May 13, 2013
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina (37-14) hosts Presbyterian (24-28) on Tuesday night in the final regular season home game of the season at Carolina Stadium. First pitch is 7 p.m. with the game televised live on Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Carolinas and available on the Gamecock Radio Network from IMG College including flagship station, 107.5 FM, “The Game.”
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network affiliates/Flagship WNKT FM 107.5 “The Game” in Columbia. Derek Scott and Tommy Moody will call the action.
Television: Fox Sports Carolinas/Fox Sports South. Andy Demetra and Trey Dyson have the call. Internet: Additional coverage on Twitter @GamecockBasebll
Live Gametracker Stats
PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Tuesday
South Carolina – Forrest Koumas (Jr. RHP) 0-0, 7.80 ERA, 15.0 IP, 11 BB, 15 SO
Presbyterian – Tim Corbin (Sr. LHP) 2-3, 4.33 ERA, 27.0 IP, 8 BB, 6 SO
A LOOK BACK
South Carolina is now 37-14 and 16-10 in the SEC after defeating Wofford in midweek action and sweeping Georgia in a three-game SEC series. South Carolina is in second place in the SEC Eastern Division and fourth place overall in the conference standings.
SOME SUPERLATIVES
South Carolina is 31-2 when leading after six innings and 33-0 when leading after eight innings. The Gamecocks own a 27-4 record when out-hitting its opponent and 23-4 when scoring first in the contest. Carolina has allowed five runs or less in 42 of 51 games played this season (82.3 percent). The Gamecocks are 33-9 when allowing five runs or less. South Carolina is 18-11 in games decided by three runs or less.
AT THE PLATE, IN THE FIELD & ON THE MOUND
South Carolina is hitting .285 as a team (483-for-1693), fourth best in the league. The Gamecocks lead the SEC with 43 home runs, rank third in slugging percentage (.426) and fourth in on-base percentage (.377).
On the mound, the Gamecocks 2.97 ERA is sixth best in the league. South Carolina has 403 strikeouts to 117 walks in 455. 0 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting .249 against the staff.
South Carolina is fielding .972 as a team.
THE PC SERIES
South Carolina is 43-19 in the all-time series history vs. Presbyterian College.
The last meeting between the two schools was last year on February 28, 2012. Joey Pankake hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie and four Gamecock pitchers combined to allow just one run on five hits as Carolina defeated Presbyterian 2-1.
Nolan Belcher earned his first win since May 11, 2010 with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief. He allowed just one hit and struck out three batters.
DANTZLER A CANDIDATE FOR THE GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD
South Carolina senior first baseman LB Dantzler is one of 60 players in the nation named to the 2013 Golden Spikes Award Watch List, as announced by USA Baseball on May 2, 2013.
Dantzler continues to lead Carolina in hitting with a .337 average (59-for-175) with 12 homers and 45 RBI. He ranks third in the SEC in slugging percentage (.634), tied for third in homers, fourth in walks (33), fourth in total bases (33) sixth in on-base percentage (.449) and tied for sixth in doubles (14). He was 1-for-3 with a RBI and two runs in the 7-2 win on Friday vs. Georgia. He has reached base safely in 27 consecutive games.
DANTZLER SUCCEEDING OFF THE FIELD
LB Dantzler is one of 10 NCAA baseball student-athletes selected as a finalist for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award ®. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner. Fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website – seniorCLASSaward.com or on the Senior CLASS Award Facebook fan page through June 10. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches’ votes to determine the winner, who will be announced during the 2013 College World Series in Omaha.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
Dantzler was South Carolina’s 2012-13 male nominee for the SEC’s H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year. With a 3.641 GPA in sport and entertainment management, he has been on the SEC Academic Honor Roll and spent two semesters on the Dean’s List. Dantzler has volunteered more than 50 hours at the Epworth Children’s Home, working on various projects. He also helped organize a fundraising effort for the orphanage through an area restaurant, and has made speaking appearances for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. For more information on all the finalists, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
Baseball Senior CLASS Award Finalists
Mark Appel, Stanford
Shane Basen, Charlotte
Chase Brookshire, Belmont
Boomer Collins, Dallas Baptist
LB Dantzler, South Carolina
Carlos Lopez, Cal State Fullerton
Alex Mendez, South Florida
Raph Rhymes, LSU
Chris Rowley, Army
Brandon Thomas, Georgia Tech
Dantzler has been named to the Capital One Academic All-District First Team for District Four as announced by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) on May 1. Dantzler, South Carolina’s male nominee for the SEC Boyd McWhorter Award, has compiled a 3.64 cumulative GPA in Sport & Entertainment Management.
First-team Academic All-District® honorees advance to the Capital One Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.
The Academic All-District® teams (listed above) are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. This is the second year of the expanded Academic All-America® program as CoSIDA moved from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non Division I) and has doubled the number of scholar-athletes honored.
The expanded teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.
The Capital One Division II and III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2012-13 DII and DIII Academic All-America® teams program.
Tyler Webb MAKES HIS MARK
Senior left-hander Tyler Webb inched closer to the all-time appearance record at South Carolina with a pair of outings vs. Georgia last weekend. Webb worked a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts in the 7-2 win over the Bulldogs and had one inning of relief in Sunday’s 8-3 win.
