March 6, 2008

Game Notes in PDF Format

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina (5-2) returns to action on the baseball diamond this weekend with a three-game series vs. Duquesne (0-7) at Sarge Frye Field. First pitch on Friday is set for 7 pm with Saturday’s game scheduled for 4 pm and the Sunday series finale at 1 pm. Live video and audio broadcast is available at gamecocksonline.com. Friday and Saturday’s game will also be available on the radio on 107.5 FM “The Game.”

Friday
SC Mike Cisco, Jr. (RHP) 2-0, 1.46 ERA, 12.1 IP, 8 K, 2 BB
DUQ Ryan Juran, Jr. (RHP) 0-2, 18.32 ERA, 9.1 IP, 5 K, 7 BB

Saturday
SC Will Atwood, Jr. (LHP) 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2.2 IP, 1 K, 1 BB
DUQ Paul Bugajski, So. (RHP)0-2, 27.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 1 K, 4 BB

Sunday
SC Blake Cooper, So. (RHP) 1-1, 3.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 3 K, 1 BB
DUQ Gary Pierpont, Jr. (RHP) 0-2, 6.23 ERA, 8.2 IP, 3 K, 0 BB

SOUTH CAROLINA TO FACE PRESBYTERIAN ON THE DIAMOND NEXT MONDAY NIGHT
Carolina has added a game to its 2008 schedule and will play Presbyterian next Monday, Mar. 10 at 7 pm at Sarge Frye Field. The game has been added due to this past week’s cancelled game with Gardner-Webb. Next week’s meeting with Presbyterian will be the first match-up for the Gamecocks against the Blue Hose since 1998. The series dates back to 1901 with Carolina leading it 38-19.

A LOOK AT THE POLLS
The Gamecocks are ranked among the top teams in the nation coming in at No. 3 (Collegiate Baseball) No. 5 (ESPN/USA Today Coaches’) and No. 9 (Baseball America) in the three major collegiate polls. South Carolina remained at No. 3 in the Collegiate Baseball poll but moved up a spot in Baseball America’s rankings.

QUICK RECAP
South Carolina was successful last week going 3-0 with a 12-0 win in the midweek vs. UNC Asheville and a pair of wins against nationally ranked Clemson. The Gamecocks defeated the Tigers at home on Saturday 10-1, and earned a win on the road on Sunday, 5-1 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Going back to the 2000 season, the Gamecocks are 19-15 against the Tigers. The 15-2 run advantage in the two-game set is the exact same margin that the Gamecocks had against Clemson last year in the two wins in the Saturday-Sunday set for the 2007 season (last year’s weekend wins were 12-1 and 3-2).

TANNER REACHES ANOTHER MILESTONE WITH CAREER WIN NO. 900
Sunday’s win at Clemson marked head coach Ray Tanner’s 900th career win as a collegiate head baseball coach. He is 900-395-3 (.694) in 21 years as a head coach and 505-222 (.694) in his 12th year with the Gamecocks. That 12-year record with the Gamecocks and winning percentage of .694 is second highest in SEC history behind former LSU head coach Skip Bertman.

GAMECOCKS AT THE PLATE
South Carolina tallied at least 10 hits in all three games last week and have reached the 10-hit total in five of seven games this year. Carolina is hitting .314 (81-for-258) as a team with 13 homers, 12 doubles, a pair of triples and 57 RBI. The Gamecocks have scored 62 runs in the first seven games of the year for an average of 8.9 runs per contest.

HAVENS CONTINUES HIS STRONG START
Fresh off his SEC Player of the Week performance on opening weekend, Gamecock shortstop Reese Havens continued his production last week hitting .500 again (5-for-10) on the week to keep his average at the .500 mark for the season (12-for-24). Havens tied the career-high he set last week with five RBI including a grand slam home run in the 10-1 win vs. Clemson on Saturday. Havens leads the team in hitting, runs scored (11), home runs (4) and RBI (15). He has hit safely in all seven games.

Havens earned SEC Player of the Week honors following his performance on opening weekend vs. East Carolina. Havens was 7-for-14 (.500) for the series with a pair of homers, six RBI and seven runs scored. His five hits in the season opener tied his career-high and he set a career-high as well with five RBI in the 22-5 win over the Pirates.

SMOAK MOVES UP THE CHARTS
Carolina junior first baseman Justin Smoak has also hit safely in all seven games this year and is batting .379 (11-for-29) with three HR and eight RBI. Smoak homered in Sunday’s 5-1 win at Clemson. He now has 42 career homers and is tied with Steve Pearce (2004-05) for sixth on the Gamecock All-Time Career List. The school record is 48 set by Hank Small (1972-73-74-75).

