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Feb. 23, 2006
Columbia, S.C. – The 13th ranked South Carolina baseball team returns to action this weekend with a three-game series at home vs. Duquesne. First pitch for Friday, Feb. 17 is set for 3 pm with Saturday’s game set for 1:30 pm. Please note that Sunday’s game time has been changed to 1 pm to accommodate Duquesne’s flight arrangements. Live video streaming coverage will be available for Friday’s game and live audio and live gametracker stats will also be offered for all three games at uscsports.com.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday
South Carolina: Mike Cisco, RHP, Fr. (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.0 IP)
Duquesne: Adam Haun, RHP, Sr.
Saturday
South Carolina: Wynn Pelzer, RHP, So. (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.2 IP)
Duquesne: Scott Chisholm, LHP, Sr.
Sunday
South Carolina: Forrest Beverly, LHP, Jr. (2-0, 2.45 ERA, 11.0 IP)
Duquesne: Jeremy Gerger, RHP, So.
QUICKIE NOTES
South Carolina leads the all-time series history against Duquesne 10-0. The last time the teams played was in the 2004 Gamecock Round Robin Tournament when USC defeated the Dukes 20-2 on February 28. Both teams last played a series in February of 2003 that saw the Gamecocks sweep the Dukes at Sarge Frye Field.
Dating back to the 2000 season, South Carolina is 64-2 (.970) in games played in the month of February. The only two losses in February came on Feb. 8, 2003 when Charleston Southern defeated USC 8-5 and Feb. 11, 2006, a 2-1 loss to Elon.
THE DUQUESNE SERIES
South Carolina returns to action this weekend with a three-game series at Sarge Frye Field vs. Duquesne. Saturday’s game is 1:30 pm and Sunday’s game will start at 1 pm. This marks Carolina’s third consecutive weekend playing at home. USC enters the weekend with a 5-1 record with Duquesne playing its first series of the year against the Gamecocks.
SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE RANKINGS
South Carolina remained ranked No. 13 in the Baseball America poll and moved up one spot to No. 17 in the poll by Collegiate Baseball. Carolina also moved up to No. 21 in the NCBWA Top 30.
ON THE MOUND
The USC pitching staff was outstanding this past weekend against Radford with two shutouts and were one out away from a third shutout in Saturday’s game. The Carolina pitching staff finished the weekend with a 0.67 ERA in 27 innings pitched and had 36 strikeouts and just seven walks allowed with 10 hits.
A LITTLE MORE ON THE PITCHERS
The Carolina pitching staff has been tremendous in the first two weeks of action with a team ERA of 1.29 in 56 innings pitched (eight earned runs, 11 runs) and limiting teams to 31 hits and 14 walks while striking out 60 batters. Beverly leads the way with his 2-0 record, a 2.45 ERA and 12 strikeouts and one walk in a team-high 11 innings pitched.
THE CISCO KID
Freshman RHP Mike Cisco will make his first career start in Friday’s series opener against the Dukes. Cisco turned in his second straight perfect appearance of the year with two perfect innings in Sunday’s win over Radford. Cisco struck out four batters in his two innings of work against the Highlanders and has six on the season.
BEVERLY TALLIES ANOTHER WINNER
Junior LHP Forrest Beverly won his second straight start in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Radford. Beverly limited the Highlanders to three hits and had six strikeouts and no walks in six innings pitched, the second longest outing of his career. Beverly, who will make his third straight Sunday start, is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 12 strikeouts and just one walk in 11 innings pitched. Beverly leads the team in wins, strikeouts and innings.
PELZER GETS OFF TO GOOD START
Sophomore RHP Wynn Pelzer made his first appearance of the season in last Saturday’s win over Radford. Pelzer started and worked four 2/3 innings allowing no runs on three hits with a career-high eight strikeouts and one walk. Pelzer was listed as the top collegiate prospect in the Coastal Plains League this summer by Baseball America. He is scheduled to start Saturday’s game.
VALDES-FAULI WITH THE SAVE
Senior RHP Shawn Valdes-Fauli made two appearances against Radford and earned two saves in Saturday and Sunday’s wins. Valdes-Fauli worked a perfect 1.1 innings to pick up both saves. Valdes-Fauli has pitched four innings and also has a victory to go along with his two saves out of the bullpen.
