May 13, 2015

South Carolina-LSU Game Notes

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (31-22, 12-15 SEC) closes out the SEC regular season with a three-game series vs. top ranked LSU (44-8, 19-7 SEC). All three games will be televised with all three games also available on the Gamecock IMG Network including flagship station, 107.5 FM, “The Game.” Thursday’s first pitch is at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network. Friday’s game is at 8 p.m. ET on ESPNU. The series finale is slated for Saturday at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.

LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network/flagship 107.5 FM “The Game” (Andy Demetra & Tommy Moody)
Broadcast: SEC Network (Thursday & Saturday) & ESPNU (Friday) (Dave Neal and Kyle Peterson)
Internet: Additional coverage on Twitter @GamecockBasebll and Facebook/Gamecocksonline

South Carolina (31-22, 12-15 SEC) vs. LSU (44-8, 19-7 SEC)
Carolina Stadium
May 14 – 7 p.m.; May 15 – 8 p.m.; May 16 – 8 p.m.

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SERIES HISTORY
LSU leads 32-24-1

Last 10 GamesDate    Winner  Score   Site4/28/2013   SC  4-0 Baton Rouge4/27/13 SC  4-2 Baton Rouge4/26/13 LSU 5-2 Baton Rouge5/20/12 LSU 3-2 (10)    Columbia5/19/12 SC  5-4 Columbia5/19/12 LSU 5-2 Columbia5/22/09 LSU 4-1 Hoover3/22/09 LSU 11-3    Columbia3/21/09 LSU 10-3    Columbia3/20/09 SC  7-3 Columbia

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Thursday
South Carolina – Jack Wynkoop (Jr. LHP) 8-4, 2.83 ERA, 92.1 IP, 13 BB, 80 SO
LSU – Jared Poche’ (So. LHP) 7-1, 2.87 ERA, 81.2 IP, 19 BB, 50 SO

Friday
South Carolina – TBA
LSU – Austin Bain (Fr. RHP) 1-2, 2.98 ERA, 42.1 IP, 17 BB, 45 SO

Saturday
South Carolina – TBA
LSU – Alex Lange (Fr. RHP) 9-0, 2.13 ERA, 76.0 IP, 32 BB, 82 SO

A LOOK BACK
South Carolina won three of four games last week including a series victory at second ranked Texas A&M. The Gamecocks are fifth in the SEC East and tied for ninth in the league overall.

Marcus Mooney NAMED SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
South Carolina junior infielder Marcus Mooney earned SEC Player of the Week honors as announced by the league office on Monday. Mooney returned from a hamstring injury and had a phenomenal weekend in College Station. Mooney hit .700 (7-for-10) in the Texas A&M series with three runs scored, two doubles, a homer and five RBI. He also walked three times.

At one point in the weekend, Mooney had reached base in nine consecutive plate appearances. Mooney hit a three-run homer, his first career home run in Friday’s 9-7 win over the Aggies. He followed that up with a 4-for-4 day at the plate with two walks in the 15-14 loss at Texas A&M. He closed the series out going 2-for-3 with a RBI in the 8-7 series-clinching victory.

K-MART
Senior first baseman Kyle Martin was one of 60 players in the country to be named to USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.

Senior first baseman Kyle Martin homered in all three games of the Texas A&M series and drove in seven runs for the weekend. Martin’s two-run homer in the ninth inning of Friday’s game lifted the Gamecocks to a 9-7 victory. He would add a solo shot in Saturday’s 15-14 loss and closed out the series with a three-run homer and went 3-for-5 with two runs and four RBI in the 8-7 victory over the Aggies to clinch the series. Martin is hitting .351 (66-for-188) with 14 homers and 56 RBI. He has a .458 on-base percentage and a .654 slugging mark with 123 total bases. Martin leads the SEC with 56 RBI and ranks second in the league with a .654 slugging percentage and tied for third with his 14 homers on the year. He also ranks fourth in on-base percentage and total bases, tied for third with 38 walks, sixth in runs scored at 48 and 11th in batting average.

Martin’s league numbers are even more impressive as he has hit .396 (38-for-96) with 11 homers in league play as well as 34 RBI, a .508 on-base percentage, a .833 slugging mark and 80 total bases. In SEC-only contests, Martin leads the league in homers, RBI, slugging percentage and total bases. His on-base percentage and batting average is second-highest in the conference. He has also walked 23 times in league play. Martin is five hits shy of 200 career hits in a Gamecock uniform.

Martin homered twice for the first time in a game in his career including a grand slam and drove in seven runs in the 10-1 victory over Auburn. His seven RBI were the most in a single game since Adam Matthews had eight against College of Charleston on March 22, 2011. In addition, they were the most by a Gamecock player in a SEC game since Tim Angiolini drove in seven in a 15-14 win at Florida April 23, 1999. On April 11 at Florida, Martin became the first Gamecock since Brendan Winn on February 14, 2004 to hit for the cycle. It marked only the seventh time that a Gamecock had hit for the cycle and the second time it has happened vs. a SEC team. Martin’s four hits also tied a career-high.

