March 8, 2010
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina continued the 2010 season winning a non-conference tilt vs. Presbyterian and winning one of three games in a weekend series vs. Clemson. The Gamecocks fell 4-3 at Clemson, earned a 7-5 victory vs. the Tigers at Fluor Field and were defeated 19-6 by Clemson in the series finale in Columbia.
Rankings From This Past Week
No. 13 – Rivals.Com
No. 15- Baseball America
No. 22 – Collegiate Baseball
No. 23 – USA Today/ESPN
No. 24 – NCBWA
Record: 6-4
SEC: 0-0
Home: 4-1
Away: 1-3
Neutral: 1-0
Vs. Top 25: 2-4
This Week: 2-2
3/3/10 – vs. Presbyterian (W, 15-0)
3/5/10 – at Clemson (L, 4-3)
3/6/10 – vs. Clemson (Greenville, S.C – Fluor Field) (W, 7-5)
3/7/10 – Clemson (L, 19-6)
NOTES:
Sunday’s game set a new attendance record at Carolina Stadium with 8,214 fans in Columbia. This was the first season in a new format for the South Carolina-Clemson series. Each team hosted a game with a third contest held this season at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. The total attendance for the three games was 21,665 for an average of 7,221 fans.
Six of the Gamecocks first 10 games this year have been against teams ranked in the Top 25 with a three-game set at East Carolina and a three-game series with Clemson.
Junior Whit Merrifield has hit safely in all 10 games this year and has a hitting streak of 24 games that goes back to last season. He is now one short of the school record, 25, set by Greg Keatley in the 1976 season. He was productive in Saturday’s 7-5 win over the Tigers batting 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and two RBI. He also hit a grand slam in the 15-0 win over Presbyterian on Wednesday. Merrifield is hitting .333 (14-for-42) on the year with 14 runs scored, a homer and eight RBI along with three stolen bases.
South Carolina’s starting lineup saw the return of sophomore Jackie Bradley Jr., who made his first start on Wednesday vs. Presbyterian and started all four games at centerfield. Bradley hit .500 (8-for-16) this week with a homer, four runs scored and four RBI. Bradley went 3-for-4 with a homer, two runs scored and four RBI in the 7-5 win over Clemson. His four RBI vs. Clemson was a new career high. He is hitting .529 (9-for-17) for the season. Bradley also earned the Tom Price Award on Sunday, given to the Gamecock MVP of the South Carolina-Clemson series. He has a five-game hitting streak.
The 7-5 win vs. Clemson saw several top performances by the Gamecock bullpen. Gamecock left-hander Jimmy Revan worked two scoreless innings and struck out four. Right-handed reliever Matt Price earned the win in relief with one inning of relief with a pair of strikeouts. Revan, Price and Sam Dyson tallied 13 strikeouts to three walks in the contest. Left-handed reliever Michael Roth earned his first career save recording the final out of the victory.
The 15-0 win over Presbyterian was Carolina’s first shutout of the year. Gamecock starter Nolan Belcher combined with four relievers for a two-hit shutout. Belcher was dominant on the hill for the Gamecocks with five scoreless innings and just one infield hit allowed. He struck out seven and walked one to earn his first win of the year. Matt Price also struck out one in one inning of relief with Parker Bangs striking out two batters in his stint. Freshmen Ethan Carter and Colby Holmes closed the game out with an inning apiece as well. South Carolina pitchers had 10 strikeouts to two walks on the afternoon.
Carolina had 18 hits in the win vs. Presbyterian, a season high. The 18 hits included eight doubles and a pair of homers. The eight doubles tied for the fourth highest mark by a team coached by Ray Tanner in South Carolina history.
Senior catcher Kyle Enders has hit safely in all nine games he has played this year. Enders is batting .438 (14-for-32) with a team-high five doubles as well as five RBI and six runs scored. Enders was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBI in the 4-3 loss at Clemson on Friday night. His three-hit performance on Friday night tied a career-high in hits. He has four multi-hit games for the year.
Junior infielder Scott Wingo was 2-for-3 with four runs scored and was twice hit by pitch in the 15-0 win vs. Presbyterian. He is now tied for the school career record with 34 hit by pitches along with Garris Gonce (2001-02) and Michael Campbell (2003-04-05-06).
Despite a no-decision on Friday at Clemson, senior right-hander Blake Cooper continues to perform well on the mound. Cooper went 6.2 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts and one walks vs. the Tigers. He is 2-0 on the year in 18.2 innings with 18 strikeouts and five walks allowed and a 3.38 ERA.
Junior right-hander Sam Dyson recovered from a slow start on Saturday to pitch a solid 5.2 innings in the 7-5 win vs. Clemson. He struck out seven, walked two and allowed four runs on five hits. Dyson is 1-0 on the year with a 4.05 ERA and has 18 strikeouts in 13.1 innings. Opponents are batting .152 against him.
South Carolina is hitting .297 (104-for-350) for the season with 10 home runs, a pair of triples, 21 doubles and 70 runs scored. South Carolina’s pitching staff has 104 strikeouts in 87.2 innings pitched with opposing teams batting just .239 on the year. The squad is fielding .978 with just eight errors made in the first 10 games. Carolina has played four errorless contests on the year.
Next Week:
3/9/10 – vs. Valparaiso (7 p.m.)
3/10/10 – vs. Valparaiso (7 p.m.)
3/12/10 – vs. Brown (7 p.m.)
3/13/10 – vs. Brown (4 p.m.)
3/14/10 – vs. Brown (1:30 p.m.)