MIDDLE RELIEF
USC had a pair of solid performances out of the bullpen with senior RHP Andy Lambert and sophomore RHP Andrew Cruse picking up wins in relief vs. the Highlanders. Lambert made his second straight middle relief appearance and delivered in Friday’s game with four innings of one-hit ball and five strikeouts and two walks. The hit that Lambert gave up on Friday was the only hit of the game for Radford. Lambert is 1-0 on the year with a 1.12 ERA in eight innings hurled and has 11 total strikeouts.
GRINESTAFF DELIVERS A POP
Junior DH Robbie Grinestaff went 2-for-5 with two HR and five RBI in Friday’s 7-0 win over Radford, the first USC player to hit more than one home run in a game since Steve Pearce vs. Georgia Tech (6/5/05). The junior college transfer out of Okaloosa Walton JC (Fla.) leads the team with seven RBI.
HURST LEADS THE WAY
Carolina’s leadoff hitter for five of the first six games, junior OF Cheyne Hurst is off to a fast start with a four-game hitting streak. He is also the team’s leading hitter after the first two weeks with a .455 batting average (10-for-22) as well as four runs scored.
Hurst got off to a great start in his first career game at Carolina with a 5-for-6 performance in the 5-4 victory vs. Elon. Hurst was the first player since Steve Pearce last year vs. Niagara (2-26-05) to have five hits in one game.
GIESLER REMAINS STEADY AT THE PLATE
Senior INF Neil Giesler has also hit safely in five of six games and is batting .365 (8-for-22) with two HR and five RBI. Giesler had a solo HR in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Radford.
WITH THE GLOVE
Carolina had a solid weekend with the glove as USC played all three games errorless. USC has a fielding percentage of .983 after six games and has been error-free on the field four of six games on the year.
CAMPBELL MOVES UP THE LIST
Senior OF Michael Campbell moved into ninth place all-time on the USC career games played list with 206 games after the Radford series. Campbell also moved into a tie for 10th place on the all-time list for hits with 225 in his career at Carolina.
With an assist from the outfield vs. Elon (2/12/06), Campbell tied Paul Hollins (1978-81) for the USC record for career assists by an outfielder with 20. The iron man at Carolina, Campbell has now made 185 consecutive starts in the outfield going back to his freshman season.
Campbell is the most experienced player in division I baseball with 206 games under his belt as well as 199 starts. Campbell is the leading returnee for Carolina in several offensive categories including batting average (.315), games played (64), at-bats (251), runs (56), hits (79), doubles (16), triples (5), home runs (8), runs batted in (42), slugging percentage (.514), hit by pitch (10) and stolen bases (8).
TRACKING Michael CampbellGames Played1. 251 Landon Powell 2001-02-03-042. 236 Mac White 1991-92-93-943. 223 Jeff Parnell 1990-91-92-934. 221 Trey Dyson 1999-00-01-025. 217 Derick Urquhart 1995-96-97-986. 209 Drew Meyer 2000-01-026. 209 Garrett Carter 1985-86-87-888. 208 Chris Boyle 1981-82-83-849. 206 Michael Campbell 2003-04-05-06
At Bats1. 903 Mac White 1991-92-93-942. 866 Landon Powell 2001-02-03-043. 864 Drew Meyer 2000-01-024. 799 Derick Urquhart 1995-96-97-985. 766 Chris Boyle 1981-82-83-846. 761 Michael Campbell 2003-04-05
Hits (200 or more)1. 303 Mac White 1991-92-93-942. 285 Drew Meyer 2000-01-023. 265 Landon Powell 2001-02-03-044. 265 Derick Urquhart 1995-96-97-985. 250 Mike Curry 1996-97-986. 245 Hank Small 1972-73-74-757. 231 Dave Willman 1989-90-91-928. 230 Skeets Thomas 1988-89-909. 227 Jeff Barns 1985-86-8710. 225 Jeff Parnell 1990-91-92-9310. 225 Michael Campbell 2003-04-05
Three Base Hits1. 12 Mac White 1991-92-93-941. 12 Bill Harley 1930-31-323. 11 Mike Curry 1996-97-984. 10 Michael Campbell 2003-04-05
SCOUTING DUQUESNE
Duquesne begins its 2006 season this weekend against the Gamecocks. The Dukes come down to Columbia, S.C. fresh off a 21-34 season and a 13-11 mark in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Head coach Mike Wilson is in his 13th season at the helm of the program. The Dukes were projected to finish fourth in the A-10 West by Baseball America.
