Feb. 24, 2011
| Coach Tanner Press Conference |
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina returns to the field this weekend hosting a three-game series with Southern Illinois. First pitch on Friday and Saturday is 3 p.m. with Sunday’s series finale set for 1:30 p.m. All three games between the Gamecocks and Salukis can be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network including flagship station 107.5 FM “The Game.” Live video broadcast and Gametracker stats are also available at GamecocksOnline.com. Tickets are still available for all three games this weekend.
Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday
South Carolina – Michael Roth (Jr. LHP) 1-0, 3.18 ERA, 5.2 IP, 1 BB, 6 SO
Southern Illinois – Cameron Maldonado (Jr. RHP) 0-1, 3.60 ERA, 5.0 IP, 4 BB, 3 SO
Saturday
South Carolina – Tyler Webb (So. LHP) 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 2 BB, 4 SO
Southern Illinois – Cody Forsythe (So. LHP) 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.0 IP, 1 BB, 5 SO
Sunday
South Carolina – Adam Westmoreland (So. LHP) 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.2 IP, 1 BB, 5 SO
Southern Illinois – Todd Eaton (Fr. RHP) 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 0 BB, 5 SO
SOUTH CAROLINA-SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SERIES HISTORY
This will be the third time the schools have met on the baseball diamond. Carolina and SIU have met twice before, once in 1977 at the College World Series and the other time in 1984 in a neutral site tilt in Coral Gables, Fla. South Carolina won both outcomes with a 5-4 win in Omaha on June 15, 1977 and also came out on top on March 12, 1984 with a 12-6 victory.
OFF TO A GOOD START
South Carolina opened the 2011 season with a sweep of Santa Clara at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks defeated the Broncos 12-5, 2-1 and 6-0 to go to 3-0 on the year.
The Gamecocks were strong offensively and defensively as well as on the mound in the three-game sweep of Santa Clara. Carolina hit .352 (31-for-88) as a team with Jackie Bradley Jr. leading the way with a .583 average (7-for-12) with three doubles. Christian Walker was 6-for-12 (.500) with a team-high six RBI. Adrian Morales went 3-for-7 with three runs scored and Scott Wingo and Adam Matthews each were 4-for-10 at the plate. In addition the Gamecocks had 15 walks and five hit by pitches to just 11 strikeouts in three games.
South Carolina’s pitching staff finished the weekend with a 1.67 team ERA and had 25 strikeouts to just eight walks. Santa Clara hit just .198 for the series and scored only six runs against the Gamecocks.
Probable South Carolina Position StartersPos. Player '11 Stats NotesC Dante Rosenberg (R-R) Jr..500-0-1 First career RBI in 2-1 win over Santa Claraor Brady Thomas (L-R) Sr. .250-0-1 Led team the first weekend in walks with five
1B Christian Walker (R-R) So..500-1-6 6-for-12 Opening Weekend with team-high six RBI
2B Scott Wingo (L-R) Sr. .400-1-2 Homered and tallied three hits in 12-5 win over Santa Clara
SS Peter Mooney (L-R) Jr. .077-0-0 Led off all three games for the Gamecocks vs. Santa Clara
3B Adrian Morales (R-R) Sr..429-0-2 Scored a run and game-winning sac fly in 2-1 win over S. Clara
LF Evan Marzilli (L-L) So. .333-0-3 A pair of RBI in 6-0 win over Santa Claraor Robert Beary (R-R) Sr. .000-0-1 Versatile player, can also play 3B, 1B, OF and C
CF Jackie Bradley Jr. (L-R) Jr..583-1-3 Team-high seven hits (7-for-12) in Santa Clara series
RF Adam Matthews (R-R) Jr. .400-0-0 Scored a team-high five runs in Santa Clara series
DH Robert Beary (R-R) Sr. .000-0-1 Versatile player, can also play 3B, 1B, OF and Cor Brady Thomas (L-R) Sr. .250-0-1 Led team the first weekend in walks with five(note probable lineup comes from SID)
PACK THE HOUSE
There were great crowds at Carolina Stadium last weekend with two standing room only sellouts on Friday and Saturday (8,242). The Gamecocks finished the weekend with a total attendance of 23,800 with an average of 7,933 for the series.
JUNIOR
Jackie Bradley Jr., a consensus Preseason All-America selection had a stellar weekend at the plate. The highlight was Opening Day when he went 4-for-4 with a homer and three RBI in the 12-5 win. He also had two doubles in the contest to tie a career high for doubles in a game. His on-base percentage was .615. His seven hits for the weekend moves him up to 185 career hits, just 15 short of 200.
WALKER DRIVES THEM IN
Christian Walker posted three multi-hit games, as he was 2-for-4 in each victory vs. Santa Clara. Walker homered and drove in three runs in the 12-5 victory and he added three more RBI in Sunday’s 6-0 win over Santa Clara.
MORALES FINDS A WAY
Senior infielder Adrian Morales scored a run and tallied a game-winning RBI sacrifice fly in the 2-1 win over Santa Clara. Morales hit .429 (3-for-7) and was hit three times on the weekend . He had a .583 on-base percentage.
MATTHEWS SCORES
Junior outfielder Adam Matthews led the team over the weekend in runs scored as he scored five in the three games vs. Santa Clara. Matthews hit .400 (4-for-10) for the series. He tied a career-high with three runs scored in Friday’s 12-5 win.
FOUR-HIT SHUTOUT
The 6-0 win over Santa Clara featured four Gamecock pitchers hurling a four-hit shutout. Making his first appearance since May 22, 2009, Gamecock left-hander Adam Westmoreland was effective in his start as he hurled 5.2 scoreless innings with just one walk and five strikeouts to lead the way for the Gamecock pitchers. Gamecock reliever Jose Mata would hurl 0.2 scoreless innings to pick up the win. He is now 1-0 for the year. Junior left-hander Logan Munson retired both batters he faced and freshman right-hander Forrest Koumas closed the game out with two scoreless innings and three strikeouts to seal the shutout win for Carolina.
WEBB HURLS CAREER LONG OUTING
The 2-1 victory over Santa Clara featured a stellar start from sophomore left-hander Tyler Webb. Webb did not allow an earned run in a career-high six innings of work and after issuing a leadoff walk in the top of the third inning, retired 12 consecutive batters on the way to a win. Webb’s line read six innings, one run, unearned on three hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
MORE ON THE 2-1 WIN OVER SANTA CLARA
The 2-1 win also featured the Gamecock debut of junior left-hander Bryan Harper, who was effective in 1.2 scoreless innings of relief before giving way to sophomore right-hander Matt Price, who hurled 1.1 hitless innings of relief to pick up his first save of the year.
ROTH PICKS UP VICTORY IN THE OPENER
Junior left-hander Michael Roth earned the Opening Day start and went 5.2 innings allowing just two runs in the 12-5 win. Roth tallied a career-high six strikeouts in the victory.
Roth was the first left-hander to earn the Opening Day start since 2003 when current Gamecock baseball academic advisor Steven Bondurant got the nod vs. Charleston Southern.
SHOW OFF THE GLOVE
The Gamecocks were very strong defensively fielding .983 on the weekend with just two errors on Opening Day. They went without an error in both Saturday and Sunday’s victories.
GAMECOCK DEBUT
Six new Gamecocks made their debut in the weekend series vs. Santa Clara. Junior shortstop Peter Mooney started all three games in the middle infield for Carolina with Dante Rosenberg getting action in two games including one start behind the plate and Jake Williams earning a pinch-hit appearance. Freshman right-hander Forrest Koumas, junior left-hander Bryan Harper and junior left-hander Logan Munson had scoreless relief appearances.
