March 23, 2009
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina (14-6) gets back on the baseball diamond on Tuesday night for a trip to Patriots Point down in the Lowcountry with a non-conference tilt vs. College of Charleston (17-3) with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday night’s game will also feature South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner in another contest with one of his former assistant coaches. College of Charleston head coach Monte Lee recently served as an assistant on the Gamecock baseball staff from 2003-08. Tuesday’s game can be heard live on the Gamecock Radio Network and GamecocksOnline.com.
MIDWEEK PITCHING ROTATIONS
Tuesday
SC – Blake Cooper (RHP, Sr.) – 2-2, 5.68 ERA, 19.0 IP, 5 BB, 23 K
COFC – Nick Osterman (RHP, So.) – 1-0, 3.98 ERA, 20.1 IP, 10 BB, 13 K
Wednesday
SC – TBA
Georgia Southern – Jake Brown (LHP, Jr.) – 1-2, 6.50 ERA, 18.0 IP, 5 BB, 12 K
QUICK RECAP
South Carolina went 3-2 on the week with midweek victories vs. Davidson and Furman and a victory in one of three games vs. LSU in the team’s first SEC home series of the season. South Carolina is 14-6 on the year. The Gamecocks will be back in action beginning Tuesday at College of Charleston with first pitch set for 7 p.m. Carolina then returns home for a Wednesday non-conference tilt vs. Georgia Southern, that first pitch is also 7 p.m. South Carolina heads back on the road this weekend with a three-game series at Kentucky.
JUNIOR
Freshman outfielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. had the top bat this week as he batted 6-for-15 (.500) in the five games. Five of his six hits for the week were extra base hits (three doubles, two homers). Bradley, Jr. reached base three times with a solo home run in the 7-3 win vs. LSU on Friday night. He also homered in the Wednesday night win at Furman. He is currently on a four-game hitting streak.
DYSON
Sophomore right-hander Sam Dyson won a pitching duel vs. LSU’s Anthony Ranaudo on Friday night as the Gamecock hurler went seven innings allowing one run on two hits to pick up the victory. He struck out five in the contest. Dyson owns a 3-1 record with a 2.73 ERA in 29.2 innings pitched. He also has 28 strikeouts. Teams are only batting .167 against him.
FAROTTO
Senior left-hander Alex Farotto continues to factor in Gamecock victories as his two-inning stint vs. LSU earned him a save. Farotto has factored in a win in all six appearances, sporting a 2-0 record with four saves. He has 19 strikeouts in 13.2 innings; opponents are only batting .114 against him.
CRISP
Senior infielder Andrew Crisp had his nine-game hitting streak snapped in the Sunday loss vs. LSU. Despite the hitting streak being snapped, Crisp has been among the team’s leaders in hitting with a .312 average (24-for-77) with five HR and 17 RBI. He is also batting .318 in SEC games (7-for-22) with a team-high nine RBI in SEC contests. Crisp became the 22nd player in South Carolina history to record over 200 hits with a single in Wednesday’s game. He now has 204 in his career that puts him at 20th on the All-Time list. Crisp and senior DeAngelo Mack are tied for the team high in multi-hit games with eight.
HOME RUNS
South Carolina continues to hit home runs as the Gamecocks have now homered in 19 of 20 games this year. The team now owns a total of 37 for the season. South Carolina is hitting .299 (200-for-668) as a team with 142 runs scored, 34 doubles and six triples.
A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
The Gamecocks continued to field well with a .975 fielding percentage and only 19 errors for the season. South Carolina pitchers recorded consecutive shutouts in Tuesday’s win vs. Davidson and Wednesday’s win vs. Furman. The Gamecocks now have five shutouts for the year. South Carolina is 6-0 in games decided by two runs or less. Carolina is also 13-0 on the year when allowing five runs or less by an opponent. The staff owns a 4.86 ERA in 176 innings with 181 strikeouts. Opponents are batting just .232 against the squad.
BANGS
South Carolina sophomore right-hander Parker Bangs pitched seven scoreless innings in his first career start and combined with freshman reliever Matt Price to hurl a three-hit shutout as South Carolina defeated Davidson 6-0. In his third appearance on the mound this season, Bangs limited the Wildcats to two hits and two walks while tying a career-high with seven strikeouts. Bangs also helped himself out with the bat as he went 2-for-2 with a RBI at the plate.
COMPLETE PERFORMANCE
South Carolina pounded out a season-high 22 hits and scored in six of nine innings at the plate on its way to a 15-0 victory over Furman on Wednesday evening at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. The offense backed up a solid start by Gamecock junior right-hander Blake Cooper, who worked six scoreless innings and combined with four relief pitchers to limit the Paladins to two hits to earn the victory … South Carolina’s 22-hit total ties for the ninth highest total of hits by a Carolina team under head coach Ray Tanner. It is the most hits by the South Carolina since March 23, 2007 when the Gamecocks totaled 25 hits at Mississippi State. 12 different players recorded at least one hit. Nick Ebert continued swinging his hot bat with a 3-for-3 day at the plate with two runs scored and two RBI. DeAngelo Mack was also 3-for-5 and tied his career-high with four RBI. Scott Wingo tied a career-high in hits as he finished 3-for-5 as well at the plate. Whit Merrifield was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI. Carolina out-hit the Paladins 22-2 in the game and finished with a season-high 33 total bases.