Duquesne returns its leading hitter from last year, senior INF Steve Maiolo, who batted .365 (74-for-208) with two HR and a team-high 34 RBI. Also back is sophomore OF Eric Morrison who went .315 (58-for-184) in his first collegiate season along with three HR and 27 RBI. Seven of nine offensive starters are back this year.
Friday’s starting pitcher Adam Haun is a senior RHP and was 2-5 with a 5.04 ERA last year. Haun had 36 strikeouts and 26 walks in 44.2 innings pitched. Senior LHP Scott Chisholm started 12 games for Duquesne last year and will get the ball in Saturday’s game. Chisholm was 4-6 with a 6.19 ERA in 68.1 innings. Sophomore RHP Jermey Gerger gets the nod for Sunday’s series finale. Gerger was 3-3 with a 7.28 ERA his freshman season.
Head Baseball Coach Ray Tanner Quotes
On his decision to start Mike Cisco on Friday:
“I think we’re in a situation where maybe we could have given the ball to a couple of other people, maybe even some older guys, but Mike Cisco has been flawless in relief. We love his poise and composure for a freshman as well as his competitive nature. We’ve had good fortune in the past when we’ve thrown a young guy in there, and I think that played a part in the decision. We think he’ll do just fine.”
On what he’s doing to try to make the offense more productive:
“We had an outstanding scrimmage on Tuesday when we went eight innings of full-scale scrimmage which I’m reluctant to do when the season gets underway, but due to our offensive woes I just decided that we had to crank it up. If our pitchers threw a 0-0 game, so be it. As it happened, we had a really good day offensively. We had a lot of quality at bats, and we had four home runs. We were pretty excited about that, and hopefully that created some momentum going into the weekend.”
On his approach to Duquesne:
“They have 11 of their top 13 players back from last year including five of his first seven pitchers. I’m looking at this weekend a lot like I did with the Elon series. Both teams have a lot of experience and would like to take their best shot at us.”
On the health of his team:
“We’ve got a few guys banged up, but nothing serious I hope. Robbie Grinestaff has a little tendonitis in his wrist. Steven Reinhold is out today, and Harley Lail is out, both are sick. We have a few bumps and bruises, but hopefully nothing serious right now.”
On the status of Arik Hempy:
“He’s definitely out this weekend. He’s throwing and trying to simulate game situations as much as possible. At this point it’s really day-to-day, and we’ll see where he is next weekend.”
On whether he’s looking ahead to next weekend’s series against Clemson:
“That’s the furthest thing from my mind right now. We’re 5-1 in our first six games, and we should have won all six. That’s not to discount Elon or Radford, but we were playing at home, and we’ve got to win those games if we’re a quality team. We won five out of six, and we’re facing a team this weekend who is very similar to Elon, so we have to be at our best. All these games count, there are no exhibition games, there are not any games that don’t figure into your record. You have to have enough wins to get into the postseason, so there aren’t any games where you experiment.”
On his impression with the young players so far:
“I’ve been pleased with them. I have high expectations of everybody, and although they’re freshman I expect them to be very good. I think Reese Havens and Justin Smoak have handled themselves very well. Cisco and Will Atwood have looked good so far as has James Darnell. Those guys are all good players, and they just have to get the feet wet a little more.”
On what he’s expecting this weekend:
“I can’t ask much more of our defense and pitching. I’d like to see a little more offensive balance. We’ve done a great job with our walks compared to strikeouts, but you’d think we would have more hits since we have numbers like that. You can’t have perfection, but I’d like to have a weekend where I feel good about the balance.”
On getting his first college start:
“I’m excited. The way I look at it, I just get another chance to help the team win. As long as I contribute, that’s all I want.”
On the difference between starting and coming out of the bullpen:
“With a start, I know a week ahead whereas when I’m coming out of the pen, I don’t really know when I’m going in. You have more time to prepare mentally for the game as a starter.”
On the learning process of the young players:
“We like these early games. We can learn from our mistakes, and we see how the seniors approach it early in the year so it’s a good learning experience.”
On what the team has to do to start producing more offensively:
“You have to continue to be aggressive. You have to swing at good pitches, be aggressive in the zone, and keep working hard. We’re a hard working team, and we have a lot of desire to be a great team and a great hitting team too, so we’re just going to keep working hard and we’ll make it happen.”
