Feb. 23, 2004
Columbia, S.C. – Fresh off a weekend sweep of UNC Wilmington, the South Carolina baseball team (6-0) is now ranked sixth in the latest Collegiate Baseball poll relesased this morning. The Gamecocks remain ranked seventh in the nation in this week’s Baseball America Top 25.
South Carolina continues its homestand this weekend with three games vs. three opponents in round-robin format. The Gamecocks host Duquesne on Friday afternoon, Radford on Saturday and close out the weekend vs. George Mason on Sunday. All three games are scheduled for 3 p.m. at Sarge Frye Field.
South Carolina swept Duquesne in a three-game series last year and won two of three games vs. Radford also in a three-game series. Carolina last met George Mason in the 2001 season when the Gamecocks swept a three-game series in Columbia.
SOUTH CAROLINA BASEBALL NOTEBOOK
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Record: 6-0, 0-0(Southeastern Conference) (0-0 vs. rank Top 25) 6-0 home games 0-0 neutral site 0-0 on the road
Last Week: 3-0
Friday — 2/20 vs. UNC Wilmington — W, 7-4
Saturday — 2/21 vs. UNC Wilmington — W, 20-3
Sunday — 2/22 vs. UNC Wilmington — W, 12-0
WEEKLY NOTES:
WEEKEND RECAP
South Carolina improved to 6-0 with a weekend sweep of UNC Wilmington … The Gamecocks continue to have success at the plate and on the mound as a team with the team batting average raised to .409 on the season and the team ERA at 1.50 … The South Carolina pitching staff has struck out 80 batters while yielding just 10 walks in the first six games … The South Carolina offense has pounded out 96 hits and scored 83 runs in six games along with 19 home runs on the year.
SOUTH CAROLINA AT THE PLATE
Junior INF Kevin Melillo continues to dominate at the plate with three consecutive games with a home run this weekend … Melillo is batting .409 on the year with five HR and 15 RBI … Junior INF Steve Pearce has also been hot at the plate with a .609 batting average on the year (11-for-18) and tied with Melillo for the team high in HR (5) and RBI (15) … Junior OF Brendan Winn leads the Gamecock offense with a .611 batting average (11-for-18), three HR, nine RBI and a team-high six walks … Senior INF Bryan Triplett owns a six-game hitting streak and is batting .440 with a HR, four RBI, a team-high five doubles and a team-high five multiple hit games … Winn, Pearce and Triplett each lead the team in runs with 10 … Senior catcher Landon Powell is batting .308 (8-for-26) with a HR and six RBI.
SOUTH CAROLINA ON THE MOUND
Junior RHP Chad Blackwell recorded his third save of the year in Friday’s 7-4 win vs. UNC Wilmington, Blackwell has thrown a perfect four innings out of the bullpen for USC with nine strikeouts … Junior RHP Aaron Rawl won his start on Saturday and is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings pitched, Rawl has 12 strikeouts and allowed just three runs on six hits this season … Junior RHP Billy Buckner earned his first career victory in Friday’s 7-4 win, Buckner has hurled 9 1/3 innings this season with 13 strikeouts and has yielded five runs on 11 hits … Junior LHP Matt Campbell made his first start of the year on Sunday and pitched 5 2/3 innings to get the win … Campbell did not allow a run and struck out nine batters, the second highest career total for Campbell, in the 12-0 win vs. the Seahawks.
WEEKLY TIDBITS
South Carolina has now batted around in the lineup in a game seven times in six games this year … Carolina has hit back-to-back home runs three times this season and homered in all six games this year … South Carolina has had at least 10 hits a game in five of the six games this year.
