March 7, 2005
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina baseball moved up one spot to No. 4 in the latest Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball rankings released on Monday afternoon. Carolina finished last week with a 3-1 record including a 2-1 performance at the Dairy Queen Classic in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Gamecocks are now 12-1 on the year and will next compete on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. vs. Charleston Southern at Sarge Frye Field. Carolina and Clemson renew their in-state rivalry this weekend with a pair of games. The Tigers host the Gamecocks on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Doug Kingsomore Stadium with USC the host on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. Both games will be televised on CSS-TV.
SOUTH CAROLINA BASEBALL NOTEBOOK
Record: 12-1
10-0 in home games
1-0 in road games
1-1 in neutral games
0-0 vs. top 25 teams
Last Week: 3-1
Wednesday – 3/2 vs. Wofford – W, 13-1
Friday – 3/4 vs. Pepperdine (Dairy Queen Classic) – L, 7-5
Saturday – 3/5 at Minnesota (Dairy Queen Classic) — W, 13-6
Sunday – 3/6 vs. New Orleans (Dairy Queen Classic) — W, 9-3
WEEKLY NOTES: South Carolina went 3-1 on the week including a 2-1 performance at the Dairy Queen Classic in Minneapolis, Minnesota … USC lost its first game of the season in a 7-5 defeat to Pepperdine but earned a 13-6 win over the host Minnesota Golden Gophers and a 9-3 victory over New Orleans to take second place.
Junior infielder Steven Tolleson had the best weekend at the plate for the Gamecocks with an 8-for-13 performance including three doubles, three RBI and four runs scored at the Dairy Queen Classic … Tolleson tied his career-high in hits with four in Saturday’s 13-6 win over Minnesota and was a perfect 3-for-3, reaching base five times in the 9-3 win over New Orleans … On the season, Tolleson is batting .490 (25-for-51) with a team-high six doubles, seven stolen bases and 19 RBI.
Sophomore designated hitter Jon Willard is the team’s leading hitter with a .500 batting average on the year with three HR and 11 RBI … Willard owns a 10-game hitting streak and had five hits over the weekend.
Senior outfielder Brendan Winn had two more home runs on the week and now has a team-high seven on the season along with a team-high 20 RBI … Winn homered in Wednesday’s win over Wofford and Sunday’s win over New Orleans … Winn has a six-game hitting streak … Willard, Winn and Chris Brown all were named to the All-Tournament Team at the Dairy Queen Classic.
Carolina is 12-0 this season when hitting a home run … The Gamecocks did not hit a home run in the lone loss vs. Pepperdine.
Senior RHP Zac McCamie improved to 4-0 on the year and 11-0 in his career at Carolina with a win on Saturday vs. the Golden Gophers … After allowing three runs in the first inning, McCamie pitched the last five innings allowing just one hit and striking out a season-high eight batters … McCamie is 4-0 with a 2.05 ERA and 23 strikeouts and just four walks in 22 innings pitched.
Senior RHP Jason Fletcher worked three scoreless innings of relief to pick up his second win of the season out of the bullpen in Sunday’s 9-3 win over the Privateers … Fletcher struck out six batters and has nine total in two appearances.
Junior RHP Andy Lambert made his first career appearance as a Gamecock and picked up his first win in USC’s 13-1 win over Wofford … Lambert also pitched vs. New Orleans and has worked four 2/3 innings allowing no runs on one hit with five strikeouts and no walks.
The South Carolina pitching staff had a season-high 13 strikeouts in Sunday’s win over New Orleans … The Gamecocks have six wins this season scoring 10 or more runs including two 13-run games vs. Wofford and Minnesota this week … Carolina has 10 or more hits in 10 of those 13 games … Carolina set a season-high in triples in a game with three in Friday’s loss vs. Pepperdine … Four South Carolina players have started all 13 games this year (Steven Tolleson, Davy Gregg, Michael Campbell, Brendan Winn) … The only other player to play in all 13 games for Carolina is junior infielder Joey Friddle … USC made just one error over the weekend at the Dairy Queen Classic, the Gamecocks now own a fielding percentage of .978.
NEXT WEEK Wednesday vs. Charleston Southern – 7 p.m. ET Saturday at Clemson – 2 p.m. ET (CSS-TV) Sunday vs. Clemson – 1:30 p.m. ET (CSS-TV)