Home Runs Career List48  Hank Small (1972-73-74-75)47  Garrett Carter (1985-86-87-88)45  Jeff Parnell (1990-91-92-93)44  Landon Powell (2001-02-03-04)43  Chris Boyle (1981-82-83-84)42  Justin Smoak (2006-07-08)42  Steve Pearce (2004-05)

THE CISCO KID
Junior right-hander Mike Cisco worked 7.1 innings and allowed just one run on eight hits in the 10-1 win vs. Clemson on Saturday. Cisco struck out four and walked just one to improve to 2-0 on the year. He has a 1.46 ERA after two games in 12.1 innings of work.

Cisco was Carolina’s opening day starter and worked five solid innings to pick up the win vs. East Carolina on February 23. Cisco limited the Pirates to one run on five hits with four strikeouts and a walk.

Cisco is now 15-7 in his career with the Gamecocks including a 10-4 mark at Sarge Frye Field and 10-1 mark against non-conference teams.

CUJO
Senior right-hander Curtis Johnson picked up his first save of the year in Sunday’s win at Clemson. “Cujo” hurled three scoreless innings and struck out four batters. In two appearances, Johnson has a 1.86 ERA with 9.2 innings of work and nine strikeouts out of the bullpen. Opponents are batting only .188 against him.

The week before, Johnson pitched a career-high 6.2 innings and tied another career-high with five strikeouts as he came up big in relief in the 7-6 win over ECU. Johnson kept the East Carolina bats at bay to help the Gamecocks rally as he did now allow a run to ECU from the fifth-eighth innings.

HANGING WITH MR. COOPER
Sophomore right-hander Blake Cooper bounced back with a solid start and win at Clemson on Sunday. Cooper worked six strong innings and allowed just one run, unearned to pick up the victory. He allowed just seven hits and struck out three in the 5-1 win. Cooper is now 1-1 on the season.

WHAT A CROWD
Gamecock fans have been out and about for two and a half weeks at Sarge Frye Field. Saturday’s attendance for the Clemson game was a season-high 5,921 fans and the weekend attendance for the opening series with East Carolina finished up at 16,719 for an average of 5,573 fans per game. The Gamecocks are averaging 5,220 in six contests.

The Gamecocks set a school record for total attendance last year with 159,545 as a total in 2007, that averaged 4,985 fans per game. It is “Extra Innings” at Sarge Frye Field as the Gamecocks prepare to move into a new baseball stadium in the beginning of the 2009.

GAMECOCKS ON THE MOUND
The Gamecock Pitching Staff owns a team ERA of 4.43 after 65 innings pitched with opponents only batting .274 against the Gamecocks.

GODWIN IS GOOD IN WIN OVER UNC ASHEVILLE
Senior RHP Nick Godwin delivered for the Gamecocks in his first career start. He pitched six scoreless innings and limited UNC Asheville to two hits as the Gamecocks earned a 12-0 win over the Bulldogs. Godwin struck out four batters and had no walks in the contest.

SHUT THE DOOR
South Carolina’s 12-0 win over UNC Asheville marked the Gamecocks first shutout of the year. The Gamecocks had six shutouts last year and five in the 2006 season. The team has increased its shutout total by one in each of the last three seasons (2005 – 4, 2006 – 5, 2007 – 6).

WALK ON BY
Pitchers have been showing the Gamecock hitters a lot of respect in the first seven games as the Gamecocks have walked 42 times for an average of 6.0 per game. James Darnell leads the way with eight free passes.

ENDERS CONTINUES TO CONTRIBUTE
South Carolina sophomore catcher Kyle Enders has started all seven games for the Gamecocks including six games behind the plate. He has hit safely this year in six of seven games and is batting .333 with a homer and five RBI.

The sophomore from Riverside HS came up big in the clutch for the Gamecocks in a 7-6 rally over East Carolina as his two-run single with the bases loaded and one out gave Carolina a one-run victory and clinched the series.

ON BASE WITH WINGO
Carolina freshman infielder Scott Wingo is second on the team in on-base percentage (.571). He is batting .294 and has scored six runs in six starts, walked seven times and been hit by four pitches. Wingo had a pair of hits in Sunday’s win at Clemson.

RIDE THE HARLEY
Senior outfielder Harley Lail provides the leadership in the outfield for the Gamecocks and shows his way with the bat as well. Lail had a pair of multi-hit games against the Tigers including three in Sunday’s victory. Lail doubled twice and also singled in the Gamecock win.

He is hitting .345 with a team-high four doubles, a triple and three RBI. He also leads the team in multi-hit games with four on the year.