April 8, 2013

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina won four of five games last week with a 9-5 win over Charleston Southern, a 6-5 loss at Furman and a weekend sweep at Tennessee with victories of 5-4, 12-8 and 19-2. The Gamecocks are 26-7 on the year with an 8-4 record in the SEC. South Carolina is second in the SEC Eastern Division and tied for third place overall in the conference standings.

Record: 26-7
SEC: 8-4
Home: 18-4
Away: 8-2
Neutral: 0-1

This Week: 4-1
4/2/13 – vs. Charleston Southern (W, 9-5)
4/3/13 – at Furman (L, 6-5)
4/5/13 – at Tennessee (W, 5-4)
4/6/13 – at Tennessee (W, 12-8)
4/7/13 – at Tennessee (W, 19-2)

NOTES:
South Carolina won four of five games last week with a 9-5 win over Charleston Southern, a 6-5 loss at Furman and a weekend sweep at Tennessee with victories of 5-4, 12-8 and 19-2. The Gamecocks are 26-7 on the year with an 8-4 record in the SEC. South Carolina is second in the SEC Eastern Division and tied for third place overall in the conference standings.

This weekend’s series at Tennessee was the team’s best weekend at the plate as Carolina hit .375 (45-for-120) with 36 runs scored. The Gamecocks had 12 doubles, a triple and four homers as well. Carolina belted out a season-high 21 hits with 10 different Gamecocks recording at least one hit on the way to a 19-2 victory over Tennessee. The 19 runs on Sunday were the most in a game for Carolina since 24 vs. College of Charleston in 2011 and the most in a SEC game since scoring 20 in 2010 vs. Alabama.

Freshman second baseman Max Schrock hit .500 (11-for-22) last week with seven runs scored and eight RBI. His game-winning RBI double in the top of the ninth inning lifted the Gamecocks to a 5-4 win over Tennessee. He followed that up with a double, a homer and two RBI in the 12-8 win over the Volunteers. In the series finale, he had a career-high four hits with a career-high four RBI as well as two runs scored in the 19-2 win over Tennessee. The four hits matched an individual high for a Gamecock player in a game this year. He was 7-for-12 (.583) in the Tennessee series with five runs scored and seven RBI against the Volunteers. Schrock has raised his season average to .264 (32-for-121) with six doubles, two triples and two homers. He has 24 RBI as well, tied for second highest on the team. For the season, Schrock leads the Gamecocks with 10 multi-hit games.

Senior left-hander Adam Westmoreland factored in both Friday and Saturday’s victories at Tennessee. His performance on Saturday was key as he was tremendous in relief allowing just one run on five hits in a season-high six innings to improve to 4-0 on the year. Westmoreland struck out six and walked none in his six-inning stint. He is 4-0 on the year with a 1.30 ERA and two saves in 12 relief appearances. He has 36 strikeouts to just four walks in 34.2 innings, opponents are hitting only .195 against him.

Junior first baseman/designated hitter Brison Celek found his way on base a lot in four starts this past week. Celek hit .455 (5-for-11) with six walks and a hit by pitch in 18 plate appearances. His on-base percentage for the week was .667. He doubled, homered, drove in four runs and scored five times. His highlight came on Sunday as he went 2-for-4 with his first career homer, two RBI and three runs scored in the 19-2 win over the Volunteers. Celek is now hitting .333 (8-for-24) for the year with six runs and eight RBI. He also has seven walks and a hit by pitch to just four strikeouts.

Senior right-hander Colby Holmes earned two wins this past week. In a predetermined split on Tuesday in the 9-5 win over Charleston Southern, he pitched 3.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with no walks and struck out two batters. He followed that up with five innings of relief allowing just two runs, one earned, on two hits with no walks and three strikeouts in the 19-2 win over Tennessee.

Sophomore catcher Grayson Greiner went 6-for-9 (.667) in two starts at Tennessee. He homered, tallied a career-high four hits and drove in a career-high four runs in the 19-2 win on Sunday. Greiner is up to .280 (26-for-93) in batting average with three homers and 22 RBI. He has also been stellar behind the plate with just six stolen bases allowed in 22 starts behind the plate. Greiner is Carolina’s leading hitter in SEC games with a .333 average (12-for-36) in 10 starts.

