March 28, 2011
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina continued the 2011 season with non-conference wins vs. College of Charleston and Rhode Island and winning two of three games in a series at top ranked Florida this weekend. Carolina has won all six three-game series it has played this year. South Carolina is 18-5 and 4-2 in the SEC.
Record: 18-5
SEC: 4-2
Home: 15-2
Away: 2-3
Neutral: 1-0
This Past Week: 4-1
3/22/11 – College of Charleston (W, 24-4)
3/23/11 – Rhode Island (W, 17-8)
3/25/11 – at Florida (W, 9-2)
3/26/11 – at Florida (L, 2-1)
3/27/11 – at Florida (W, 4-3)
The South Carolina pitching staff has a tremendous weekend against the Gators in Gainesville. The Gamecock pitching staff allowed just six earned runs in 26 innings of play and the Gators hit just .217 in the series at McKethan Stadium. The staff ERA for the weekend was 2.08. The Gamecocks were not charged an error in both Friday’s and Sunday’s victories over the Gators as well.
In three consecutive games, (vs. CofC, URI and at Florida), all nine position starters tallied at least one hit in the game. South Carolina’s 19-hit total on Tuesday vs. College of Charleston and Wednesday vs. Rhode Island was the highest hit total of the season for the Gamecocks. 11 of the 19 hits in Tuesday’s win vs. College of Charleston were extra base hits (seven doubles, four homers). Tuesday’s 24-4 win over College of Charleston set a new Carolina Stadium record for runs in a game and was the most runs by the Gamecocks since a 38-0 win over Charleston Southern on Feb. 14, 2004 at Sarge Frye Field.
For the season, the Gamecocks are hitting .296 (227-for-768) as a team with a .393 on-base percentage, fifth best in the conference and a .475 slugging percentage, tops in the SEC. The team leads the SEC with 24 home runs as well. The Gamecock pitching staff owns a 2.82 ERA in 204.0 innings pitched with 198 strikeouts to 76 walks. Opponents are hitting just .220 against the squad, the second best mark in the conference.
One of the highlights of the weekend was junior left-hander Michael Roth, who worked a season high 8.1 innings and allowed just two runs on 10 hits while striking out six and walking two to pick up a victory in the 9-2 win on Friday. For the season, Roth is 5-1 with a 1.50 ERA and has pitched a team-high 42.0 innings. He has 44 strikeouts to just 11 walks. Opponents are hitting just .230 against him. Roth is tied for second in innings pitched and third in the SEC in earned run average. His strikeout total is fourth highest. He is also tied for second in wins with five on the year.
Gamecock junior outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. had the best week at the plate by average as he hit at a .421 (8-for-19) clip in the five games vs. COFC, URI and Florida. Bradley homered in both Tuesday and Wednesday’s victories over College of Charleston and Rhode Island. For the season, Bradley is hitting .318 (27-for-85) with a team-high six HR as well as 21 RBI and 24 runs scored. He has a slugging percentage of .635, best on the team and sixth best in the SEC. His six home runs is second highest in the SEC as well. With his home run on Wednesday vs. Rhode Island, Bradley became the 24th player in South Carolina history to record 200 or more career hits with his home run on Wednesday vs. URI.
Carolina’s bullpen came up big in relief Sunday as three relievers combined to shut the Gators down as Carolina rallied for a 4-3 win over Florida. Sophomore right-hander Colby Holmes went three scoreless allowing just one hit and striking out a pair of batters. Senior right-hander John Taylor followed and allowed just two hits in 1.2 scoreless. Sophomore right-hander Matt Price closed it down to get his second win of the year. He allowed just one hit in 2.1 innings with a strikeout.
Taylor saw action in both Friday’s and Sunday’s wins. He leads the team and is the SEC leader with 14 appearances. He has allowed just one run on six hits in 18.2 innings pitched while striking out 22 and walking five. Taylor is 1-0 with a 0.48 ERA. Team’s are batting just .103 against him.
Price continues to be a stellar workhorse for the Gamecocks. He has made 12 appearances and has five saves and two wins out of the bullpen. Price has 18 strikeouts in 15.1 innings with opponents hitting just .222 against him.
Junior outfielder Adam Matthews was 2-for-4 with two key doubles in the 4-3 win over Florida on Sunday. He also had a triple in Friday’s 9-2 win over the Gators. Matthews went 3-for-6 with a pair of homers and a career-high eight RBI in Tuesday’s 24-4 win over College of Charleston. The eight RBI was one short of the individual game school record at South Carolina. Six of his seven hits in last week’s five games were extra base hits (three doubles, a triple, two homers). For the season, Matthews is hitting .295 (26-for-88) with four doubles, two triples, two homers, 13 RBI and 24 runs scored.
In addition to his relief outing Sunday vs. Florida, sophomore right-hander Colby Holmes was also effective in his first start last Tuesday vs. College of Charleston. Holmes earned his first win of the year as he went a career-high six-plus innings and tied career-high with six strikeouts. He allowed three runs on five hits with two walks. For the season, Holmes is 2-0 with a 4.00 ERA in 18 innings pitched. He has 17 strikeouts and opponents are batting .206 against him.
Senior infielder Adrian Morales leads the team in hitting with a .390 average (30-for-77) with 21 runs scored a .510 on-base percentage and a .584 slugging percentage. Morales is fourth in the SEC in on-base percentage, seventh in the league in batting average and 10th in the SEC in slugging percentage Morales drew a bases loaded walk for a game-winning RBI in the eighth inning of the 4-3 win over Florida. He also showed the leather as he had a pair of key defensive stops in Friday’s 9-2 win over the Gators.
Junior outfielder Jake Williams had a strong series vs. the Gators batting .417 (5-for-12) vs. Florida. Williams had three hits and a solo homer in the 9-2 win on Friday vs. Florida and a game-tying single in the sixth inning of the 4-3 victory vs. the Gators on Sunday.
Senior utility player Robert Beary was 4-for-6 with four RBI in the 17-8 win over Rhode Island. The four hits tied a career-high set last year and the four RBI was a career-high. Beary hit .353 (6-for-17) in the five games last week with five runs scored.
Junior infielder Peter Mooney was stellar in Friday’s 9-2 win over the Gators. Mooney went 3-for-5 with a double, three runs scored and a pair of RBI. In the five games last week, Mooney was .318 (7-for-22) with eight runs scored as well as three RBI.
Freshman right-hander Forrest Koumas made his first start of his career and it was a quality start in the 2-1 loss vs. Florida. Koumas allowed just one run, unearned, on two hits with five strikeouts and two walks in six innings of work. For the season, Koumas was 2-0 with a 2.79 ERA in 19.1 innings. He has 23 strikeouts as well. Opponents are hitting only .194 against him.
Next Week:
3/30/11 – vs. The Citadel (7 p.m.)
4/1/11 – vs. Kentucky (7 p.m.) (FS South)
4/2/11 – vs. Kentucky (4:30 p.m.) (SportSouth)
4/3/11 – vs. Kentucky (1:30 p.m.) (SportSouth)
