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March 12, 2007
Columbia, S.C. – The South Carolina baseball team remained at No. 3 in this week’s Baseball America Top 25 and stayed at No. 4 in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 rankings released on Monday afternoon. South Carolina (13-2) continues its homestand this week with five games including a two-game series with Appalachian State (10-6) beginning on Tuesday, Mar. 13. First pitch for Tuesday is 7 pm. Live audio and gametracker stats are available at uscsports.com.
Record: 13-2
7-0 in home games
2-2 in road games
4-0 in neutral games
0-0 vs. top 25 teams
Last Week: 3-1
Tuesday 3/6 – at College of Charleston – L, 5-4 (10 inn.)
Friday 3/9 – vs. Brown – W, 13-1
Saturday 3/10 – vs. Brown – W, 11-2
Sunday 3/11 – vs. Brown – W, 9-4
SERIES PITCHING MATCH-UPS
Tuesday
South Carolina: Lonnie Chisenhall (Fr.) RHP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP
Appalachian State: Jonathan Reeder (Sr.) RHP, 0-0, 10.80 ERA, 5.0 IP
Wednesday
South Carolina: Sean Wideberg (Jr.) RHP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.0 IP
Appalachian State: TBA
QUICK RECAP
South Carolina swept a three-game series vs. Brown with victories of 13-1, 11-2 and 9-4 this past weekend. The Gamecock offense was strong in all three contests with 35 hits including with 16 extra base hits along with seven doubles in the first win of the weekend. The pitching staff also held the Bears in check with 39 strikeouts in three games an just 16 hits allowed in 27 innings.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Gamecocks currently in the longest homestand of the year, nine straight games beginning last weekend. The homestand still included a two-game set vs. App State, a three-game series vs. LSU and a game next Tuesday vs. UNC Asheville.
Sarge Frye Field has been a tough spot for opponents over the last seven years as the Gamecocks have racked up a 225-47 record (.827) in that timespan. The crowds have been incredible for the Gamecocks as well, with USC averaging 5,028 fans in six dates (one doubleheader).
CHISENHALL MAKES FIRST CAREER START ON TUESDAY
Lonnie Chisenhall, Baseball America’s top rated freshman in the country will get his first career start as a pitcher on Tuesday vs. Appalachian State. Chisenhall has been a position starter in all 15 games this year for the Gamecocks and is batting .338 (22-for-65) with four doubles, a triple, two homers and 12 RBI.
After a strong opening weekend in Wilmington, N.C. Chisenhall was named SEC Freshman of the Week. At the season-opening tournament, Chisenhall hit .500 (7-for-14) with three runs, a homer and seven RBI and also tied two single game school records in a win over Western Kentucky with two triples and two sacrifice flies. He became only the 13th player in school history to have two triples in one game and the first since Steven Tolleson did it in 2005.
Although he bats left-handed, Chisenhall is a right-handed pitcher.
WIDEBERG GETS THE NOD FOR WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Junior right-handed pitcher Sean Wideberg will also make his first career start for the Gamecocks in game two of the series (Wednesday) vs. Appalachian State.
Wideberg has pitched briefly in three games this year. His best outing of the season was one perfect inning of relief vs. Brown last Friday (March 9). He struck out all three batters he faced in that victory.
THIS WEEK IN THE RANKINGS
South Carolina sits at No. 3 in this week’s Baseball America Top 25 and has been ranked No. 4 in the Collegiate Baseball, Sports Weekly/ESPN and NCBWA polls.
THE RETURN OF HEMPY
It was another great Sarge Frye Field moment on Sunday when junior left-hander Arik Hempy made his 2007 debut for the Gamecocks. Following a standing ovation, Hempy had a solid first appearance with 2.2 innings of work and allowing just one run on three hits while striking out four batters. The game against Brown was Hempy’s first since undergoing Tommy John surgery in early April of 2006. Hempy had made seven starts last season and was 2-1 with a 2.65 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 34 innings before going down with the injury to his arm on March 31 at LSU. Hempy received a medical redshirt due to the injury.
COOPER DELIVERS IN FIRST CAREER START
Freshman right-hander Blake Cooper delievered in his first career start last Friday vs. Brown. Cooper allowed just one run, unearned and struck out six batters in five innings to pick up his first carer win in the 13-1 victory over Brown. Cooper has a 0.00 ERA in 9.0 innings of work with 10 strikeouts and just two walks.
THE CISCO KID
Sophomore right-hander Mike Cisco has put together five quality starts to open the season and leads the team with 31.1 innings pitched. He has reached at least six innings in all five starts made this year. In the 11-2 win over Brown, he pitched six scoreless innings and allowed just two hits while striking out eight batters. Cisco is now 2-0 this season.
He picked up his first win of year in a 5-1 win over Eastern Michigan. In that start he also worked 6.2 innings and allowed just one run on five hits while striking out nine batters. Cisco owns a 2.59 ERA with 26 strikeouts on the year.
SMOAK’EM
Sophomore first baseman Justin Smoak produced in all three games of the Brown series going 7-for-11 with 11 RBI in the three-game series including two home runs and three doubles.
A preseason All-American selection, Smoak jumped his season batting average to .328 and is tied for the team lead with five homers and also has 21 RBI. His current on-base percentage is .480.
