the first weekend of action.
SLAM DUNK FOR KLINE
Junior catcher Trent Kline hit a grand slam homer and collected a career-high four RBI in Sunday’s win over UNC Wilmington. Kline went 5-for-9 (.556) over the weekend with five runs scored and seven RBI as well.
DISHER PICKS UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF LAST SEASON
Coming of a strong end to the 2006 season, junior designated hitter Phil Disher picked up where he left off and went 6-for-12 (.500) last weekend with two doubles, a homer and five runs scored. Disher was 2006 NCAA Regional MVP in Charlottesville, Va.
JONES SETS THE TABLE
Junior second baseman Travis Jones found his way on base from the leadoff spot in his first weekend with the Gamecocks batting 5-for-14 (.357), and also reaching base with one walk and two hit by pitches. He also hit his first career homer in Saturday’s win over Western Kentucky.
MORE ON THE HITTERS
All 10 position players that started at least one game over the weekend drove in at least one run at the plate. Seven different Gamecocks had home runs on the first weekend of action (Kline, Chisenhall, Disher, Jon Willard, Jones, James Darnell, Drew Martin). Disher, Chisenhall and Jones hit safely in all three games this weekend with Chisenhall collecting at least two hits in all three contests.
HONEYCUTT OPENS WITH A WIN
Junior right-hander Harris Honeycutt got the ball on opening day and worked five innings allowing just one run on three hits with six strikeouts to pick up the win vs. Oklahoma. He is now 9-0 in his career at Carolina.
BROWN PERFORMS WELL IN FIRST CAREER STINT
Junior right-hander Jay Brown made his debut in a Carolina uniform and pitched 5.1 scoreless innings with only four hits allowed. Brown combined with Jeff Jeffords (3 K, 1.2 IP), Blake Cooper (1.0 IP) and Nick Godwin (1.0 IP) to earn a shutout on Saturday, the Gamecocks’ first shutout since April 11, 2006 vs. Ole Miss.
PELZER EARNS VICTORY OUT OF THE BULLPEN
Junior right-hander Wynn Pelzer earned a win in Sunday’s extra inning victory over UNC Wilmington. Pelzer went three innings allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts.
JOHNSON EARNS A SAVE IN DEBUT
Junior right-hander Curtis Johnson picked up a save in his first career appearance striking out three batters in one inning of work as Carolina defeated the Seahawks.
A PRETTY GOOD WEEKEND ON THE FIELD
Two of the three games played this weekend the Gamecocks did now commit an error (.983 fielding percentage on the weekend) with only two errors coming in one inning of play (7th inning vs. UNC Wilmington).
A CLOSER LOOK AT THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS
South Carolina is familiar with all three opponents it will face this weekend at the Crab House Shootout.
The Citadel always has its name on a schedule put together by Ray Tanner and this year is no exception with the Gamecocks facing off with the Bulldogs twice this year. The Citadel will also face Carolina in Columbia on May 9, 2007.
Last season the Gamecocks defeated the Bulldogs in both contests and have won seven straight against the Cadets. The Citadel’s last victory came in May of 2003, a 7-4 win at Sarge Frye Field. The Citadel heads into this weekend with a 2-1 record after a weekend series with East Tennessee State. A familiar face to Gamecock fans is also in the Bulldog dugout this year. Assistant coach Stuart Lake has joined head coach Fred Jordan’s squad at The Citadel. Lake served as an assistant at Carolina from 2000-2002.
The Gamecocks last faced Richmond in a tournament hosted by The Citadel, back in the 2001 season. Carolina was victorious in that contest with a 4-2 win.
USC and Liberty will face off for the first time since the 2000 NCAA Regional in Columbia where the top seeded Gamecocks held off a pesky Liberty squad 6-4 in the regional opener. Liberty also has Carolina ties in its athletic administration. Current Liberty athletics director Jeff Barber served as an Associate AD at South Carolina before heading to Liberty to head the Flames athletic department.
