March 31, 2011

Game Notes in PDF Format

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (19-5, 4-2 SEC) returns to SEC action this weekend hosting a three-game series vs. Kentucky (15-11, 2-4 SEC). First pitch on Friday is 7 p.m. with Saturday’s game at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday’s at 1:30 p.m. Friday’s game will be televised live on FS South with Saturday and Sunday’s games on SportSouth. All three games can be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network and at GamecocksOnline.com. Carolina is ranked No. 3 this week’s by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball as well as No. 4 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll.

Probable Starting Pitchers

Friday
South Carolina – Michael Roth (Jr. LHP) 5-1, 1.50 ERA, 42.0 IP, 11 BB, 44 SO
Kentucky – Alex Meyer (Jr. RHP) 3-3, 3.05 ERA, 41.1 IP, 21 BB, 54 SO

Saturday
South Carolina – Colby Holmes (So. RHP) 2-0, 4.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 8 BB, 17 SO
Kentucky – Corey Littrell (Fr. LHP) 4-1, 5.17 ERA, 31.1 IP, 11 BB, 27 SO

Sunday
South Carolina – TBA
Kentucky – Taylor Rogers (So. LHP) 2-2, 5.45 ERA, 34.2 IP, 4 BB, 28 SO

CAROLINA RALLIES FOR 6-4 WIN OVER THE CITADEL
Christian Walker tied a season-high with four RBIs and South Carolina rallied for a 6-4 victory over The Citadel on Wednesday night at Carolina Stadium. With the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh, Walker blasted a two-out, solo home run into the left-field bullpen to give the Gamecocks their first lead of the game at 5-4, driving in his fourth run of the game after a 3-RBI double to tie things up in the fifth. Walker finished 2-for-4 on the night.

South Carolina (19-5) also got six innings of scoreless relief from Jose Mata, John Taylor and Matt Price, with Taylor moving to 2-0 on the season with two innings of no-hit ball with three strikeouts. Price picked up his sixth save of the year with a 1-2-3 ninth.

BY THE NUMBERS
For the season, the Gamecocks are hitting .292 (233-for-798) as a team with a .392 on-base percentage, fifth best in the conference and a .470 slugging percentage, tops in the SEC. The team leads the SEC with 25 home runs as well. The Gamecock pitching staff owns a 2.87 ERA in 213.0 innings pitched with 205 strikeouts to 78 walks. Opponents are hitting just .220 against the squad, the second best mark in the conference.

LAST WEEK’S RECAP
South Carolina continued the 2011 season with non-conference wins vs. College of Charleston and Rhode Island and winning two of three games in a series at top ranked Florida this weekend. Carolina has won all six three-game series it has played this year.

WELL ARMED
The South Carolina pitching staff has a tremendous weekend against the Gators in Gainesville. The Gamecock pitching staff allowed just six earned runs in 26 innings of play and the Gators hit just .217 in the series at McKethan Stadium. The staff ERA for the weekend was 2.08. The Gamecocks were not charged an error in both Friday’s and Sunday’s victories over the Gators as well.

AN OFFENSIVE STATEMENT
In three consecutive games, (vs. CofC, URI and at Florida), all nine position starters tallied at least one hit in the game. South Carolina’s 19-hit total on Tuesday vs. College of Charleston and Wednesday vs. Rhode Island was the highest hit total of the season for the Gamecocks. 11 of the 19 hits in Tuesday’s win vs. College of Charleston were extra base hits (seven doubles, four homers). Tuesday’s 24-4 win over College of Charleston set a new Carolina Stadium record for runs in a game and was the most runs by the Gamecocks since a 38-0 win over Charleston Southern on Feb. 14, 2004 at Sarge Frye Field.

ROTH AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS
One of the highlights at Florida was junior left-hander Michael Roth, who worked a season high 8.1 innings and allowed just two runs on 10 hits while striking out six and walking two to pick up a victory in the 9-2 win on Friday. For the season, Roth is 5-1 with a 1.50 ERA and has pitched a team-high 42.0 innings. He has 44 strikeouts to just 11 walks. Opponents are hitting just .230 against him. Roth is tied for second in innings pitched and third in the SEC in earned run average. His strikeout total is fourth highest. He is also tied for second in wins with five on the year.

PACK THE HOUSE
All three games vs. Georgia were near-capacity crowds at Carolina Stadium. Friday’s game drew 8,069 fans, Saturday’s game the attendance was 8,105 and Sunday was an 8,012 mark. The three-game total was 24,186. That is the second highest three-game series total in Carolina Stadium history.

There have been great crowds at Carolina Stadium this year including three sellouts already on the year. The Gamecocks had sellouts of 8,242 in the first two games vs. Santa Clara as well as the Friday victory over Clemson. For the season, the Gamecocks have a total attendance of 130,437 for an average of 7,246.