IN A PINCH WITH MARTIN
Senior first baseman Drew Martin had a solid final two games of the Brown series. In Saturday’s 11-2 win over Brown, Martin started at DH and went 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs and a RBI. Sunday’s 9-4 win featured a two-out bases loaded home run from Martin off the bench to break a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the seventh inning.
In eight games, he is batting .429 with three homers and seven RBI.
LAIL BREAKS INTO THE MIX
Junior outfielder Harley Lail started all three games of the Brown series in left field and was the lead-off hitter for the Gamecocks. Lail made good on his first start of the year on Friday tying a USC single-game record for doubles in a game with three vs. the Bears. He also scored three runs and drove in a pair for the Gamecocks.
Lail received a medical redshirt after appearing in just seven games last year.
MORE ON THE PITCHERS
The Gamecock pitching staff has delivered in the early going with the staff posting a team ERA of 2.31 in 136.1 innings of work. That 2.39 ERA is the best in the SEC heading into this weekend’s games. The staff has 143 strikeouts to just 40 walks and allowed just 103 hits and opponents only batting .211 on the year.
PRODUCTION AT THE PLATE
The South Carolina bats continue to be productive with the team batting at a .301 clip with 22 homers in 15 games played. Saturday’s 12-0 victory at Clemson featured three home runs including James Darnell’s team-leading fifth homer as well as Disher’s third and Justin Smoak’s third home run.
FLASHING THE LEATHER
South Carolina continues to boast one of the top defensive teams in all of college baseball as the Gamecocks lead the SEC in fielding percentage, 15 games into the season. After setting a school record for fielding last year, the Gamecocks are off to another solid start defensively with a .986 percentage and just eight errors and eight error-less contests.
A QUICK RELIEF WITH ATWOOD
Junior left-hander Will Atwood has been a relief for the Gamecocks out of the bullpen to start the year. Atwood delivered again out of the pen in last Tuesday’s game vs. College of Charleston with 3.1 scoreless innings of work to keep the Cougars at bay.
That performance came off one he had last Sunday when he earned his first win of the year and pitched a scoreless ninth inning in the 3-2 win vs. Clemson. He also had three scoreless innings of work in Carolina’s 8-5 come-from-behind win over Eastern Michigan. Atwood is 0-0 with a 2.35 ERA in 15.1 innings and just four runs allowed.
DISHER GETS OFF TO SOLID START
Coming of a strong end to the 2006 season, junior designated hitter Phil Disher has picked up where he left off with a .368 batting average to start the year. Disher had a three-run homer and four RBI a win at Clemson and added two RBI in another win over the Tigers. He is currently among the SEC leaders in several categories including slugging percentage (.684) and on-base percentage.
His second career grand slam lifted the Gamecocks to an 8-5 win over Eastern Michigan, a game-winning hit with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Disher was 2006 NCAA Regional MVP in Charlottesville, Va.
DEFENSIVE SAVE
Captain Steven Reinhold has been a key ingredient to the Gamecocks success in the early season. Coming off the bench as a defensive replacement, Reinhold has played in 13 games, all at center field and has been a productive pinch hitter and pinch runner as well. This season he is 1-for-3 with two runs scored, has been hit by three pitches and owns a sacrifice bunt. The bunt helped the Gamecocks score the winning run in Sunday’s game vs. Clemson.
DARNELL DELIVERS
Sophomore infielder James Darnell has struck with a strong bat this year as he is tied for the team lead with five homers in the first 15 games. He currently owns a .333 batting average and has 12 RBI. His three-run homer helped USC to a 12-0 win over Clemson and he set a career-high with four RBI as well.
COSTNER MAKES AN APPEARANCE
Junior right-handed pitcher Jordan Costner is the current team leader in apperances with seven on the year. He saw action in a pair of games vs. Brown last week. Costner owns a 0.00 ERA in 7.1 innings of work with no walks and six strikeouts. Costner transferred this past fall from Spartanburg Methodist College.
JONES GETS IT GOING
Whether at the top or bottom of the order, junior second baseman Travis Jones has found his way on base in the early going for Carolina. Jones is batting .293 with a .448 on-base percentage and has scored 10 runs in the first 15 games.
CRISP HITTING
Sophomore Andrew Crisp tallied a career-high five hits including a game-winning RBI single in the 11th inning of a 9-8 win over UNC Wilmington. Crisp was 6-for-10 (.600) with four RBI in the first weekend of action. He is batting .262 this year with eight RBI.
KLINE GETS GAME-WINNING HIT SUNDAY VS. CLEMSON
Junior catcher Trent Kline had a pair of hits including the game-winning RBI single in Sunday’s 3-2 victory vs. Clemson. Kline is batting .294 with three doubles, a homer and 11 RBI on the year.
Kline hit a grand slam homer and collected a career-high four RBI in the 9-8 win over UNC Wilmington. Kline went 5-for-9 (.556) in the first weekend with five runs scored and seven RBI as well.
NEXT WEEK
Tuesday 3/13 – vs. Appalachian State – 7 pm
Wednesday 3/14 – vs. Appalachian State – 7 pm
Friday 3/16 – vs. LSU – 7 pm (Jumbo/CSS)
Saturday 3/17 – vs. LSU – 4 pm (Jumbo/CSS)
Sunday 3/18 – vs. LSU – 12 noon (Jumbo/CSS)
