April 27, 2009

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina went 1-4 on the week with a win vs. USC Upstate followed up by midweek loss to Clemson and three losses in a weekend series at Florida. Carolina is now 27-18 on the year and 9-12 in the SEC. The Gamecocks are fourth in the SEC East and eighth place overall. Carolina hosts Vanderbilt in a three-game series this weekend. All three games will be televised live by SportSouth. Friday and Saturday’s games are 7 p.m. with Sunday’s series finale at 1:30 p.m.

South Carolina Baseball Notebook

Record: 27-18
SEC: 9-12
Home: 18-9
Away: 9-9

Last Week: 1-4
4/21/09 – at USC Upstate (W, 14-6)
4/22/09 – vs. Clemson (L, 12-2)
4/24/09 – at Florida (L, 9-4)
4/25/09 – at Florida (L, 8-3)
4/26/09 – at Florida (L, 9-5)

NOTES:
Junior outfielder DeAngelo Mack had a productive week at the plate … He was the team’s leading hitter in the five games with a .476 average (10-for-21) … Five of Mack’s 10 hits were extra base hits (four doubles, one triple) … He is also the team’s leading hitter on the year with a .363 average (65-for-179) with 11 HR and 45 RBI … He is hitting .310 in SEC games (26-for-84) … Mack also owns a team-high 21 multi-hit games.

Sophomore outfielder/infielder Whit Merrifield owns a 10-game hitting streak … Merrifield hit .381 (8-for-21) for the week with seven runs scored as well as a pair of home runs … Merrifield hit his first career grand slam in the 14-6 win over USC Upstate and set a career-high with five RBI … He is hitting .332 (61-for-184) on the year with eight HR and 34 RBI … Merrifield has 18 multi-hit games … His average in SEC play is .307 (27-for-88) with 19 runs scored.

Freshman left-hander Michael Roth was a highlight in Sunday’s loss to Florida … Roth pitched four innings of scoreless relief and limited the Gators to just two hits … Roth sports a 1-0 record with a 3.21 ERA on the year in 28 innings pitched … He has 24 strikeouts to just 11 walks and opponents are hitting just .228 against him.

Junior first baseman Nick Ebert hit home runs in Tuesday’s win at USC Upstate and Friday’s loss at Florida … He now leads the team with 15 home runs and 49 RBI … His slugging percentage is also strong at .718 and he leads the team with a .471 on-base percentage.

Despite a loss on Saturday at Florida, freshman left-hander Nolan Belcher continues to pitch well in conference play … Belcher allowed four runs, two earned, on seven hits in 5.1 innings of work … He is 2-3 on the year with a 4.17 ERA … He has 49 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched … Belcher is 2-2 in SEC games with a 3.50 ERA.

Senior right-hander Jay Brown improved to 3-0 with a win on Tuesday at USC Upstate … Brown allowed five runs on seven hits in 6.2 innings of work … He is 3-0 with a 3.51 ERA on the year … The senior right-hander also made news this week, earning the President’s Award, the top award handed out to a USC student-athlete at the annual Gamecock All Sports Gala.

Freshman left-hander Adam Westmoreland retired the first 15 batters he faced in Wednesday’s loss to Clemson … He is now 3-2 on the year with a 4.54 ERA … He has 38 strikeouts in 39.2 innings pitched with opponents batting just .224 against him.

Senior third baseman Andrew Crisp continues to climb the charts at Carolina … Crisp is now fourth on the singles list (182), sixth on the games played list (220), sixth on the at bats list (778) and ninth on the hits list (242) … He is just three shy of Hank Small for eighth on the USC career hits list and one game shy of tying Trey Dyson for fifth on the all-time games played list … Crisp is hitting .337 (62-for-184) with eight HR and 33 RBI as well as a team-high 15 doubles.

By the numbers, South Carolina is hitting .302 as a team on the year (472-for-1565) with 72 HR and 301 RBI … The team is fielding .973 (1192 putouts, 450 assists, 46 errors) … The pitching staff owns a 5.21 team ERA … 357 strikeouts in 397.1 innings … Opponents are only batting .259 against the squad.

Carolina continues to be strong in the early innings, outscoring opponents 104-45 in the first two innings on the year … South Carolina is 25-3 in games when it out-hits the opponent … Carolina is also 24-10 when hitting at least one home run … South Carolina is 11-5 in games decided by two runs or less.

NEXT WEEK
5/1 – vs. Vanderbilt (7 pm) (SportSouth)
5/2 – vs. Vanderbilt (7 pm) (SportSouth)
5/3 – vs. Vanderbilt (1:30 pm) (SportSouth)

All Times Eastern