Gamecock Baseball Notebook

April 22, 2018

COLUMBIA ââ’¬” The University of South Carolina baseball team swept No. 19 LSU this past weekend, moving to 9-9 in the Southeastern Conference and 20-7 at Founders Park.

Record: 23-17
SEC: 9-9
Home: 20-7
Away: 3-8
Neutral: 0-2
Streak: W3

Last Week:
4/17/18 ââ’¬” Presbyterian (L, 4-7)
4/20/18 ââ’¬” LSU (W, 11-0)
4/21/18 ââ’¬” LSU (W, 11-4)
4/22/18 ââ’¬” LSU (W, 8-6)

NOTES:
The Gamecocks responded after a loss to Presbyterian on Tuesday with their second conference sweep of the season. The Gamecocks outscored LSU 30-10 in the three games, hitting .355 with 13 extra-base hits and a .523 slugging percentage.

Carolina earns its first-ever sweep over LSU in Columbia and third overall. The Gamecocks swept the Tigers in back-to-back years in 2005 and 2006 in Baton Rouge.

The Gamecocks now stand at 9-9 in SEC play and are one game back of second place in the East. Florida leads the division with a 14-4 record, followed by Georgia and Vanderbilt with matching 10-8 records. Overall, South Carolina is tied for the sixth-best conference record at 9-9 with Auburn, LSU and Texas A&M.

Logan Chapman had another stellar outing on the mound, as the freshman earned the win in Friday’s 11-0 victory over the Tigers. Chapman struck out six in 6.2 innings pitched, allowing just two hits in the shutout. After hitting the first batter of the game, Chapman settled down and retired the next seven batters. On the season, the frosh is a perfect 3-0 with a 3.29 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 41 innings pitched.

TJ Hopkins returned to the starting lineup for the first time since March 20 on Friday and came back in a big way. Hopkins was .467 (7-for-15) with a double, a triple, six RBI and a .667 slugging percentage this past weekend. He went 2-for-5 with four RBI in Friday’s 11-0 win and had three hits on Sunday, including a big RBI single in the sixth inning.

Carolina fell behind 6-0 on Sunday, but responded with eight unanswered runs in the 8-6 win. The Gamecocks scored four runs in the sixth to get back in the game. Then in the seventh, Justin Row homered to left to tie the contest. LT Tolbert had the game winner, a two-run single in the eighth. Carolina picked up its third win this season when trailing entering the seventh.

Madison Stokes continues to impress after coming back from a hamstring injury. In the three games this weekend, Stokes was 6-for-14 (.429) with two doubles and four RBI. He drove in all of those runs in Saturday’s 11-4 win. On the season, Stokes is hitting .370 with eight doubles, six home runs and 24 RBI.

Adam Hill picked up his fourth win of the season on Saturday, striking out seven in six innings of work and allowing just four hits and no runs. He continues to lead the SEC in opponent’s batting average (.145) and now has 67 strikeouts in only 46.2 innings pitched.

Carolina picked up its third shutout of the season in Friday’s 11-0 win. In fact, Carolina held LSU without a run for the first 16.1 innings of the series.

Sawyer Bridges pitched in two of the LSU games, earning a save in the series finale as he struck out a batter in two-thirds of an inning. Bridges is now 2-0 with a 0.45 ERA in 20 innings pitched.

South Carolina hits the road for four games this week. The Gamecocks face Furman at Fluor Field in Greenville on Tuesday and face Vanderbilt three times in Nashville next weekend.

Next Week
4/24/18 ââ’¬” at Furman ââ’¬” 7 p.m.
4/27/18 ââ’¬” at Vanderbilt ââ’¬” 6:30 p.m. CDT (SECN+)
4/28/18 ââ’¬” at Vanderbilt ââ’¬” 2 p.m. CDT (SECN+)
4/29/18 ââ’¬” at Vanderbilt ââ’¬” 1 p.m. CDT (SECN+)