Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
A live audio broadcast of Wendesday’s game is available at:
http://sports.yahoo.com/top/collegebroadcast/teams/sbf
March 1, 2005
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina baseball (9-0) returns to action on Wednesday night as the Gamecocks host Wofford (5-7) at 6 p.m. at Sarge Frye Field.
STARTING PITCHERS
South Carolina: Andy Lambert, Jr. RHP (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Wofford: Chip Hunt, Fr. LHP (0-0, 9.00 ERA)
WOFFORD
The South Carolina-Wofford baseball series dates back to the very first game the Gamecocks played against a collegiate opponent. Wofford won that first game 7-4 in 1895 at Spartanburg. Over the years, however, South Carolina has built a large lead in the series, 60-21-1. The Gamecocks and Terriers are scheduled to meet three times this season. After tonight’s game South Carolina travels to Wofford on March 16 and the third game is set for Columbia on May 10. South Carolina coach Ray Tanner is 18-0 against Wofford.
WHAT’S NEXT
South Carolina winds up a 10 game home stand tonight against Wofford. The Gamecocks fly to Minneapolis tomorrow to compete in the Dairy Queen Classic in the Hubert Humphrey domed Stadium, the home of the American League Minnesota Twins. Carolina plays Pepperdine at 1:15 p.m., Friday, host Minnesota at 7:30 p.m., Saturday and New Orleans at noon on Sunday. The Gamecocks will be meeting Pepperdine and Minnesota for the first time ever. South Carolina and New Orleans have met 13 times between 1984 and 1991. The Gamecocks hold a 7-6 lead in the series.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Steve Pearce sat out the first six games of the season due to a suspension and then rejoined the starting lineup with a bang – National Player of the Week and Southeastern Conference Player of the week! In three games against Niagara, Feb. 25-27, Pearce had eight hits in 13 at bats, a .615 pace. He began with two singles in four at bats Friday, and drove in one run. On Saturday he went five for five, three singles and two home runs, one a grand slam, with five runs RBI. He was one for four, another grand slam homer, on Sunday. He drove in 10 runs in the three game series. Collegiate Baseball named Pearce Louisville Slugger National Player of the week and the Southeastern Conference recognized him as its Player of the Week. Pearce was just as explosive in his first three games in 2004. He had eight hits in 11 at bats, including a grand slam and two other home runs, and drove in eight runs.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
South Carolina senior right-hander Aaron Rawl was honored for the period that ended Feb. 13 as the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week for his performance in the season opening game. Rawl threw only 80 pitches in seven innings and earned his 27th career win in a 5-1 victory over Longwood. He allowed four hits, one earned run, no walks and struck out five. In his second start, Feb. 18 against Radford Rawl pitched six shutout innings to earn his second win.
POLLS
South Carolina remains fifth this week in all three of the major baseball polls. Two weeks ago the Gamecocks were seventh in the rankings by Baseball America and Sports Weekly/ESPN. They were eighth in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
TANNER
Ray Tanner is in his ninth season at South Carolina and his 18th as a collegiate head coach. His record with the Gamecocks is 381-152, a winning percentage of .715.Tanner’s overall record is 776-325-3, a winning percentage of .704. In nine seasons at N. C. State his record was 395-173-3. Tanner won his 350th game at South Carolina April 30, 2004 in the first game of a series with Mississippi.
GRAND SLAMS
In 70 games last year South Carolina batters hit three bases loaded home runs, two by Steve Pearce and one by departed All America catcher Landon Powell. In the first nine games this season the Gamecocks matched the 2004 season total – three grand slams. Again, Pearce has two of them, both against Niagara, Feb. 26-27. Brendan Winn homered with the bases loaded Feb. 20 against Radford.
MULTIPLE HOMERS
Brendan Winn has two multiple home run games this season and Steve Pearce has one. Winn homered twice Feb. 20 against Radford and Feb. 26 against Niagara. Pearce hit two home runs when he went five for five in the Feb. 26 game won by the Gamecocks 19-1.
MULTIPLE TRIPLES
Junior shortstop Steven Tolleson tied a school record when he had two triples Feb. 18 to help South Carolina defeat Radford University 20-0. Eleven other Gamecocks have had two three base hits in a game dating back to Bill Harley in 1931, but no one has ever tripled three times.
RAWL
With victories in his first three 2005 starts Aaron Rawl has moved into 9th place for most South Carolina pitching wins in a career. His total stands at 29-9. One more win and Rawl will become the ninth South Carolina pitcher to record 30 career wins. That would tie him with Mike Cook (1983-85) for eighth on the win list. Cook’s career record was 30-8. Rawl also has eight career saves. He had a 7-2 record as a freshman, was 6-3 his sophomore season and was 13-4 as a junior.
CONTROL FREAKS
South Carolina’s staff pitched 21 innings in the season opening series before walking a batter. Aaron Rawl and Conor Lalor combined to issue no bases on balls in the opening 5-1 victory over Longwood. In the second game, a 4-1 win, Zac McCamie, Andrew Cruse and Brent Marsh didn’t walk anyone. In the 13-3 Sunday victory, Forrest Beverly didn’t walk anyone the first three innings but the first batter in the fourth inning walked on a three and two count. Through the first nine games – 81 innings – South Carolina pitchers have struck out 79 batters and have walked only 14, an average of 1.56 walks per nine innings.