A LOOK BACK AT TEXAS A&M SERIES
South Carolina had a tremendous offensive weekend at Texas A&M as the Gamecocks hit .350 (41-for-117) with 31 runs scored. South Carolina had a team on-base percentage of .430 with seven doubles and seven homers for the weekend. The Gamecocks also stole nine bases. In addition, the Gamecock defense was strong with no errors committed in the entire series. The .350 batting average was the second-highest for the Gamecocks in a weekend series this year and the highest in SEC play.

MAX IT OUT
Junior infielder Max Schrock hit .467 (7-for-15) in the A&M series with five runs scored and a pair of RBI. Schrock was 1-for-4 with two runs scored and a RBI In Friday’s 9-7 win, he followed that up with a four-hit game in Saturday’s loss and closed out the weekend going 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a double in the 8-7 victory. Schrock is hitting .317 (58-for-183) with 32 RBI and 40 runs scored. He also has 11 doubles, two triples and four homers. Schrock has walked 31 times to 17 strikeouts and has a .411 on-base percentage.

JACK OF ALL TRADES
Junior left-hander Jack Wynkoop won his fourth consecutive start and improved to 8-4 on the year in Friday’s 9-7 win over the Aggies. Wynkoop allowed six runs on 12 hits in eight innings of work with six strikeouts and two walks. Wynkoop is now 8-4 on the year with a 2.83 ERA. He has 80 strikeouts to just 13 walks in 92.1 innings with opponents batting .277 against him. Friday’s victory was his 22nd career win in a Gamecock uniform. Wynkoop currently ranks 17th all-time in career wins in a Carolina uniform.

Wynkoop leads the SEC in innings pitched in all games as well as SEC games with 57.1 innings in conference play. His eight wins on the year is tied for third highest in the league with five coming in league play. He also ranks tied fourth in the league in earned run average.

Wynkoop did not allow an earned run in eight innings of work with just eight hits allowed, no walks and 10 strikeouts in the 10-1 victory over Auburn on Friday night.

Wynkoop was solid the week before as he worked 8.1 scoreless innings as the Gamecocks defeated Tennessee 4-0 on Friday night. Wynkoop allowed just seven hits and one walk while striking out five batters to earn the victory. Wynkoop did not allow a leadoff batter to reach base in the first sixth innings. The leadoff batter reached base in the seventh and eighth innings and was retired in a double play. Wynkoop became the 23rd pitcher in school history to reach the 20-win total with the victory.

Wynkoop also put together a tremendous start in a 5-2 win over Vanderbilt. Wynkoop hurled his first career complete game allowing just two runs on 10 hits in nine innings with just one walk and a career-high 12 strikeouts to help lead the Gamecocks to the victory.

Wynkoop earned the Tom Price Award as Gamecock MVP of the Clemson series. Wynkoop worked six-plus innings and allowed just one run in the 4-1 victory vs. the Tigers.

Wynkoop has made 39 starts in his career, that is second-highest among all returning SEC pitchers.

MURRAY IN RELIEF
Freshman right-hander Brandon Murray picked up his second save of the year allowing just one run on three hits in 2.2 innings with a walk and two strikeouts in the series-clinching 8-7 win on Sunday at Texas A&M. Murray is 5-0 on the year with a 4.31 ERA in 31.1 innings. Opponents are hitting .246 against him.

CALDWELL A HIT
Senior outfielder Elliott Caldwell tallied three multi-hit games this weekend vs. Texas A&M and hit .429 (6-for-14) for the series. Caldwell went 2-for-5 with a RBI, a run scored and two stolen bases in Friday’s 9-7 win, he then went 2-for-5 with two RBI, a homer and three runs scored in the 15-14 loss and closed the weekend out going 2-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scored in the 8-7 win over Texas A&M. Caldwell owns a school-record eight triples, that leads the SEC as well.

Caldwell is second on the team in hitting with a .349 average (63-for-182) with 33 runs scored and 39 RBI. He also has 13 stolen bases. Caldwell leads the Gamecocks with 22 multi-hit games. Caldwell ranks ninth in the league with a .443 on-base percentage and 14th with a .349 batting average. He has driven in 23 runs in SEC-only games, tied for seventh-highest in the league as well.

Caldwell hit .500 (6-for-12) in the Mississippi State series with two runs scored and three RBI. Caldwell was 2-for-4 with two RBI in the 13-7 win vs. the Bulldogs. He also had two triples on the week and leads the Gamecocks with four for the season, tied for third highest in the conference.

Caldwell hit .357 (5-for-14) in the Missouri series with a pair of RBI. He was 2-for-5 with a RBI on Saturday and on Sunday vs. the Tigers. Caldwell also made ESPN’s SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays on Saturday with the No. 8 play of the day with a diving catch in left field.

Caldwell hit .636 (7-for-11) in the Kentucky series with four runs scored, a triple, two homers and four RBI. Caldwell went 2-for-4 in the 10-1 win, followed that up going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a two-run homer in the 4-3 victory over the Wildcats and went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI including a game-tying homer in the bottom of the ninth inning in Sunday’s 6-4 10-inning win. Caldwell’s homer on Saturday was the first of his career in a Gamecock uniform.

