July 7, 2010

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina outfielder Whit Merrifield has agreed to terms with the Kansas City Royals. Merrifield, a ninth round selection in this year’s MLB draft, has been a staple the past three seasons in the Gamecock lineup culminating in this year’s season that saw Merrifield tally the game-winning RBI single in the 2-1 victory over UCLA in 11 innings that helped lift the Gamecocks to a national championship. Merrifield finished the year with a .321 batting average (95-for-296) with 13 HR and 42 RBI.

Earlier this past year, Merrifield received 2009-10 Earnest Brooks Co-Male Student-Athlete of the Year honors at South Carolina along with men’s golfer George Bryan IV. He set the school record for consecutive games with a hit as well this past season. He hit safely in 26 straight games, 14 at the end of 2009 and the first 12 games of 2010. He tallied 263 career hits that puts him at sixth in school history. He also played in 195 games in three seasons with 194 starts.

MERRIFIELD ON CAREER LISTS AT SOUTH CAROLINA

Hits  (200 or more)    303 Mac White   1991-92-93-94    299 Michael Campbell2003-04-05-06    285 Drew Meyer    2000-01-02    265 Landon Powell  2001-02-03-04        265 Derick Urquhart 1995-96-97-98    263 Whit Merrifield  2008-09-10
At Bats    950 Michael Campbell2003-04-05-06    903 Mac White   1991-92-93-94    866 Andrew Crisp    2005-06-07-08-09    866 Landon Powell  2001-02-03-04    864 Drew Meyer    2000-01-02    800 Whit Merrifield  2008-09-10
Runs Scored    223 Derick Urquhart 1995-96-97-98    215 Mike Curry  1996-97-98    212 Drew Meyer    2000-01-02    209 Mac White   1991-92-93-94    197 Whit Merrifield  2008-09-10
Singles    209 Drew Meyer    2000-01-02    201 Michael Campbell2003-04-05-06    198 Mac White   1991-92-93-94    194 Whit Merrifield  2008-09-10

MERRIFIELD’S CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
2010 – Named 2009-10 Earnest Brooks Co-Male Athlete of the Year at 2010 Gamecock Gala … 1-for-5 with game-winning RBI single in 2-1 win over UCLA in national championship game … 3-for-5 in 4-3 win over Clemson at College World Series … 3-for-5 with a homer, two runs and two RBI in 11-4 win over Arizona State at College World Series … 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a RBI in 10-2 win over Virginia Tech (6/6) in NCAA Regional … 2-for-3 with a RBI and a run scored in 9-5 win over Bucknell in NCAA Regional (6/5) … 2-for-4 with two walks in 3-1 loss to Auburn at SEC Tournament (5/27) … 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored in 11-6 win over Florida (5/22) … 3-for-5 with a run scored and a RBI in 11-6 win over Furman (5/18) … 3-for-4 with a pair of homers including a game-winning two-run homer, also drove in three runs and scored three times in 5-3 win at Arkansas (5/16) … 2-for-5 with two runs scored in 3-2 win at Arkansas (5/14) … 3-for-4 with two homers and career-high four runs scored in 14-6 win over Winthrop (5/5) … 3-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scored in 20-15 win over Alabama (5/2) … 1-for-4 with two runs scored in 8-7 win over Georgia (4/25) … 2-for-4 with a homer and two runs scored in 11-4 win over Georgia (4/23) … 2-for-3 with a homer in 2-0 win at Vanderbilt (4/11) … 3-for-6 with a homer, RBI and two runs scored in 8-7 loss to Mississippi State (4/3) … 2-for-5 with a RBI and a run scored in 10-2 win over Mississippi State (4/2) … 1-for-4 with two runs scored in 10-1 win over The Citadel (3/30) … 2-for-5 with two runs scored in 10-6 loss at Auburn (3/28) … 1-for-3 with two runs scored in 11-5 win at Auburn (3/26) … Hit a solo home run in 4-0 win over Tennessee (3/21) … 1-for-3 with a home run, RBI and two runs scored in 10-7 win over Tennessee (3/20) … 2-for-4 with two runs scored in 4-2 win over Tennessee … 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, two runs scored and a RBI in 8-3 win over Davidson (3/17) … 3-for-6 with a double, a run scored and three RBI in 15-0 win at Furman (3/16) … 1-for-4 with two runs scored in 6-5 win over Brown (3/14) … 2-for-5 with a homer, two runs scored and two RBI in 10-7 win over Brown (3/13) … Set school record for consecutive games with a hit with a RBI single in 7-3 win over Valparaiso (3/10) … Homered and was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI in 12-4 win over Valparaiso (3/9) … 2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI in 7-5 win over Clemson (3/6) … 3-for-6 with a grand slam and two runs scored in 15-0 win over Presbyterian (3/3) … 4-for-11 in Duquesne series with six runs scored and a pair of RBI … 1-for-3 with two runs scored in 5-3 win over Duquesne (2/21) … 1-for-3 with three runs scored in 13-3 win over Duquesne (2/20) … 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI in 10-3 win over Duquesne (2/19).