Sophomore left-hander Jordan Montgomery made his first appearance in over the month and returned to the form he was in before being shut down with a stress reaction in his left arm. Montgomery hurled four scoreless innings with just four hits allowed, no walks and two strikeouts in the 19-2 win over Tennessee. For the season, Montgomery is 3-0 with a 0.78 ERA in 23.0 innings pitched.

Senior third baseman Chase Vergason hit .400 (6-for-15) in the Tennessee series with four runs scored, a triple and a home run as well as four RBI. He went 2-for-5 with his first career triple, two runs and two RBI in the 19-2 win as well as 3-for-6 with a homer, a RBI and two runs in the 12-8 victory. Vergason is hitting .278 (30-for-108) with a .404 on-base percentage.

Despite a no-decision on Friday, senior left-hander Nolan Belcher was effective in the 5-4 win over Tennessee. He allowed two runs on four hits in 6.2 innings with three walks and two strikeouts. For the season, Belcher is 5-2 with a 1.70 ERA in a team-high 58.1 innings. He has a phenomenal 53 strikeouts to just four walks and leads the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio. Opponents are hitting just .215 against him.

Senior first baseman LB Dantzler tallied five hits and five walks and scored seven runs in 26 plate appearances this past week. Dantzler hit his team-best 10th homer in the 9-5 win over Charleston Southern. His top game in the Tennessee series was on Sunday when he went 3-for-5 with a RBI and two runs scored in the 19-2 win. Dantzler is the Gamecocks’ leading hitter with a .336 average (40-for-119) with 10 homers and 34 RBI. He has a .441 on-base percentage and a .672 slugging percentage.

Senior left-hander Tyler Webb is 1-1 with a 0.75 ERA and 11 saves in 24 relief innings. He has 36 strikeouts to seven walks. Webb earned the win in Friday’s 5-4 win with four strikeouts in 1.2 innings. He followed that up with one scoreless inning of relief in Saturday’s 12-8 win. Webb’s two relief appearances this weekend increased his career total to 95 and surpassed Michael Roth (94 from 2009-12) for second in all-time history at South Carolina. Webb is seven behind Matt Price (102 from 2009-12) for the school record.

Sophomore outfielder Tanner English scored three runs and drove in four as well in the Tennessee series over the weekend. English is the team’s second best hitter with a .300 average (21-for-70) with 14 runs scored and 10 RBI. English leads the Gamecocks as well with a .451 on-base percentage.

Sophomore outfielder Connor Bright has bumped his batting average up to .292 (26-for-89), third best on the team. He was 2-for-4 in the 9-5 win over Charleston Southern as well as 3-for-5 with two runs scored in the 12-8 win over Tennessee.

Senior catcher Dante Rosenberg went 2-for-5 with two doubles and a career-high three RBI in the 12-8 win over Tennessee. Rosenberg is hitting .302 (13-for-43) in 11 starts for the Gamecocks.

South Carolina is 23-0 this season when leading after six innings and 18-0 on the year when out-hitting the opponent. Carolina has allowed five runs or less in 28 of 33 games played this season. The Gamecocks are 24-4 when allowing five runs or less. South Carolina is 13-5 in games decided by three runs or less.

The Gamecock pitching staff boasts a 2.87 ERA in 295.0 innings with 293 strikeouts to 85 walks. Opponents batting average is .234 against the Gamecocks. The Gamecocks have 15 saves. In 12 SEC games, the Gamecocks have a 3.55 ERA with 109 strikeouts.

South Carolina is hitting .282 (306-for-1087) as a team with a .383 on-base percentage. Carolina ranks second in the SEC with 28 home runs. The Gamecocks have a .975 fielding percentage with just 30 errors for the season.

Next Week:
4/9/13 – vs. The Citadel (7 p.m.)
4/11/13 – at Florida (7:30 p.m.) (ESPNU)
4/12/13 – at Florida (7:30 p.m.) (CSS)
4/13/13 – at Florida (3 p.m.) (ESPN2)
All times are Eastern