April 10, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina (22-10, 6-6 SEC) returns to the road for SEC action this weekend with a three-game series at Auburn (22-12, 6-6 SEC) beginning on Friday night at 7 pm ET. Saturday’s first pitch is 4 pm ET with the Sunday game scheduled for 3 pm ET. All three games are available on the Gamecock Radio Network with Mike Morgan and Tommy Moody on the call. Sunday’s game will also be available on CSS-TV on a tape delay basis beginning at 4 pm ET.

WEEKEND ROTATION
Friday
SC Mike Cisco, Jr. (RHP) 4-1, 4.30 ERA, 44.0 IP, 28 K, 9 BB
AU Grant Dayton, Fr. (LHP) 4-1, 3.29 ERA, 41.0 IP, 41 K, 9 BB

Saturday
SC Will Atwood, Jr. (LHP) 3-1, 3.71 ERA, 34.0 IP, 30 K, 17 BB
AU Cory Luckie, Fr. (LHP) 4-3, 3.31 ERA, 49.0 IP, 28 K, 7 BB

Sunday
SC Blake Cooper, So. (RHP) 3-3, 3.32 ERA, 43.1 IP, 23 K, 9 BB
AU Bradley Hendrix, Fr. (RHP) 1-0, 4.95 ERA, 36.1 IP, 22 K, 7 BB

Series Results
South Carolina leads series history 27-16

Last Year
April 13, 2007 Auburn (16) South Carolina (1) Columbia, S.C.
April 14, 2007 South Carolina (10) Auburn (1) Columbia, S.C.
April 15, 2007 South Carolina (18) Auburn (4) Columbia, S.C.

QUICK RECAP OF CAROLINA-CLEMSON
James Darnell went 4-for-4 with two homers and five RBI and Justin Smoak tied the South Carolina school record for career home runs with a solo homer as well as the Gamecocks defeated Clemson 7-1 on Wednesday evening at Sarge Frye Field in front of 5,763 fans. South Carolina has defeated the Tigers all three games this year and will meet Clemson for the fourth and final time next Wednesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Along with the home runs from Smoak and Darnell, designated hitter Phil Disher added one as well as Carolina finished with four home runs on the evening. Darnell now leads the team on the year with 12 homers with Disher at 10 and Smoak at nine for the season.

The offense was plenty for senior right-hander Nick Godwin, who limited the Tigers to one run on four hits in eight innings of work. He earned the win and is now 3-2 on the year. The eight innings tied his career longest outing that came at College of Charleston on March 18, 2008. He also set a career-high for strikeouts with eight in the game. He had no walks allowed. Junior left-hander Craig Thomas worked the final inning and allowed just one hit while striking out one to close out the game for the Gamecocks.

SMOAK TIES SCHOOL RECORD FOR HOME RUNS
Junior first baseman Justin Smoak is now tied for the South Carolina career record for home runs at 48 with Hank Small (1972-73-74-75). Smoak hit 17 as a freshman and 22 as a sophomore.

Smoak hit .444 (4-for-9) last weekend vs. Georgia including a home run in Saturday’s game. Smoak also walked three times, all intentionally, over the weekend vs. Georgia. He is currently hitting .359 with nine HR and 27 RBI on the year and leads the SEC in walks with 32 this season. He also just recently entered the top 10 career list at USC in doubles.

Home Runs Career List48  Justin Smoak (2006-07-08)48  Hank Small (1972-73-74-75)Doubles Career List67  Mac White (1991-92-93-94)61  Landon Powell (2001-02-03-04)54  Michael Campbell (2003-04-05-06)53  Greg Morhardt (1982-83-84)51  Mike Curry (1996-97-98)51  Derick Urquhart (1995-96-97-98)48  Jeff Barns (1985-86-87)47  Jeff Parnell (1990-91-92-93)45  Paul Hollins (1978-79-80-81)44  Justin Smoak (2006-07-08)

A STRONG DISH IN THE CLUTCH
Carolina designated hitter Phil Disher is coming up big in key situations over the last two weeks including a pair of game-winning RBI hits in wins vs. Kentucky and The Citadel as well as a career-high four hits in a win vs. Davidson. Disher homered in Wednesday’s win vs. Clemson. He is hitting .277 on the year with 10 HR and 31 RBI.

Disher was big in the Kentucky series going 5-for-12 with a home run and team-high seven RBI in the series to earn SEC Player of the Week honors. 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.

DARNELL DRIVES THEM IN
For the third time this season, James Darnell recorded a multi-homer game as he hit a pair of home runs and tallied five RBI in a 7-1 win over Clemson. Earlier this year, Darnell twice tied a USC single-game record for home runs in a game with three in a win vs. Kentucky (3-29) and in a win vs. College of Charleston (3-18).

The three 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. That helped Darnell earned National Player of the Week from Collegiate Baseball.

Darnell is hitting .341 on the year with 12 HR and 46 RBI. The home runs and RBI lead the team.

A LITTLE MORE ON DARNELL & DISHER
Disher and Darnell’s home runs two weeks ago put both players at the 30-home run mark in career numbers for the Gamecocks. Darnell currently has 34 with Disher at 33 on the year. Both players are two of 23 players in school history to have 30 or more home runs in a Gamecock uniform.

