Gamecock Baseball Notebook
Carolina went 3-0 on the week, defeating Winthrop once and Clemson twice.
COLUMBIA – The University of South Carolina baseball team went 3-0 on the weekend, defeating Winthrop on Tuesday night and sweeping a two-game set vs. Clemson on Saturday and Sunday.
Record: 6-0
Home: 5-0
Neutral: 1-0
Streak: W6
Last Week:
2/23/21 – Winthrop (W, 12-4)
2/27/21 – vs. Clemson (W, 3-2 (11))
2/28/21 – Clemson (W, 8-7)
NOTES:
The Gamecocks went 3-0 on the week, highlighted by a two-game sweep of Clemson this past weekend. South Carolina clinches the series win for the second time in the last three seasons.
Wes Clarke remained red hot for the Gamecocks, hitting .583 with five home runs, eight RBI and a 1.833 slugging percentage in the three wins. Clarke had three home runs in the win over Winthrop. It’s the first time a Gamecock has hit three home runs in a game since Justin Smoak vs. USC Upstate in 2008. Clarke hit a pair of home runs on Sunday in the 8-7 win. Clarke has matched his home run total of last year and has 16 home runs in the last 22 games played.
Andrew Eyster had walk-off hits in back-to-back wins this past weekend vs. Clemson. Eyster’s double on Saturday scored Brady Allen in the 11th in the 3-2 win. His single to right in the ninth scored Allen again in the 8-7 win. Eyster hit .438 on the week with five RBI.
Will Sanders picked up wins in both the games this weekend vs. Clemson. He came in the 11th inning on Saturday with runners on first and second and no one out. He induced a double play and a groundout to end the threat. Then on Sunday, Sanders got a ground out and a fly out in the ninth inning when Clemson had runners on first and second and one out. Sanders is 2-0 with six strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched.
Carolina hit seven home runs in Tuesday’s win over Winthrop. It’s the most by Carolina since 2010 vs. Winthrop. The back-to-back-to-back home runs from Braylen Wimmer, Wes Clarke and David Mendham happened for the first time since the 2006 Athens Super Regional, when Carolina hit five in a row.
Carolina’s pitching staff currently has 84 strikeouts in 56 innings pitched, including 30 strikeouts in the Clemson series. Brannon Jordan struck out eight in four innings of work and Thomas Farr had seven in a six-inning start.
Carolina is at Winthrop on Tuesday night, then hosts Mercer for a three-game set this weekend at Founders Park. Sunday’s game is televised on SEC Network.
Next Week
3/2/21 – at Winthrop – 6 p.m.
3/5/21 – Mercer – 7 p.m. (SECN+)
3/6/21 – Mercer – 4 p.m. (SECN+)
3/7/21 – Mercer – 12 p.m. (SEC Network)
