March 17, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina heads to the Low Country on Tuesday with a non-conference tilt at College of Charleston with first pitch set for 7 pm at Patriots Point. The Gamecocks head in with an 11-5 record with the Cougars coming in with a 13-6 mark. Live audio broadcast is available at gamecocksonline.com with the game also on 107.5 FM in Columbia. Carolina ranks No. 10 (Rivals.com), No. 11 (Collegiate Baseball), No. 12 (USA Today/Coaches) and No. 13 (Baseball America) in this week’s polls.
Tuesday Pitching Matchup
South Carolina: Nick Godwin, Sr. (RHP) 1-2, 4.40 ERA, 14.4 IP, 14 K, 4 BB
College of Charleston: Casey Lucchese, Fr. (RHP) 2-0, 6.75 ERA, 16.0 IP, 18 K, 6 BB
Series Results
South Carolina leads series history 37-5
Last Meeting
Mar. 6, 2007 College of Charleston (5) South Carolina (4) 10 inn. Charleston, S.C.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Record: 11-5 (1-2 SEC)
9-3 in home games
2-2 in road games
0-0 in neutral games
5-3 vs. top 25 teams
Last Week: 3-3
Monday, Mar. 10 – W, 2-1 (10 inn.) vs. Presbyterian
Tuesday, Mar. 11 – L, 5-3 vs. Yale
Wednesday, Mar. 12 – W, 11-5 vs. Yale
Friday, Mar. 14 – L, 4-3 (13 inn.) at Vanderbilt
Saturday, Mar. 15 – W, 16-7 at Vanderbilt
Sunday, Mar. 16 – L, 10-4 at Vanderbilt
NOTEBOOK
South Carolina went 3-3 this past week with single game wins over Presbyterian, Yale and Vanderbilt … The Gamecocks defeated Presbyterian to start the week on Monday with a 2-1 win in 10 innings … Following a 5-3 loss to Yale, the Gamecocks bounced back on Wednesday for a 11-5 victory vs. the Bulldogs … Friday the Gamecocks suffered the first extra inning loss of the year with a 4-3 defeat in 13 innings vs. Vanderbilt … Carolina came back on Saturday with a 16-7 win over the Commodores before dropping the rubber game of the series, 10-4, on Sunday.
South Carolina has been impressive in 11 victories this season with a total of 120 runs in those wins … That averages to 10.9 runs per contest … Eight of the 11 wins on the year have featured at least 10 runs scored by the Gamecock offense … Carolina has also hit .348 in the wins with the team ERA at 2.65 as well.
Carolina’s 16-7 win vs. Vanderbilt featured the second highest run (16) and hit total (18) by the team this year … South Carolina is 10-0 on the year when out-hitting its opponent in a game.
Junior Andrew Crisp has returned as a spark to the lineup over the past nine games … He currently owns a nine-game hitting streak and has played both in left field and second base … He is batting .333 (13-for-39) on the year with seven runs and seven RBI as well.
Junior first baseman Justin Smoak tied a season-high in Saturday’s win with three hits … He also homered in Sunday’s game vs. Vanderbilt to give him four HR and 15 RBI with a .355 average … Smoak moved up to a tie for fifth place with Chris Boyle (1981-82-83-84) on the USC All-Time list, five home runs shy of the school record 48 set by Hank Small.
Junior shortstop Reese Havens had his hitting streak of 13 games snapped in Friday’s loss at Vanderbilt … Havens bounced back with two hits on Saturday along with a hit and three walks on Sunday vs. the Commodores … He continues to lead the team with a .382 average, four HR and 24 RBI.
Junior third baseman James Darnell went 7-for-14 in the Vanderbilt series with three hits in both Saturday and Sunday games vs. the Commodores … He has raised his average to .290 (20-for-69) and has two homers with 20 RBI … His first home run came as a grand slam in Wednesday’s win vs. Yale and the second was in Saturday’s win at Vanderbilt.
Despite a no-decision in Friday’s game at Vanderbilt, Gamecock junior right-hander Mike Cisco continues to give the Gamecocks solid starts in the series openers … Cisco is 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA in four appearances … He has pitched a team-high 25.1 innings and has 18 strikeouts to four walks.
Junior left-hander Will Atwood won his first game of the year and had 13.1 innings in two starts and four appearances for Carolina … Atwood worked into the seventh inning in Saturday’s win at Vanderbilt and struck out a career-high seven batters … He has 13 strikeouts this year.
Senior right-hander Sean Wideberg tied a career-high with four innings pitched and struck out a career-high eight batters in Wednesday’s 11-5 win vs. Yale … He has 11 strikeouts in nine innings pitched.
Freshman outfielder Whit Merrifield is among the team’s leading hitters at a .308 clip (16-for-52) and is also the team leader in sacrifice hits with eight on the year.
As a team, Carolina is batting .309 (179-for-579) with 136 runs scored, 24 HR and 128 RBI … Carolina has homered in 15 of 16 games this year … The pitching staff has an ERA of 4.04 in 149.1 innings of work with 144 strikeouts.
This Tuesday’s game in Charleston is a return to the Low Country for several Gamecock players … Mike Cisco (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.), Reese Havens (Sullivan’s Island, S.C.) and Justin Smoak (Goose Creek, S.C.) all grew up in the Low Country … Tuesday’s game is also a return for assistant coach Monte Lee, who played at the College of Charleston from 1996-99 … Lee is on the Wall of Fame at Patriots Point and ranks among the top players in Cougar history in several offensive categories.
NEXT WEEK
Tuesday, Mar. 18 – at College of Charleston – 7 pm
Wednesday, Mar. 19 – USC-Upstate – 7 pm
Friday, Mar. 21 – Mississippi State – 7 pm
Saturday, Mar. 22 – Mississippi State – 4 pm
Sunday, Mar. 23 – Mississippi State – 1:30 pm
