Feb. 26, 2004
Columbia, S.C. –
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
The University of South Carolina baseball team (6-0) returns to action on Friday afternoon hosting the Gamecock Round Robin this weekend at Sarge Frye Field. Duquesne (0-0), Radford (0-3) and George Mason (3-0) will compete with South Carolina in round-robin format beginning at Noon on Friday. Listed below are the games and times for each day.
FRIDAY <>< 12=”” p.m.=”” -=”” radford=”” vs.=”” george=”” mason=””>
3 p.m. – SOUTH CAROLINA vs. Duquesne
SATURDAY
12 p.m. – Duquesne vs. George Mason
3 p.m. – SOUTH CAROLINA vs. Radford
SUNDAY
12 p.m. – Duquesne vs. Radford
3 p.m. – SOUTH CAROLINA vs. George Mason
For the second consecutive weekend, Jr. RHP Billy Buckner (1-0, 4.82 ERA) will get the start on Friday for the Gamecocks. Duquesne will start Jr. RHP Bob Reifschneider (6-5, 4.19 ERA 2003 Season) in their opening game of this year.
South Carolina swept Duquense in a three-game series last season and defeated Radford in two of three games as well at Sarge Frye Field. South Carolina last played George Mason in 2001 with the Gamecocks sweeping the three-game set.
Live stats coverage will be available at USCSPORTS.COM on Gametracker.
SOUTH CAROLINA QUOTES
Head Coach Ray Tanner:
“We try to maintain some consistency on the field. We had a great weekend, we pitched, played defense, we had some power and had some timely hitting, played with a lot of enthusiasm. That’s what we are trying to continue.”
“We are very excited about our offense so far. We knew we had a couple of good hitters but they have exceeded our expectations. I don’t think we can continue at this pace but we hope that we can score some runs.”
“All the coaches coming in this weekend are friends of mine and it is a good way to kick of the season and come together and enjoy college baseball.”
On Duquesne: “They work awfully hard indoors and they are coming in here with nothing to lose and they played us tough in the past. I remember last year, Matt Campbell was the national player of the week for the way he pitched against them. You have to have those kind of games, because the guy on the mound is the equalizer and he better be ready to play.”
On Steve Pearce: “I have been excited and encouraged by Steve Pearce. He was a shortstop before and we played him a little bit at 3rd and he played at 1st. We worked him extremely hard in the outfield. He hasn’t played there yet, but he could. He is a very unselfish player as long as gets to swing the bat. And that is saying that you have guys that are willing to be the best they can be for the team.”
On the Designated Hitter spot: “We are looking at some guys and we are not settled in that role. Maybe a left-handed hitter versus right-handed pitchers and vice-versa, we will have to see. Maybe somebody just gets hot and we will plug him in until he cools off, but that job is still open.”
Senior Catcher Landon Powell:
“We have come out and played well early and that’s what you always strive to do. The new guys step in well and if we keep playing like we have the last six games for the rest of the season we feel good about our chances. “
On pitching staff so far: “Our offense has been very good and I think that is something we kind of expected. We knew we were going to hit the ball a little bit. I have been more impressed with our pitching than with our offense. Our pitching to me has been really well. It has been overlooked a little bit because of our offense but we have only given up four, five runs each weekend. That is pretty good for a pitching staff to do. Pitching is going to win championships. No matter how many runs you score, pitching is what is going to do it. I think our pitching staff is what is going to carry us through the season. We will try to score as many runs as we can to make it easier on these pitchers.”