GREAT SCOTT
Sophomore right-hander Reed Scott pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn a save in Friday’s 9-7 win over the Aggies. Scott is 1-3 with a 3.02 ERA and two saves in 20 relief appearances. He has pitched 47.2 innings and struck out 34 batters. Opponents are batting .250 against him.

CONE LEADS IT OFF
Sophomore outfielder Gene Cone has started all 53 games in center field for the Gamecocks. Cone was 1-for-3 with a run scored in Friday’s 9-7 win and followed that up going 1-for-4 with two runs in Sunday’s 8-7 victory. Cone is batting .256 (51-for-199) with 47 runs scored and 13 stolen bases.

REAGAN FROM THE LEFT
Sophomore left-hander Josh Reagan allowed two runs on six hits in 4.2 innings in the 5-3 victory over Wofford. Reagan earned a win in relief in Sunday’s 8-7 victory over Texas A&M. Reagan allowed four runs on three hits in 3.1 innings with a walk and two strikeouts. Reagan is 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA in 44.0 innings with 10 walks to 30 strikeouts. He tied a career-high with six strikeouts in a 2-1 loss at Furman. Reagan pitched 3.2 scoreless innings of relief with just three hits allowed.

DYNAMIC DESTINO
Freshman designated hitter Alex Destino hit .333 (5-for-15) in the Texas A&M series with three runs scored. Destino raised his batting average to .263 (40-for-152) for the year. Destino tied a career-high in hits going 3-for-6 with three runs scored and his fifth homer of the year in Saturday’s 15-14 loss. He also homered and drove in four runs in the 17-0 win over USC Upstate.

VINNY
Junior left-hander Vince Fiori has a team-high 24 appearances on the year, that ties for fifth-highest in the SEC. Fiori is 3-1 with a 3.52 ERA in 30.2 innings with 31 strikeouts and opponents batting .210 against him.

DC DELIVERS
Sophomore infielder DC Arendas walked three times and scored a run in Friday’s 9-7 win over Texas A&M. He added a two-run single in Saturday’s 15-14 loss and doubled in Sunday’s 8-7 victory. Arendas has a team-high 38 walks and a .401 on-base percentage.

A CLOSER LOOK AT WIDENER
Sophomore right-hander Taylor Widener made just his second start of the season and was effective in game two of the Auburn series. Widener pitched five scoreless innings with one hit allowed and two walks while striking out a season-high seven batters. Widener is 1-4 on the year with a 4.03 ERA in 29.0 innings with 41 strikeouts to 19 walks. Opponents are batting .259 against him. He also has nine saves, which ranks tied for third-best in the SEC.

Widener was recently named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List. He pitched 2.2 scoreless innings of relief with no hits allowed, just one walk and four strikeouts to earn his ninth save of the year in a 3-2 win in the rubber game of the Vanderbilt series.

HUNTER PROVIDES POWER
Freshman catcher Hunter Taylor was 2-for-6 with a three-run homer in Saturday’s 15-14 loss at Texas A&M. Taylor tied a career-high with hits and set a career-high with the three runs driven in. He also tied that mark in Tuesday’s 17-0 win over USC Upstate.

SOLID PLAY FROM SCOLAMIERO
Freshman outfielder Clark Scolamiero had a career day in Saturday’s loss going 4-for-5 at the plate with a run scored and two RBI. Both hits and RBI were career-highs. He was 3-for-5 vs. USC Upstate.

ON THE MOUND
For the season, South Carolina pitchers own a team ERA of 4.00. The Gamecocks have allowed 249 runs, 210 earned, on 465 hits in 472.1 innings with 195 walks to 437 strikeouts. Opponents are batting .260 against the Gamecocks.

AT THE PLATE & ON THE FIELD
South Carolina is hitting .262 (460-for-1757) as a team with 301 runs scored, a .356 on-base percentage and a .381 slugging mark. The Gamecocks are fielding .972 for the year.

SUPERLATIVES
South Carolina is 28-6 on the year when allowing five runs or less. South Carolina is 29-4 on the year with a lead entering the seventh innings. The Gamecocks are 25-7 when allowing less than 10 hits, 13-5 when recording double-digit hits and 19-2 when out-hitting its opponent. South Carolina is 17-13 in games decided by three runs or less. South Carolina is 19-2 on the year when scoring six or more runs.

SCHMIDT CONTRIBUTES
Freshman right-hander Clarke Schmidt allowed just three runs on 10 hits in 5.1 innings with no walks and six strikeouts in a 3-0 loss to Auburn. Schmidt is 2-1 with a 4.61 ERA in 52.2 innings with 53 strikeouts.

GORE IN A GROOVE
Sophomore infielder Jordan Gore reached base three times in the 10-1 win over Auburn going 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored. He would add a hit and a run scored in Saturday’s 6-2 loss as well. Gore hit his first homer of the year in the 4-3 loss at Tennessee. He had a three-run double also in Tuesday’s 17-0 win over USC Upstate.

STOKES HAS SUCCESS
Freshman infielder Madison Stokes had a career-high three hits and a pair of RBI in Tuesday’s 17-0 win over USC Upstate.