May 1, 2012
South Carolina-Davidson Game Notes 
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina (33-11) returns to the field on Wednesday, May 2 hosting Davidson (16-25) in a non-conference tilt at Carolina Stadium. First pitch is 7 p.m. with the game televised live on FS South/FS Carolinas. Andy Demetra and Trey Dyson will have the call. It can also be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network from IMG College including flagship station 107.5 FM, “The Game.” Derek Scott and Tommy Moody will handle the radio broadcast. South Carolina is ranked No. 3 in this week’s USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll, No. 4 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 5 by Baseball America.
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: Gamecock IMG Network affiliates/Flagship WNKT FM 107.5 “The Game” in Columbia. Derek Scott and Tommy Moody will call the action.
Television: FS South/FS Carolinas. Andy Demetra and Trey Dyson will call the action.
Internet: Live Gametracker Stats at GamecocksOnline.com. Additional coverage on Twitter @GamecockBasebll and Facebook/Gamecocksonline
PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION Wednesday
South Carolina Joel Seddon (Fr. RHP) 1-0, 4.91 ERA, 7.1 IP, 3 BB, 5 SO
Davidson TBA
DID YOU KNOW??
South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner and Davidson head coach Dick Cooke served as Auxiliary Coaches on the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team that won the gold medal. Cooke also was one of Coach Tanner’s assistants on the 2003 U.S. National Team that Tanner was a head coach for that featured current MLB stars, Dustin Pedroia, Huston Street, Justin Verlander and Jered Weaver.
NOTES:
South Carolina swept a three-game series vs. Alabama this past weekend. The Gamecocks are now 33-11 and 14-7 in the SEC. South Carolina is currently tied for first place in the Southeastern Conference with Kentucky and LSU with nine league games remaining. The Gamecocks have won five consecutive weekend series in the league as well as 11 straight conference games. South Carolina is also 15-4 in the last 19 games played.
Junior third baseman LB Dantzler has been playing well as of late. Over the last seven games, Dantzler has hit .370 (10-for-27) with four doubles, three homers, six runs scored and seven RBI. Dantzler has raised his season average to .255 (42-for-165) and is tied with Christian Walker for the team lead in home runs with eight. He has 37 RBI and a .455 slugging percentage. Dantzler homered and drove in two runs in the 9-1 win over Alabama on Saturday. He also doubled twice in the 12-11 win and drove in one run. He is hitting .270 in the league with five homers and 20 RBI in 21 league games.
Despite a no-decision in the 1-0 win over the Crimson Tide, senior left-hander Michael Roth was effective in his 11th start of the year. Roth hurled seven scoreless innings before the game was halted and allowed just four hits and two walks. Roth is 4-0 on the year with a 2.57 ERA in 73.2 innings pitched with 18 walks and 60 strikeouts. Opponents are batting just .192 against him.
Junior first baseman Christian Walker continues to lead the Gamecocks at the plate with a .342 average (54-for-158), eight homers and 43 RBI. Walker is also hitting .306 in the SEC with five homers and 19 RBI in SEC contests. Walker went 2-for-3 with four runs scored and a two-run homer in the 12-11 win over the Crimson Tide. He followed that up with a 1-for-1 day at the plate with one run scored and one RBI in the 9-1 win on Saturday over Alabama.
Junior left-hander Nolan Belcher earned two wins in relief this weekend vs. the Crimson Tide. Belcher posted a win with one out retired in the 12-11 victory on Friday night and followed that up with 3.1 scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts in the 9-1 victory on Saturday vs. the Crimson Tide. Belcher is 4-2 with a 2.59 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched with nine walks and 27 strikeouts.
Freshman catcher Grayson Greiner is the top hitter for South Carolina in SEC games. Greiner is hitting .317 (19-for-60) in league play with two homers, eight doubles, 11 runs scored and 12 RBI. Greiner also owns a .440 on-base percentage in conference action. Greiner went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and tied a season-high with four RBI in the 12-11 win over the Crimson Tide. He doubled and homered in that one-run victory. Greiner followed it up with a 2-for-5 day at the plate with two runs scored and a RBI in the 9-1 win. Greiner finished the series 5-for-11 (.455) with four runs scored, two doubles, a homer and five RBI. He reached base .538 with a .909 slugging percentage.
Junior right-hander Matt Price set the school record for appearances in the 1-0 victory over the Crimson Tide. Price hurled one perfect inning of relief and posted his fifth save as he appeared for the 89th time in the Garnet & Black, surpassing Rob Mosser’s (1990-93) previous record of 88. All five of Price’s saves have come in league play. He is 3-3 with a 2.90 ERA and has 58 strikeouts in 49.2 innings pitched. Opponents are batting just .159 against him.
Senior outfielder Adam Matthews hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to help lift South Carolina to a 1-0 win over the Crimson Tide. Matthews followed that up with a solo home run in the 12-11 win. Three of Matthews’ four home runs have come in SEC play.
Freshman right-hander Evan Beal allowed just one run on three hits in 3.2 innings of relief in the 12-11 win over the Crimson Tide. Beal also struck out four batters. Beal is 2-3 with five saves in 31.1 innings pitched. He has 40 strikeouts on the year and opponents are hitting just .187 against him.
Freshman outfielder Tanner English is among the team’s leading hitters with a .306 average (49-for-160) with 31 runs scored. English tripled and was 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the 12-11 win over Alabama. He followed that up with two runs scored in the 9-1 victory. English leads the Gamecocks with 16 multi-hit games.
Junior right-hander Patrick Sullivan made his first start of the year in the 9-1 win over Alabama and allowed just one run in four innings of work. Sullivan has a 3.15 ERA in 10 appearances and has pitched 20.0 innings for the Gamecocks.
Junior outfielder Evan Marzilli had two sacrifice flies for the weekend series vs. the Crimson Tide and now leads the team with six for the season. Marzilli also leads the Gamecocks with eight stolen bases. He stole a base and scored two runs in the 9-1 win on Saturday vs. Alabama. Marzilli has a .366 on-base percentage and is hitting .279 (48-for-172) with a team-high 37 runs scored.
Junior left-hander Tyler Webb had one perfect inning of relief in the 1-0 win over Alabama. Webb leads the Gamecocks with 24 appearances and with a win on Saturday is now 4-0 with a 1.71 ERA. He has 34 strikeouts in 31.2 innings pitched and opponents are batting just .179 against him.
The Gamecocks are now hitting .275 (404-for-1468) with a .365 on-base percentage and a .409 slugging percentage. Carolina has a .978 fielding percentage as well. The pitching staff has a 3.12 team ERA in 398.2 innings with 129 walks to 380 strikeouts. Opponents are batting just .212 against the staff.