CALVI
South Carolina entered the 2005 season with a new pitching coach. Mark Calvi joined the Gamecock staff after 11 seasons as pitching coach at Florida International University. Calvi replaced Jerry Meyers who was named head coach at Old Dominion University after eight seasons as a member of the South Carolina staff. Calvi is a 1986 graduate of Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
TOMAN
Jim Toman began his ninth season on head coach Ray Tanner’s staff with a new title. Toman was promoted last August to associate head coach. He came to South Carolina in 1997 from N. C. State where he served on the staff under Tanner for five years. Toman is a 1985 graduate of N. C. State where he was a catcher on the baseball team. He earned a master’s degree from N. C. State in 1995.
LEE
South Carolina assistant baseball coach Monte Lee last September was inducted as an inaugural member of the College of Charleston Wall of Fame at Patriot’s Point Stadium. Lee was a star outfielder at the College of Charleston for four seasons (1996-99). He is in his third season on Coach Ray Tanner’s Gamecock staff and works with outfielders and hitters in addition to coaching first base.
MOST WINS
South Carolina won more games over the past five seasons than any other NCAA Division I baseball team. Since 2000 the Gamecocks entered the 2005 season with 260 wins to 259 for Florida State, 247 for Texas, 246 for Rice and 245 for Stanford. Over the five-year period South Carolina compiled a 260-87 record, a winning percentage of .749. Against Southeastern Conference opponents the record for the same period was 99-50, a percentage of .664.
CAPTAINS
Two seniors and a junior are serving as captains of the 2005 South Carolina baseball squad. Right-handed pitcher Aaron Rawl, right fielder Brendan Winn and shortstop Steven Tolleson are the Gamecock captains. Rawl and Winn are seniors. Tolleson is a junior.
STARTERS
Five position starters return from the 2004 season. Senior Steve Pearce switched from first to third base. He played 50 games at first base last year but did appear in 21 games at third. The outfield from 2004 is intact. Michael Campbell has switched to center field with Davy Gregg moving from center to left. Brendan Winn remains in right field. Steven Tolleson returns as the everyday shortstop. Tommy King started 24 games last year, most of them at second place when Kevin Melillo was injured. Ryan Mahoney had 34 starts in 2004, 33 of them as the designated hitter and one as catcher.
RETURNEES
Ten returning players had a composite .307 batting average (451-1470) in 2004 with 67 home runs and 273 runs batted in. The five regular starters had 391 hits in 1218 at bats for a composite .321 average including 58 home runs and 242 RBI. Steve Pearce was .346-21-70 to win the triple crown. Davy Gregg was .325-0-26; Steven Tolleson was .316-4-25; Michael Campbell .312-14-52; and Brendan Winn .305-19-69.
PITCHERS
Six returning pitchers represent 60 per cent of the 53 victories recorded by South Carolina in 2004. The six combined to work 346 innings with a 3.67 earned run average and a composite record of 32-6. Aaron Rawl led the team with a 13-4 record in 122 innings. Zac McCamie had a perfect 7-0 record in 58 innings. Jason Fletcher worked 55 2/3 innings and was 6-1. Arik Hempy was 3-1 in 52 2/3 innings, Cliff Donald 2-0 in 40 2/3 innings, and Harris Honeycutt pitched 17 1/3 innings with a 1-0 record. Five of the six are right-handers with Hempy the only southpaw.
SCHEDULE
More than half the 56 games on South Carolina’s 2005 baseball schedule are against teams that qualified for the 2004 NCAA championship tournament. The Gamecocks are scheduled to play 29 games, 52 per cent of the schedule, against 11 teams that advanced to the NCAA post season last year. The schedule includes three game series against Southeastern Conference opponents Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana State, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Mississippi. The Gamecocks will meet Clemson four times, The Citadel twice, and will play single games in the Dairy Queen Classic at Minneapolis against Pepperdine and defending Big Ten champion Minnesota. Three SEC opponents – Arkansas, Georgia and LSU – along with South Carolina advanced to the 2004 College World Series.
2,000 WINS
South Carolina surpassed 2,000 all time wins during 2004 post-season play. Gamecock baseball dates back 113 years to 1892. South Carolina recorded its 2,000th victory June 21, 2004 in the College World Series with a 15-4 win over fellow Southeastern Conference member Louisiana State. Carolina added CWS wins over Miami (Fla.) and eventual national champion Cal State Fullerton. The Gamecocks began the 2005 season with an all time record of 2,002-1,212-17.
TOP 100 PROSPECTS
Three members of the 2005 Gamecock roster are among the top 100 prospects in the Early Draft Preview compiled by Baseball America. The publication lists junior outfielder Michael Campbell 60th on the projected draft list. Senior third baseman Steve Pearce, who is projected as a future pro catcher, is 64th. Junior shortstop Steven Tolleson is 86th.