JUNIOR
Gamecock junior outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. had the best week at the plate by average as he hit at a .421 (8-for-19) clip in the five games vs. COFC, URI and Florida. Bradley homered in both Tuesday and Wednesday’s victories over College of Charleston and Rhode Island.

For the season, Bradley is hitting .303 (27-for-89) with a team-high six HR as well as 21 RBI and 25 runs scored. He has a slugging percentage of .607, second best on the team and sixth best in the SEC. His six home runs is second highest in the SEC as well.

With his home run on Wednesday vs. Rhode Island, Bradley became the 24th player in South Carolina history to record 200 or more career hits with his home run on Wednesday vs. URI.

THE PEN
Carolina’s bullpen came up big in relief Sunday as three relievers combined to shut the Gators down as Carolina rallied for a 4-3 win over Florida. Sophomore right-hander Colby Holmes went three scoreless allowing just one hit and striking out a pair of batters. Senior right-hander John Taylor followed and allowed just two hits in 1.2 scoreless. Sophomore right-hander Matt Price closed it down to get his second win of the year. He allowed just one hit in 2.1 innings with a strikeout.

TAYLOR MAKES AN APPEARANCE
Senior right-hander John Taylor leads the team and is the SEC leader with 15 appearances. He has allowed just one run on six hits in 20.2 innings pitched while striking out 25 and walking six. Taylor is 2-0 with a 0.44 ERA. Team’s are batting just .094 against him

THE PRICE IS RIGHT
Sophomore right-hander Matt Price continues to be a stellar workhorse for the Gamecocks. He has made 13 appearances and has six saves and two wins out of the bullpen. Price has 20 strikeouts in 16.1 innings with opponents hitting just .211 against him. He has not allowed a run in 11 of 13 relief appearances for the season. With 16 career saves, Price is eighth on the all-time list at Carolina.

Top 10 Saves All-Time30  Rob Mosser (1990-93)28  Brian Beatson (1987-90)22  Blake Taylor (2001-02)22  Lee Gronkiewicz (1999-2001)20  Chad Blackwell (2004)19  Jason Pomar (1996-99)18  Scott Barber (1998-2000)16  Matt Price (2009-11)

MATTHEWS GETS IT GOING
Junior outfielder Adam Matthews was 2-for-4 with two key doubles in the 4-3 win over Florida on Sunday. He also had a triple in Friday’s 9-2 win over the Gators. Matthews went 3-for-6 with a pair of homers and a career-high eight RBI in Tuesday’s 24-4 win over College of Charleston. The eight RBI was one short of the individual game school record at South Carolina. Six of his seven hits in last week’s five games were extra base hits (three doubles, a triple, two homers). For the season, Matthews is hitting .295 (26-for-88) with four doubles, two triples, two homers, 13 RBI and 24 runs scored.

Matthews has a strained left hamstring and his status is uncertain for this weekend’s series vs. Kentucky.

HOLMES PROVIDES AN ANSWER
In addition to his relief outing Sunday vs. Florida, sophomore right-hander Colby Holmes was also effective in his first start last Tuesday vs. College of Charleston. Holmes earned his first win of the year as he went a career-high six-plus innings and tied career-high with six strikeouts. He allowed three runs on five hits with two walks. For the season, Holmes is 2-0 with a 4.00 ERA in 18 innings pitched. He has 17 strikeouts and opponents are batting .206 against him.

MORALES GETS ON BASE
Senior infielder Adrian Morales was 3-for-3 in last Tuesday’s win over College of Charleston as well as 3-for-5 in last Wednesday’s win over Rhode Island. Morales drew a bases loaded walk for a game-winning RBI in the eighth inning of the 4-3 win over Florida. He also showed the leather as he had a pair of key defensive stops in Friday’s 9-2 win over the Gators. He was 5-for-11 (.455) in the Georgia series with a pair of RBI as well as a run scored.

Morales leads the team in hitting with a .370 average (30-for-81) with 21 runs scored a .490 on-base percentage and a .556 slugging percentage. Morales is fourth in the SEC in on-base percentage, seventh in the league in batting average and 10th in the SEC in slugging percentage.

WILLIAMS GETS OFFENSIVE
Junior outfielder Jake Williams had a strong series vs. the Gators batting .417 (5-for-12) vs. Florida. Williams had three hits and a solo homer in the 9-2 win on Friday vs. Florida and a game-tying single in the sixth inning of the 4-3 victory vs. the Gators on Sunday. For the season, Williams is hitting .338 (23-for-68) with two homers and 16 RBI.

