April 16, 2012
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina (27-10) returns to action Tuesday night hosting College of Charleston (25-12) at Carolina Stadium. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on SportSouth . It can also be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network from IMG College including flagship station 107.5 FM, “The Game.” South Carolina is ranked No. 8 in this week’s USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll, No. 9 by Baseball America and No. 13 by Collegiate Baseball.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UP
South Carolina Nolan Belcher (Jr. LHP) 2-1, 1.50 ERA, 18.0 IP, 7 BB, 18 SO
CofC Ryan West (Sr. RHP) 3-3, 3.27 ERA, 44.0 IP, 9 BB, 36 SO
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: SportSouth. Andy Demetra and Trey Dyson will call the action.
Internet: Live Gametracker Stats at GamecocksOnline.com. Additional coverage on Twitter @GamecockBasebll and Facebook/Gamecocksonline
NOTES:
South Carolina won four of five games this past week with a win vs. The Citadel, a loss at Francis Marion and a weekend sweep of Mississippi State. The Gamecocks are now 27-10 and 8-7 in the SEC. South Carolina is currently in third place in the Eastern Division and fourth place overall at the midway point in the conference standings. The Gamecocks have won three consecutive weekend series in the league with this weekend’s sweep of the Bulldogs the first sweep in SEC play. South Carolina has won eight of the team’s last 10 contests.
Freshman catcher Grayson Greiner earned SEC Freshman of the Week. Greiner had a key solo home run that jumpstarted a four-run rally in the bottom of the eighth as the Gamecocks came from behind to defeat MSU 7-6. Greiner collected three hits over the weekend with a pair of doubles and the home run. He also scored two runs. He also had a grand slam in the 8-0 win over The Citadel on Tuesday night. Greiner has reached base 10 consecutive games. He has raised his batting average to .240 (23-for-96) with four homers and 17 RBI. In the last nine games played, Greiner is hitting .304 (7-for-23) with four runs and five RBI. Six of his seven hits were extra base hits (four doubles, two homers).
Junior right-hander Colby Holmes improved to 5-0 with a win in Sunday’s 6-4 victory over Mississippi State. Holmes worked into the ninth inning and allowed four runs on eight hits with no walks and three strikeouts. He has a 2.87 ERA with 10 walks, 37 strikeouts and opponents hitting just .223 against him in 47.0 innings pitched. In wins over Tennessee and MSU over the last two weeks, Holmes went 2-0 with a 2.93 ERA in 15.1 innings pitched with no walks and nine strikeouts.
Sunday’s 6-4 win over Mississippi State featured a 3-for-4 day at the plate with a triple and two runs scored for Evan Marzilli. The junior center fielder was tremendous in the outfield as well with several key defensive putouts. Marzilli raised his batting average to .307 (46-for-150) with 30 runs scored, eight doubles, two triples, one homer and 16 RBI on the year.
Freshman left-hander Jordan Montgomery tallied his second consecutive quality start with a win over MSU in Saturday’s 5-3 victory. Montgomery allowed just one run on five hits in 6.1 innings with two walks and four strikeouts. For the season, Montgomery is 3-0 with a 2.48 ERA with four walks and 31 strikeouts in 36.1 innings pitched. Opponents hit just .206 against him.
Junior first baseman Christian Walker continues to sit among the league leaders in many categories. Walker drove in three runs in the MSU series and finished with a .462 on-base percentage as he tallied two hits, three walks and was hit once in the three-game set. Walker ranks third in runs batted in (38), fourth in on-base percentage (.473), tied for fifth in walks (26), tied for sixth in home runs (7), eighth in total bases (74), tied for ninth in hits (46) and 10th in both batting average (.346) and slugging percentage (.556). In SEC contests, through 15 leagues games he leads the league in walks (16), is tied for second in runs batted in (14), homers (4) and runs scored (14), fourth in on-base percentage (.471), and eighth in slugging percentage (.558). Walker sits in 17th place all-time in hits at South Carolina with 217 for his career. He has reached base in 18 consecutive games.
Junior right-hander Matt Price picked up two saves in the 7-6 and 5-3 wins over Mississippi State. Price hurled a perfect inning of relief in the 7-6 win and followed that up with two scoreless innings on Saturday in the 5-3 victory. Price is now 3-3 with three saves and a 2.93 ERA. He has 53 strikeouts in 46.0 innings pitched and opponents are hitting only .159 against him. That .159 mark is the best mark by a pitcher in the SEC. Price is also tied for eighth in strikeouts. With his two appearances this weekend, Price tied himself with Jamie Poston (1997-2000) for fourth all-time in appearances in a career at South Carolina with 86. Price is two short of Rob Mosser’s (1990-93) school record of 88.
Freshman left fielder Tanner English led the Gamecocks in hitting in the MSU series with a .455 average (5-for-11). English scored four runs over the weekend with a triple and also a RBI. English leads the Gamecocks with 14 multi-hit games. He is hitting .308 (41-for-133) with 24 runs scored. He was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a RBI in the 5-3 victory over Mississippi State.
Senior left-hander Michael Roth had a no-decision in Friday’s 7-6 win over Mississippi State. Roth is still 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA. He has pitched 60.0 innings, second highest in the league. His opponents batting average of .181 is second in the league, just behind Price.
Junior left-hander Tyler Webb made four appearances this past week and he leads the SEC with 21 on the year. Webb is 3-0 with two saves and a 1.57 ERA in 28.2 innings pitched with six walks and 30 strikeouts. Webb retired the final two batters in Sunday’s 6-4 win over the Bulldogs to pick up the save.
Junior outfielder Sean Sullivan tied Friday’s game with a two-out triple and scoring the winning run on a wild pitch on the way to a 7-6 victory over Mississippi State in the series opener. 10 different Gamecocks had at least one hit in Friday night’s victory.
Junior left-hander Nolan Belcher hurled 5.2 scoreless innings in his first start of the year as ninth ranked South Carolina defeated The Citadel 8-0 on Tuesday. Belcher is 2-1 for the year with a 1.50 ERA in 12 appearances. He has 18 strikeouts in 18.0 innings pitched as well as two saves. Belcher combined with relievers Tyler Webb and Hunter Privette for a five-hit shutout.
Freshman shortstop Joey Pankake gave the Gamecocks some insurance in Sunday’s 6-4 win with a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning. Pankake, who moved to the leadoff role on Friday, is now hitting .310 (36-for-116) with nine doubles, a triple, two homers and 14 RBI. He had five hits and hit .357 vs. the Bulldogs.
Junior third baseman LB Dantzler drove in five runs over the weekend vs. Mississippi State. Dantzler is hitting .232 (32-for-138) with 19 runs scored, five doubles, five homers and 30 RBI. His 30 RBI is 11th best in the SEC.
South Carolina hit .313 (31-for-99) in the weekend series vs. Mississippi State. The Gamecocks are now hitting .277 (344-for-1240) on the year. South Carolina is also fielding .977 as a team with just 31 errors.
The Gamecock pitching staff owns a 2.98 ERA in 335.2 innings pitched with 243 hits allowed, 119 runs, 111 earned runs, 108 walks and 324 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting just .199 against the Gamecocks. South Carolina leads the SEC in opposing batting average.