2009 – Named to 2009 SEC All-Defensive team … 4-for-6 with a pair of runs scored and a RBI in 10-9 loss to East Carolina at NCAA Regional (6/1) … 2-for-5 with three RBI in 11-3 win over George Mason at NCAA Regional (5/29) … 2-for-4 in 4-1 loss to LSU at SEC Tournament (5/22) … 2-for-4 in 5-4 loss to Vanderbilt at SEC Tournament (5/21) … 2-for-4 with a run scored in 9-2 win over USC Upstate (5/12) … 2-for-5 with inside the park home run, double, three runs scored and three RBI in 15-6 win over Tennessee (5/10) … Tied career-high in hits with 5-for-6 game at Tennessee, homered, three runs scored and four RBI in 15-12 victory over Tennessee (5/9) … 2-for-5 with two runs scored in 11-3 win over Vanderbilt (5/3) … 2-for-3 with a run scored in 8-3 loss to Florida (4/25) … First career grand slam and career-high five RBI in 14-6 win at USC Upstate (4/21) … 1-for-2 with two runs scored and a sacrifice fly RBI in 10-4 win over Auburn (4/19) … 2-for-5 with two runs scored in 5-3 loss to The Citadel (4/15) … 3-for-6 with a homer, two RBI and three runs scored in 20-6 win over College of Charleston (4/14) … 5-for-6 with three runs scored, a double, triple and one RBI in 12-10 win over Ole Miss (4/10) … 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a two-run homer in 6-4 loss to Arkansas (4/3) … 3-for-4 with a double, one run scored and two RBI in 10-0 win vs. Furman (4/1) … Key RBI double in 4-2 win over Kentucky (3/29) … Career-high four hits with two runs scored and two doubles in 20-19 win over Kentucky (3/28) … 2-for-5 with two runs scored in 14-2 win at College of Charleston (3/24) … Two-run homer in 7-3 win over LSU (3/20) … Tied career-high in hits with 3-for-4 game at Furman (3/18), scored three runs and also had two RBI … 2-for-5 with a run scored in 13-6 loss at Mississippi State (3/14) … 2-for-5 with two runs scored in 6-5 win over Presbyterian (3/9) … 7-for-14 (.500) series vs. Long Beach State, five runs scored, a triple and two home runs … Tied career-high in hits with 3-for-4 performance in 10-7 loss to Long Beach State (3/8) … Homered and went 2-for-5 in 7-5 win over Long Beach State (3/7) … Game-winning two-run homer in 2-0 win over Georgia State (3/3) … 1-for-3 with a triple and a run scored in the 3-1 win at Clemson (2/28) … Hit. .375 (3-for-8) in Duquesne series with on-base percentage of .538 … 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two walks in 13-0 win over Dukes (2/21) … 2009 SEC Academic Honor Roll member.

2008 – Played in 62 of 63 games for the Gamecocks with 62 starts, all in center field … Finished with .326 batting average (77-for-236), nine doubles, a triple, three HR and 26 RBI … Also scored 58 runs and stole a team-high 11 bases in 11 attempts … Named to 2008 SEC All-Freshman team … Also named to 2008 NCAA Regional All-Tournament team … Led the team with 26 multi-hit games … 3-for-3 at the plate with a RBI in 5-4 loss to NC State in NCAA Regional (5/31) … Reached base four times in 15-8 win vs. Charlotte at NCAA Regional, finished with a hit, two walks, a hit by pitch, two runs scored and two RBI … 3-for-4 with a double and three runs scored in 10-2 win over The Citadel (5/13) … Tallied three hits and two runs scored in 10-5 win at Wofford (5/7) … 2-for-5 with a run scored in 9-6 win vs. Florida (5/4) … 3-for-4 with three runs scored in 6-5 win vs. Florida (5/3) … 2-for-4 with a run scored in 4-1 win vs. Ole Miss (4/20), also went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in 6-2 win over Rebels (4/18) … Tallied three hits, scored two run and had a RBI in 6-0 win at Clemson (4/16) … 2-for-5 with a RBI and run scored in 13-7 win vs. Kentucky (3/29) … 2-for-3 with two run scored in 16-7 win at Vanderbilt (3/15) … Tripled, scored and finished with two hits in 10-1 win vs. Clemson (3/1) … Collected career-high three RBI in 12-0 win over UNC Asheville (2/27)