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April 26, 2007
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – South Carolina (32-11, 10-8 SEC) renews conference action this weekend with a three-game series at Alabama (23-19, 8-10 SEC). First pitch on Friday is set for 7:30 pm ET with Saturday’s game scheduled for 5 pm ET and Sunday’s finale at 3 pm ET.
The Gamecocks head into the weekend in a tie for second place in the SEC Eastern Division and tied for fourth overall in the conference. The Crimson Tide the lead the all-time series history against the Gamecocks 21-20. Alabama won a Sunday doubleheader last year at Sarge Frye Field to win the series against Carolina. The Crimson Tide also won two of three games in the 2005 season in the last meeting between both schools in Tuscaloosa at Joe-Sewell Stadium.
PITCHING MATCHUP
FRIDAY (6:30 p.m. CT)
SOUTH CAROLINA — Jr. RHP Harris Honeycutt (7-2, 2.69 ERA)
ALABAMA — So. RHP Tommy Hunter (4-3, 3.36 ERA)
SATURDAY (4:00 p.m. CT)
SC — Jr. LHP Arik Hempy (3-1, 2.05 ERA)
ALA — So. LHP Miers Quigley (4-3, 3.76 ERA)
SUNDAY (2:00 p.m. CT)
TBA
QUICK RECAP
South Carolina lost 14-5 on Wednesday night at Clemson in the final game of the-four-game series between the in-state rivals this year. Carolina wins the series for the 2007 season despite the loss with three of four wins against the Tigers this year. Ben Paulsen hit a three-run homer and D.J. Mitchell allowed just one run in six innings of work to lead Clemson to the win. Travis Jones had three hits and three RBI and Phil Disher homered to lead Carolina at the plate.
South Carolina defeated Davidson 6-2 on Tuesday night behind a pair of home runs from Justin Smoak and Phil Disher. Disher tallied three RBI with Cheyne Hurst adding two RBI as well with the Gamecocks limiting the Wildcats to just seven hits on the night. South Carolina went 3-2 last week with midweek non-conference wins vs. Wofford and Clemson along with one of three wins at Ole Miss.
HOME RUNS
South Carolina’s five home runs in Sunday’s 11-9 win over Ole Miss was a season-high total for the team. The Gamecocks are among the nation’s leaders with 75 on the year including 14 from Justin Smoak, 13 from James Darnell as well as 11 from Travis Jones and 10 from Phil Disher. Darnell and Smoak hit back-to-back homers in last Wednesday’s game vs. Clemson, the first time this season that the team accomplished the feat. The Gamecocks are 29-5 on the year when hitting at least one home run in a game.
DISHER ON A STREAK
Junior catcher Phil Disher has been on a tear recently with a home run in three con¬secutive games for the Gamecocks. Disher hit a two-run homer at Ole Miss on Sunday, and a pair of solo shots this midweek vs. Davidson and Clemson. He now owns 10 on the year and is batting .331 with 36 RBI.
SMOAK HAS STREAK SNAPPED ON WEDNESDAY
Sophomore first baseman Justin Smoak had his hitting streak snapped at 23 games on Wednesday night after going 0-for-3 vs. the Tigers. Smoak was two games shy of the school record of 25 set by Greg Keatley in the 1976 season.
SMOAK’EM
Despite the hitting streak snapped, Justin Smoak is still among the top hitters in the conference and the nation with a .331 batting average to go along with 14 HR and 50 RBI. Smoak’s current slugging percentage is .634 with also an on-base percentage of .447.
DARNELL DELIVERS
James Darnell is another team leader in hitting at a .327 clip (49-for-150) with five doubles, two triples and 13 home runs. Last week Darnell had four consecutive home runs, when he hit a pair of three-run homers on Saturday and Sunday vs. Auburn along with a pair of solo shots vs. Wofford and Clemson in the midweek contests. The four consecutive homers was one short of the school record.
MR. JONES ON A TORRID PACE
Junior INF Travis Jones continues to swing a hot bat after three hits and three RBI on Wednesday at Clemson. He batted .417 (5-for-12) in the Auburn series with two more HR and eight RBI. Jones now is batting .304 (49-for-161) on the year with 11 HR and 41 RBI on the year and is also fielding .981 with just four errors at second base.
THE PITCHERS
The Gamecock pitching staff continues to be among the conference leaders with a team ERA of 3.30. The Gamecock pitchers have 408 strikeouts to 145 walks in 392.1 in¬nings of work with opponents batting just .235 on the year.
HAVENS ON THE RISE
Sophomore shortstop Reese Havens has raised his season batting average to .280 with 10 doubles, four HR and 32 RBI. Havens collected his first multi-homer game of his career in Sunday’s win at Ole Miss with a pair of solo shots. He is hitting .303 in SEC games (20-for-66) with 14 RBI.
AT THE PLATE
The Gamecock offense is batting .303 on the year (467-for-1542) and .297 in SEC games as well.
Arik Hempy EARNS SEC PITCHER OF THE WEEK HONORS
The 10-1 victory vs. Auburn featured a solid performance on the mound from junior left-hander Arik Hempy that earned him SEC Pitcher of the Week. In his first start against at SEC team this season, Hempy limited the Tigers to just two hits in a season-high 6.2 innings of work with five strikeouts and four walks. Hempy did not allow a hit from the 2nd-5th inning against Auburn.
Hempy pitched well despite a loss last Saturday at Ole Miss as he limited the Rebels to two runs on five hits He is now 3-1 on the year with a 2.05 ERA in six games as well as 26.1 innings, with 25 strikeouts.
JEFFORDS CONTINUES TO SHINE OUT OF THE BULLPEN
Junior RHP Jeff Jeffords is making a habit out of being successful in Sunday games for the Gamecocks. Jeffords owns a 4-0 record with a 1.67 ERA in 13 appearances with 27 innings pitched. He has 33 strikeouts to five walks allowed. Jeffords earned his first career save with two scoreless innings in the 11-9 victory at Ole Miss.
He worked 3.1 scoreless innings of relief and picked up the win in the previous Sunday game, a win over the Auburn Tigers. He allowed just two hits in his appearance.
HONEYCUTT
Junior RHP Harris Honeycutt lost his first two career games at Carolina over the last two weeks vs. Auburn and Ole Miss. He is now 15-2 in his career with the Gamecocks. Honeycutt is still 7-2 this season with a 2.69 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 60.1 innings of work as well.
KLINE ADDED TO JOHNNY BENCH AWARD WATCH LIST
Junior catcher Trent Kline was added to the Johnny Bench Award Watch list last week. The award is given to the top collegiate catcher in the country. Kline is batting .338 on the year with 14 doubles, a triple, five home runs and 28 RBI. He has started 37 games this year for Carolina.
