May 11, 2015
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina won three of four games last week including a series victory at second ranked Texas A&M. The Gamecocks are 30-22 with a 12-15 conference mark. The Gamecocks are fifth in the SEC Eastern Division and tied for ninth in the league overall with three SEC contests remaining.
Record: 30-22
SEC: 12-15
Home: 23-9
Away: 6-13
Neutral: 1-0
Last Week: 3-1
5/6/15 – Wofford (W, 5-3)
5/8/15 – at Texas A&M (W, 9-7)
5/9/15 – at Texas A&M (L, 15-14)
5/10/15 – at Texas A&M (W, 8-7)
NOTES
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.
Junior infielder Marcus 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.
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.
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 .349 (65-for-186) with 14 homers and 56 RBI. He has a .453 on-base percentage and a .656 slugging mark with 122 total bases. Martin leads the SEC with 56 RBI and ranks second in the league with a .656 slugging percentage and tied for second with his 14 homers on the year. He also ranks fourth in on-base percentage and total bases, tied for fourth with 36 walks, eighth in runs scored at 45 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 as he enters this week with 195 career hits.
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.
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.
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.
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 leads the Gamecocks in hitting with a .352 average (63-for-179) with 31 runs scored and 38 RBI. He also has stolen a team-high 13 bases. Caldwell leads the Gamecocks with 22 multi-hit games. Caldwell ranks ninth in the league with a .442 on-base percentage and 10th with a .352 batting average. He has driven in 23 runs in SEC-only games, tied for seventh-highest in the league as well.
Sophomore left-hander Josh Reagan earned a win in relief in Sunday’s 8-7 victory. 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.
Sophomore outfielder Gene Cone has started all 52 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 .253 (50-for-198) with a team-high 45 runs scored.
Freshman designated hitter Alex Destino hit .333 (5-for-15) this weekend with three runs scored. Destino raised his batting average to .262 (39-for-149) 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.
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 37 walks and a .406 on-base percentage.
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.
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.
For the season, South Carolina pitchers own a team ERA of 4.08. The Gamecocks have allowed 249 runs, 210 earned, on 460 hits in 463.1 innings with 192 walks to 428 strikeouts. Opponents are batting .262 against the Gamecocks.
South Carolina is hitting .257 (442-for-1717) as a team with 284 runs scored, a .351 on-base percentage and a .377 slugging mark. The Gamecocks are fielding .971 for the year.
South Carolina is 27-6 on the year when allowing five runs or less. South Carolina is 28-4 on the year with a lead entering the seventh innings. The Gamecocks are 24-7 when allowing less than 10 hits, 12-5 when recording double-digit hits and 18-2 when out-hitting its opponent. South Carolina is 17-13 in games decided by three runs or less. South Carolina is 18-2 on the year when scoring six or more runs.
In Saturday’s 15-14 loss, South Carolina’s season-high 14 runs and 21 hits were the most by the Gamecocks in a game since South Carolina scored 15 vs. Wofford on May 7, 2014 and tallied 21 hits at Tennessee on April 7, 2013. The Gamecocks also finished with a season-high four homers, the most home runs in a game in the Holbrook era and the most since Carolina hit four vs. College of Charleston, March 22, 2011.
THIS WEEK
5/12/15 – USC Upstate – 7 p.m.
5/14/15 – LSU – 7 p.m.
5/15/15 – LSU – 8 p.m.
5/16/15 – LSU – 8 p.m.
All times are eastern