BEARY HAS CAREER NIGHT
Senior Robert Beary had a career night for the Gamecocks in the 17-8 win over Rhode Island. Beary tied his career-high with four hits and drove in a career-high four runs. He also homered in the game. Beary hit .353 (6-for-17) in the five games last week with five runs scored.

NEFF MAKES A CASE
Junior left-hander Steven Neff had his second consecutive quality start in Saturday’s victory over Georgia. In a no-decision, Neff worked a career-high seven innings and allowed one run on three hits with four strikeouts and one walk. For the year, Neff is 2-0 with a 2.49 ERA in 21.2 innings pitched. He has 18 strikeouts to just six walks as well.

WINGO & RECORDS
Senior infielder Scott Wingo tallied the game-winning RBI single in the 2-1 victory over Georgia. Wingo is hitting .268 (19-for-71) on the year with 10 RBI and 15 runs scored. He was 2-for-3 with a run scored and a RBI in the 8-3 win over Georgia on Sunday with his third double of the season.

Wingo holds several career records that he continues to add to in his final season with the Gamecocks. Wingo is the 15th player in school history to play 200 or more games. Wingo played in his 200th in the 8-4 win over Wofford and now has played in 209 career games heading into Friday night.

Wingo holds the school records for putouts and assists for a second baseman. He has fielded .970 in his career with just 28 errors. Wingo also holds the school career record for hit by pitches with 50 so far in his career.

ALL-TIME GAMES PLAYED LIST255 Michael Campbell  2003-04-05-06251 Landon Powell        2001-02-03-04238 Andrew Crisp      2005-06-07-08-09236 Mac White       1991-92-93-94223 Jeff Parnell        1990-91-92-93221 Trey Dyson      1999-00-01-02217 Derick Urquhart     1995-96-97-98209 Scott Wingo        2008-09-10-11209 Garrett Carter      1985-86-87-88

KOUMAS EARNS FIRST START
Freshman right-hander Forrest Koumas made his first start of his career and it was a quality start in the 2-1 loss vs. Florida. Koumas allowed just one run, unearned, on two hits with five strikeouts and two walks in six innings of work. For the season, Koumas was 2-0 with a 2.79 ERA in 19.1 innings. He has 23 strikeouts as well. Opponents are hitting only .194 against him.

MOONEY MAKES HIS MOVE
Junior infielder Peter Mooney was stellar in Friday’s 9-2 win over the Gators. Mooney went 3-for-5 with a double, three runs scored and a pair of RBI. In the five games last week, Mooney was .318 (7-for-22) with eight runs scored as well as three RBI.

BULLPEN DELIVERS IN RUBBER GAME VS. GEORGIA
Four South Carolina relievers combined to limit Georgia to just one run on three hits in eight innings of work and six different Gamecocks tallied at least one RBI as South Carolina defeated Georgia 8-3 winning the rubber game of three-game SEC baseball series on Sunday afternoon. Gamecock freshman right-hander Forrest Koumas allowed just one run on two hits in 3.1 innings of work to earn the win. He is now 2-0 on the year. Senior right-hander John Taylor worked 2.1 hitless innings and tallied a strikeout, junior left-hander Bryan Harper struck out the lone batter he faced and sophomore closer Matt Price worked two scoreless innings with four strikeouts to pick up his fifth save of the year. The four relievers along with Gamecock starter Adam Westmoreland combined for 14 strikeouts, a season-high in a game for the Gamecock pitching staff.

WALKER DRIVES THEM IN
Sophomore first baseman Christian Walker is one of the top run producers for the Gamecocks. On the year, Walker is hitting .341 (31-for-91) with 25 RBI and 26 runs scored. He has a team-high 11 multi-hit games and a team-high seven multi-RBI games as well.

BRADY BEHIND THE PLATE
Gamecock senior catcher Brady Thomas has started 17 games behind the plate for the Gamecocks. For the season, he is hitting .240 (18-for-75) with 12 runs scored, three doubles, a triple, three homers and 13 RBI. He has fielded a clean 1.000 as well.

GAMECOCK RADIO NETWORK ADDS AFFILIATES
The Gamecock Radio Network has increased to 11 affiliates for baseball for the 2011 season. In addition to the 107.5 FM “The Game,” Carolina’s flagship station in Columbia, the network has added affiliates throughout the Midlands, Lowcountry and Upstate.

Station: MarketWSKX 92.7 FM Aiken/EdgefieldWDOG 93.5 FM AllendaleWRIX 103.1 FM AndersonWPUB 102.7 FM CamdenWTMA 1250 AM CharlestonWPCC 1410 AM ClintonWNKT/WISW 107.5 FM/ 1320 AM Columbia (Flagship)WGVL 1440 AM GreenvilleWRHM 107.1 FM Rock Hill/LancasterWSPG 1400 AM SpartanburgWQUL 1500 AM Woodruff