April 14, 2008
Columbia, S.C. – Riding a five-game winning streak, the South Carolina baseball team (25-10, 9-6 SEC) returns home on Tuesday night to host USC Upstate (18-19) with first pitch set for 7 pm at Sarge Frye Field. Live audio broadcast is available at gamecocksonline.com and on 107.5 FM “The Game.”
Pitching Match-Up
South Carolina: Sam Dyson, Fr. RHP – 3-0, 6.19 ERA, 16.0 IP, 16 K, 13 BB
USC Upstate: Scott Eckard, Sr. LHP — 2-5, 8.49 ERA, 41.1 IP, 33 K, 18 BB
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Record: 25-10 (9-6 SEC)
18-5 in home games
7-5 in road games
0-0 in neutral games
7-4 vs. top 25 teams
Last Week: 5-0
Tuesday, April 8 – W, 9-6 vs. Western Carolina
Wednesday, April 9 – W, 7-1 vs. Clemson
Friday, April 11 – W, 7-6 at Auburn
Saturday, April 12 – W, 8-6 at Auburn
Sunday, April 13 – W, 7-6 at Auburn
NOTEBOOK
South Carolina went 5-0 on the week with a pair of non-conference wins vs. Western Carolina (9-6) and Clemson (7-1) as well as a weekend sweep at Auburn (7-6, 8-6, 7-6) … The Gamecocks sit at 25-10 and 9-6 in SEC play, halfway through the conference schedule … Carolina is tied for second place overall in the SEC and in the Eastern Division.
South Carolina has now won nine consecutive series vs. Auburn dating back to 1998 … South Carolina has won 11 of 15 contests between the two schools in the last five series since 2004 vs. Auburn … The Gamecocks lead the all-time series history 30-16 vs. the Tigers.
Carolina also won its third straight game vs. the Clemson Tigers … The Gamecocks have now won the series with Clemson two consecutive seasons (2006, 2007) and six of the last seven games between the two teams … The Gamecocks also hold a slight lead over the Tigers since 2000 with a 20-15 (.571) record in the last 35 games in nine years.
South Carolina owns a 21-0 record when scoring six runs or more this season … The Gamecocks are also 21-0 when out-hitting its opponent and 23-0 after leading in eight innings … When the Gamecocks score first, they are 19-5 on the year as well … South Carolina is 8-6 in games decided by three runs or less.
Junior first baseman Justin Smoak made history this week with three homers to reach the career total of 49 and setting a school record at Carolina … The previous record was 48 set by Hank Small (1972-73-74-75) … Smoak tied the mark in Wednesday’s win vs. Clemson and hit the record-breaker on Friday night in his first at-bat of the 7-6 win over Auburn … Smoak is hitting .362 (47-for-130) on the year with 10 HR and 29 RBI … He and teammate Reese Havens are the SEC leaders in walks with 34 apiece … Smoak is also batting .386 (22-for-57) in league games with four HR and 13 RBI … Smoak also reached another milestone this weekend as he reached the 200 career hit mark at Carolina, one of only 20 players in school history to accomplish the feat … He now owns 203 career hits in the Garnet & Black, tied for 18th on the USC All-Time list … Smoak is also in another Top 10 in Carolina with 45 doubles, tied with Paul Hollins for ninth on the All-Time list.
Senior Phil Disher put together his second career multi-homer game in Saturday’s 8-6 win over Auburn … His two-run homer in Saturday’s game helped Carolina rally to the victory … Disher went 5-for-12 in the series with three doubles, two homers and four RBI … He is hitting .290 (36-for-124) with 12 HR and 35 RBI … Seven of his 12 homers have come in SEC games with his average in conference play at .340 with 22 RBI.
Freshman RHP/UT Parker Bangs had his biggest week as a member of the Carolina baseball team … Bangs made two key relief appearances in a pair of wins vs. Auburn this weekend and picked up his first career save on Saturday … His first relief appearance on Friday night saw him go one inning scoreless with two strikeouts … He then helped out with both the arm and the bat on Saturday as he got his second career start at designated hitter … Bangs went 2-for-4 with his first career homer in the 8-6 win … He then worked the final two innings of the game to pick up the save … Bangs also started at DH on Sunday and recorded a hit.
The Carolina offense was very productive with the bat this week … The home run was key as well with 14 home runs in this week’s five contests … Carolina has 19 home runs in the last seven games as well … Four different Gamecocks have double figure home run totals: James Darnell (12), Phil Disher (12), Reese Havens (11), Justin Smoak (10).
Junior shortstop Reese Havens continues to lead the team in hitting at a .381 average (53-for-139) for the season … He has 11 HR with 39 RBI and is fielding a superb .969 at his position with just five errors … Havens had two hits in both Saturday and Sunday’s wins vs. Auburn including a homer on Saturday.
Junior third baseman James Darnell went 4-for-4 with two homers and five RBI in the 7-1 win over Clemson on Wednesday night … Darnell is hitting .329 (50-for-152) this season with 12 HR and 48 RBI … The 12 homers is tied for the team lead and the 48 is among the league lead in the SEC.
South Carolina had several strong starting performances this week … Wednesday’s win vs. Clemson saw senior right-hander Nick Godwin limit 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 … Godwin has a 2.55 ERA in 42.1 innings with a team-high 42 strikeouts as well.
Despite a no-decision, junior right-hander Mike Cisco had a quality start on Friday night with 5.2 innings of work allowing nine hits and four runs, three earned, in the Gamecock win … Cisco is 4-1 with a 4.35 ERA in 49.2 innings of work.
Junior left-hander Will Atwood earned a win on Saturday and is now 4-1 with a 4.17 ERA … He worked seven innings and allowed five runs on six hits with six strikeouts vs. Auburn.
Sophomore right-hander Blake Cooper would go 6.2 innings and allow three runs on nine hits to pick up his fourth win of the season … Cooper is 4-3 with a 3.42 ERA with a team-high 50 innings pitched.
Senior right-hander Brandon Todd was productive out of the bullpen this week with a pair of saves and a win in five games … Todd earned his first save of the week on Tuesday vs. Western Carolina … He worked 1.1 innings and struck out two to finish the game … “BT” would then pick up a win on Friday night with two innings of work, allowing one run on three hits in the 7-6 victory over Auburn … Todd was summoned for the final two outs in Sunday’s 7-6 win over the Tigers … He is 2-1 on the year with a 2.51 ERA and four saves … He has 11 appearances and has struck out 19 batters in 14.1 innings, opponents only batting .241 against him.
Carolina leads the SEC in home runs on the year with 63 in 35 games … The Gamecocks are hitting .306 (377-for-1232) as a team and fielding .977 as a squad … The Gamecock pitching staff owns a 3.88 ERA as a staff in 318 innings with 289 strikeouts to just 124 walks.
NEXT WEEK
Tuesday, April 15 – vs. USC-Upstate – 7 pm
Wednesday, April 16 – at Clemson – 7:15 pm (CSS)
Friday, April 18 – vs. Ole Miss – 6 pm
Saturday, April 19 – vs. Ole Miss – 4 pm (FSN South)
Sunday, April 20 – vs. Ole Miss – 12 noon (CSS)
