Feb. 27, 2006
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina baseball returns to action this weekend with a home-and-home series vs. Clemson. USC and Clemson will play at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 4 at Sarge Frye Field with Sunday’s game set for 2 p.m. at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Live audio and gametracker stats will be available at uscsports.com. Live streaming video will also be available for Saturday’s home game. Carolina moved up four spots to No. 9 in this week’s rankings from Baseball America and moved up one spot in Collegiate Baseball’s rankings to No. 15 this week.
Record: 8-1
8-1 in home games
0-0 in road games
0-0 vs. top 25 teams
Last Week: 3-0
Friday – 2/24 vs. Duquesne – W, 15-0
Saturday – 2/25-26 vs. Duquesne – W, 6-3
Sunday – 2/26 vs. Duquesne – W, 12-4
WEEKLY NOTES:
South Carolina extended its winning streak to seven games with a weekend sweep against Duquesne.
SOUTH CAROLINA AT THE PLATE
South Carolina had its most successful weekend at the plate as the team finished with a series batting average of .355 (39-for-110) … South Carolina had a season-high 15 runs scored and 16 hits in Friday’s 15-0 victory.
GRINESTAFF
Junior designated hitter Robbie Grinestaff had a pair of three-run homers in both the 15-0 and 6-3 wins over Duquesne this weekend … Grinestaff finished the Duquesne series with a .455 batting average (5-for-11) and scored a team-high six runs in the weekend series and also had a team-high seven RBI as the Gamecocks swept the Dukes … He went a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBI in 15-0 win, the three hits was a season-high for Grinestaff … He is currently batting .286 on the season with a team-high four HR and 14 RBI.
SMOAK
Freshman first baseman Justin Smoak had his best weekend of his young career at Carolina … Smoak went 3-for-3 with two doubles, one homer and five RBI in 12-4 win over Duquesne to sweep series … and became the first USC player this season to have multiple doubles in a game and tied a USC individual high on the year with four runs scored and five RBI in the victory … Smoak has reached base seven consecutive times with five hits and two walks and finished the Duquesne series with a .455 batting average … Smoak raised season batting average 0.70 points this weekend to .333.
CAMPBELL
Senior outfielder Michael Campbell also had his best weekend of the year batting .364 with six RBI … Campbell continued his move up the USC All-Time list as he moved into a tie for sixth place in games played with 209 in his career, tying with Drew Meyer (2000-01-02) and Garrett Carter (1985-86-87-88) … Campbell also moved into fifth on the all-time list for at-bats with 772 now in his time at Carolina … One more list that Campbell moved up was the all-time hits list … Campbell moved past Jeff Barns (1985-86-87) and Jeff Parnell (1990-91-92-93) into ninth place with 229 hits.
GIESLER
Senior infielder Neil Giesler leads Carolina in hitting after his 4-for-4 performance with four runs scored in Friday’s 15-0 win … Giesler on the season is batting .462 (12-for-26) with two HR and five RBI as well as a team-high nine runs scored.
SOUTH CAROLINA ON THE MOUND
Along with its best hitting of the season, the USC pitchers continued their strong start on the mound … Carolina recorded the third shutout of the year on Friday and finished the weekend allowing just seven runs on 16 hits in 27 innings pitched while striking out 31 batters and walking six … Through the first nine games of the year, Carolina’s pitching staff has a team ERA of 1.63 in 83 innings pitched with just 47 hits allowed while striking out 91 batters and yielding 20 walks.
BEVERLY
Senior LHP Forrest Beverly won his third consecutive Sunday start to improve to 3-0 on the year … Beverly worked five innings and allowed three runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and no walks allowed to earn the victory … Beverly’s seven strikeouts tied his career-high set last year vs. Longwood … Beverly is 3-0 on the year with a 3.38 ERA and 19 strikeouts and just one walk allowed in 16 innings pitched.
LAMBERT
Senior RHP Andy Lambert won his second straight game in middle relief with two innings of work picking up the ball from Saturday’s suspended game on Sunday as USC defeated the Dukes 6-3.
VALDES-FAULI
Senior RHP Shawn Valdes-Fauli came on in the ninth inning to pick up his third save of the year … Valdes-Fauli saw his streak of 14 consecutive batters retired out snapped when Duquesne picked up a two-out single in the ninth inning … Valdes-Fauli, however, was able to get the third out to seal the win and has now hurled five scoreless innings for Carolina in four appearances.
CISCO
Freshman RHP Mike Cisco also has a scoreless inning streak of eight games and has allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out nine batters in eight innings pitched … Cisco hurled three scoreless innings in his first career start on Friday.
LUCZAK
Sophomore RHP Dan Luczak came on in relief for Cisco and earned his first career win as a Gamecock with two scoreless innings of work.
WITH THE GLOVE
The South Carolina defense came away with an errorless game in Sunday’s 12-4 win … USC has a fielding percentage of .982 after nine games.
SOUTH CAROLINA IN FEBRUARY
South Carolina finishes the month of February with an 8-1 record … Dating back to the 2000 season, Carolina is now 67-2 (.971) in games played in the month of February.
UP NEXT
3-4 vs. Clemson – 1:30 pm
3-5 at Clemson – 2 pm
