March 31, 2008
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina (18-7, 6-3 SEC) heads back on the road Tuesday night with a non-conference tilt at The Citadel (16-10, 5-4 SOCON). First pitch is set for 7 pm at Joe Riley Park. Live audio broadcast can be heard on gamecocksonline.com and 107.5 FM with Tommy Moody and Derek Scott on the call.
Tuesday Pitching Matchup
South Carolina: Nick Godwin, Sr. (RHP) 2-2, 2.86 ERA, 28.1 IP, 27 K, 9 BB
The Citadel: Matt Talley, Fr. (LHP) 0-2, 4.60 ERA, 15.2 IP, 11 K, 8 BB
Series Results
South Carolina leads series history 115-44-1
Last Meeting
May 9, 2007 South Carolina (12) The Citadel (3) Columbia, S.C.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Record: 18-7 (6-3 SEC)
15-5 in home games
3-2 in road games
0-0 in neutral games
7-4 vs. top 25 teams
Last Week: 3-2
Tuesday, Mar. 25 – L, 4-2 vs. Furman
Wednesday, Mar. 26 – W, 5-3 vs. College of Charleston
Friday, Mar. 28 – L, 15-3 vs. Kentucky
Saturday, Mar. 29 – W, 13-7 vs. Kentucky
Sunday, Mar. 30 – W, 6-2 vs. Kentucky
NOTEBOOK
South Carolina went 3-2 on the week with a win on Wednesday night vs. College of Charleston and two wins in this weekend’s series vs. Kentucky … Carolina sits in a tie for second place in the SEC Eastern Division after nine games with a 6-3 conference mark, just one game behind first place Florida.
After suffering a 15-3 loss in the series opener, the Gamecocks bounced back to win the series with a 13-7 win on Saturday and a 6-2 win on Sunday in the rubber game vs. the Wildcats.
Carolina designated hitter Phil Disher had a big weekend vs. the Wildcats going 5-for-12 with a home run and team-high seven RBI … Disher’s home run came in Saturday’s victory over Kentucky and was his 30th career homer in a Gamecock uniform … The senior came up in the clutch again for Carolina on Sunday with a pair of RBI singles including the game-winning hit in the eighth inning … In nine SEC contests, Disher leads the Gamecocks in hitting with a .387 average (12-for-31) in the conference … Four of his seven homers have come in conference play as well as 17 of his 26 RBI.
For the second straight week, James Darnell tied a USC single-game record for home runs in a game with three in Saturday’s win vs. Kentucky (3-29) … Darnell accomplished the feat on Mar. 18 in a 13-1 win at the College of Charleston … Saturday’s game vs. Kentucky marked the 12th time in school history that a Gamecock player has hit three homers in one game and the first time ever that one player has done it twice. All three homers were two-run shots as he set a career-high with six RBI in the contest.
Disher and Darnell’s home runs this week put both players at the 30-home run mark in career numbers for the Gamecocks … Both players are two of 23 players in school history to have 30 or more home runs in a Gamecock uniform.
Teammate Justin Smoak also is among that list with 44 career homers … Smoak is hitting .355 on the year with five HR and 22 RBI. Smoak leads the SEC in walks as well with 26 free passes on the year … His on-base percentage is at .500, tied for the team lead with Reese Havens.
A pair of Gamecocks had hitting streaks continue through the week … Andrew Crisp recorded a hit in each game and now owns an 18-game hitting streak … He is hitting .342 (25-for-73) on the year and is one short of his career-long hitting streak of 19 games that he set as a freshman in the 2006 season.
Junior shortstop Reese Havens also has a double-digit hit streak at 11 games … Havens is the team’s leading hitter with a .394 average (41-for-104) and hit three homers on the week (vs. Furman, vs. College of Charleston, vs. Kentucky (Sat.)) … Havens also leads the team in RBI (35) and is tied for the team lead in homers (8) … He has hit safely in 24 of 25 games on the year as he also started the season with a 13-game hitting streak.
Junior left-handed pitcher Will Atwood has recorded all three of his wins in SEC starts as he notched another one in Saturday’s win vs. Kentucky … Atwood is 3-0 with a 4.10 ERA in 26.1 innings and has 25 strikeouts … Opponents are only batting .221 against him … Atwood went six innings and allowed five runs on six hits in the victory.
Despite a no-decision on Sunday, sophomore right-handed Blake Cooper came up with a quality start as he went 6.2 innings allowing just two runs on eight hits in Sunday’s win over Kentucky … Cooper is 3-2 on the year with a 3.03 ERA in 35.2 innings pitched … He has 18 strikeouts to just five walks as well.
With senior right-handed pitcher Curtis Johnson out for the rest of the season, the Gamecocks received several solid performances out of the bullpen in all three Gamecock wins this week … Senior right-hander Brandon Todd worked a perfect ninth inning with one strikeout to pick up a save Wednesday night vs. College of Charleston … He also worked 2.1 scoreless innings on Sunday and allowed just one walk to earn his first career win … On the season, Todd is 1-1 with two saves and a 2.70 ERA in 10.0 innings … He has struck out 16 batters … Junior left-hander Craig Thomas had a scoreless inning in Wednesday’s win vs. College of Charleston and hurled three innings on Saturday to earn his first career save … Thomas has made a team-high eight appearances and has 14 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Sam Dyson worked his longest outing of his career going seven innings and struck out eight batters as the Gamecocks defeated College of Charleston 5-3 on Wednesday evening.
As a team, Carolina is batting .317 (282-for-889) with 201 runs scored, 41 HR and 191 RBI … Carolina has homered in 23 of 25 games this year … The pitching staff has an ERA of 3.95 in 230.1 innings of work with 209 strikeouts.
NEXT WEEK
Tuesday, April 1 – at The Citadel – 7 pm
Wednesday, April 2 – vs. Davidson – 7 pm
Friday, April 4 – at Georgia – 6:30 pm
Saturday, April 5 – at Georgia – 3 pm
Sunday, April 6 – at Georgia 2 pm