COMPLETE PERFORMANCES
South Carolina continues to be impressive in 22 victories this season with a total of 212 runs in those wins. That averages to 9.6 runs per contest. 11 of the 21 wins on the year have featured at least 10 runs scored by the Gamecock offense.

A CRISP RETURN
Junior Andrew Crisp tied his longest hitting streak of his career at 19 before going hitless on Wednesday night vs. Davidson. As a freshman, Crisp put together a 19-game hitting streak for Carolina. He is hitting .303 (30-for-99) on the year.

HAVENS AT THE FRONT OF THE LINE
Junior shortstop Reese Havens had his second multi-homer game of his career in Saturday’s second loss to the Georgia Bulldogs. Havens hit a pair of solo homers in the 5-3 defeat. He continues to lead the team in hitting with a .378 average and has 10 HR and 38 RBI on the year. He has spent all 32 games this year at the front of the lineup as the leadoff hitter.

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.

GAMECOCKS ALL AROUND
Carolina leads the SEC in home runs with 56 on the year as well as walks with 158 this season. The team’s .308 batting average puts them at fourth as well. The pitching staff team ERA of 3.71 is fourth best in the conference with opposing teams batting just .246 this season against Carolina. The Gamecocks are fielding .978, second best in the SEC.

A LOOK AT THE POLLS
Carolina sits at No. 14 in this week’s USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll as well as No. 15 in the rankings released by Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America.

THE CISCO KID
Carolina received three quality starts from the Gamecock pitching rotation over the weekend. Junior right-hander Mike Cisco worked eight scoreless innings and allowed just six hits in the first game of the series vs. the Bulldogs. Cisco is currently 4-1 with a 4.30 ERA in 44 innings pitched.

THE WILL TO WIN
Junior left-hander Will Atwood followed with 7.2 innings of work in game two of the doubleheader and allowed five runs, two earned, on five hits. He has won three of his four SEC starts. Atwood owns a 3-1 record with a 3.71 ERA as well as 30 strikeouts in 34 innings.

HANGING WITH MR. COOPER
Sophomore right-hander Blake Cooper also had 7.2 innings of work in Sunday’s game and gave up four runs on eight hits to the Bulldogs. Cooper is 3-3 with a 3.32 ERA and has hurled 43.1 innings.

BT
Senior right-hander Brandon Todd worked 1.1 scoreless innings to earn his third save of the year on Tuesday night vs. Western Carolina. He also worked 2.1 scoreless innings vs. Kentucky and allowed just one walk to earn his first career win. On the season, Todd is 1-1 with three saves and a 2.31 ERA in 11.2 innings. He has struck out 18 batters.

THOMAS MAKES AN APPEARANCE
Junior left-hander Craig Thomas leads the Gamecocks in appearances on the year with 11 this season. He has 16 strikeouts in 18.1 innings and has a 3.93 ERA. Thomas hurled one scoreless inning of relief in the 7-1 win vs. Clemson.

Parker Bangs ENTERS THE MIX
Freshman Parker Bangs made his first career start at designated hitter lat Wednesday night vs. Davidson. Bangs was 2-for-4 with a run scored and a RBI in the victory.

Its been a busy week for Bangs as he also pitched in relief on Tuesday night and earned a victory at The Citadel with 2.2 scoreless innings of work and five strikeouts. Out of the bullpen on the year, Bangs is 2-1 with a 4.05 with 22 strikeouts in 13.1 innings.

WIDEBERG STARTS IT UP
Senior right-handed pitcher Sean Wideberg made his first start of the season in last Wednesday night’s win vs. Davidson and struck out a career-high nine batters to improve to 2-0 on the year. Wideberg has pitched 18.0 innings and has 26 strikeouts in seven appearances for the Gamecocks.

GODWIN IS GOOD
Senior right-hander Nick Godwin had his best performance to date in a Gamecock uniform on Wednesday night as he tied his career-longest outing with eight innings of four-hit ball in a 7-1 win vs. Clemson. Godwin struck out a career-high eight batters to no walks and limited the Tigers to just one run to improve to 3-2 on the year. He has a team-high 42 strikeouts to nine walks and has hurled 42.1 innings in seven starts.

Sam Dyson STEPS UP
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. Dyson earned a win on Tuesday vs. Western Carolina with five innings of work and five strikeouts as the Gamecocks defeated Western Carolina 9-6.

ENDERS CONTINUES TO CONTRIBUTE
Carolina sophomore catcher Kyle Enders is also swinging a solid bat with a .310 average. Enders had two hits including a home run in Tuesday’s win over Western Carolina. He is among the team leaders in multi-hit games as well with 13 on the year, second highest on the team.

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.

D-MACK DELIVERS
Gamecock sophomore outfielder DeAngelo Mack had his best offensive game to date on Tuesday night with a home run, triple and career-high four RBI in the 9-6 win over Western Carolina.

He is hitting .268 and has 14 runs scored as well as four homers and 11 RBI. Mack hit a solo home run in the 6-2 win over Kentucky and was 1-for-1 with two runs at The Citadel.

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 has 14 extra base hits (11 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR) and leads the team in doubles. Lail went 3-for-3 with a RBI and run scored in the 6-2 win over Kentucky. He is hitting.305 on the year.