Webb has a phenomenal 0.56 ERA in 23 appearances with a 2-1 record and 14 saves in 32.1 innings of work. He has 48 strikeouts to just seven walks, opponents hitting .174 against him. He has not allowed a run in 20 of 23 appearances this year. His 14 save total for this year is sixth best in school history, seven behind the school record of 21 set by Blake Taylor in 2002. He is up to 101 career appearances; one short of the school record 102 set by Matt Price (2009-10-11-12). His 14 saves leads the SEC with eight of those coming in conference play, also the highest mark in league play.
He has pitched in relief in 89 career appearances, with 70 relief appearances without allowing a run (78.6 percent). In career relief appearances he is 10-2 with 17 saves.
CAREER RECORD AT SOUTH CAROLINA
Appearances
102 Matt Price 2009-10-11-12
101 Tyler Webb 2010-11-12-13
SINGLE-SEASON RECORD AT SOUTH CAROLINA
Saves
21 Blake Taylor 2002
20 Matt Price 2011
20 Chad Blackwell 2004
19 Lee Gronkiewicz 2001
15 Scott Barber 2000
14 Tyler Webb 2013
Grayson Greiner SELECTED TO USA BASEBALL COLLEGIATE NATIONAL TEAM
South Carolina sophomore catcher Grayson Greiner has been invited to the 2013 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, it was announced on April 24. Greiner was also invited to last year’s squad but was unable to participate due to his recovery from a knee injury.
Training for the team will run from June 21-July 2 in Cary, N.C. at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. Team USA will travel to Japan from July 6-11 and are also scheduled to play Cuba from July 18-23 in various cites in the U.S.
Greiner was stellar in the four victories as he hit .615 (8-for-13) including five extra base hits (four doubles, one triple), four runs scored and four RBI. His on-base percentage for the week was .600 with a 1.077 slugging percentage. He was 3-for-4 with a double and a triple, a RBI and two runs in the 7-2 win over Georgia. He followed that up with a 2-for-4 game with a run and a RBI in the 8-3 win on Sunday over the Bulldogs. Greiner is Carolina’s leading hitter in SEC games with a .315 average (28-for-89). He is third on the team in hitting for the season with a .306 average (49-for-160) with 32 RBI. His 10 doubles is also second highest on the squad.
SOUTH CAROLINA PLAYERS & USA BASEBALL COLLEGIATE NATIONAL TEAM
2013 – Grayson Greiner, C
2010 – Jackie Bradley Jr., OF
2007 – Justin Smoak, 1B
2003 – Matt Campbell, P
2002 – Landon Powell, C
1997 – Adam Everett, SS
1989 – Brian Williams, P/OF
1986 – Dave Hollins, 3B
Since 1978 USA Baseball has been the National Governing Body (NGB) for the sport of baseball. It represents the sport in the United States as a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and internationally as a member federation of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF).
A LITTLE BIT OF ENGLISH
Sophomore center fielder Tanner English provided a punch at LSU with outstanding defense coupled with two triples and two runs scored in the series. English’s RBI triple on Saturday was the game-winning hit in the 4-2 win over LSU. He made 18 putouts and tallied an assist also in the weekend series vs. the Tigers.
English went 2-for-4 with a RBI double and two runs scored in the 8-3 win over Georgia. English is hitting .276 (34-for-123) with 17 RBI and 21 runs scored.
SOLD OUT
Saturday’s 7-1 win over Georgia was played in front of a sellout crowd of 8,242 fans at Carolina Stadium. It marked the fourth sellout of the season and 30th in Carolina Stadium history. South Carolina is 24-6 (.800) in sellout contests at Carolina Stadium.
FOUR-GAME STRETCH
This four-game stretch of victories is the longest stretch of the season where the games have not been decided by three runs or less. After a 9-3 win over Wofford, the Gamecocks earned the sweep with victories of 7-2, 7-1 and 8-3 against the Bulldogs. The Gamecocks had 11 different position players drive in at least one run as well as 12 different position players scoring at least one run.
PANKAKE RISES
Sophomore shortstop Joey Pankake hit .500 (7-for-14) this past week with a triple, a homer, four runs scored and four RBI. Pankake had a game-winning two-run homer that sparked a six-run seventh inning in the Gamecocks 9-3 victory over Wofford. His top game vs. Georgia was Sunday when he went 3-for-3 in the 8-3 victory.
Pankake is second on the team in hitting with a .324 average (61-for-188) with 10 homers and 36 RBI. He ranks tied for fifth in home runs in the SEC and is also ninth in slugging percentage (.527). Pankake leads Carolina with 18 multi-hit games.
MAX IT OUT
Freshman second baseman Max Schrock led off with a solo home run in the bottom of the first in the 9-3 win vs. Wofford on Wednesday night. Schrock led off for Carolina for the first time since March 16 at Missouri. He finished with two hits and two runs scored. He followed that with two hits and a RBI in the 7-2 win over Georgia.
Schrock had four hits this past week with three runs and three RBI. Schrock is hitting .277 (49-for-177) with 34 runs scored and 35 RBI. He has 32 walks to 19 strikeouts.
HOLMES WITH THE ANSWER
Senior right-hander Colby Holmes became the 21st pitcher in school history to record 20 or more wins with his victory at Tennessee on April 7, 2013.
Holmes pitched three scoreless innings of relief with a strikeout in the 3-2 loss vs. Vanderbilt. He had three more innings of relief with just one run allowed, unearned in the 9-3 win over Wofford. He added two scoreless innings with two strikeouts in the 7-1 win over Georgia. Holmes lowered his ERA to 3.96 in 52.1 innings with 39 strikeouts.
WESTMORELAND EFFECTIVE IN RELIEF
Senior left-hander Adam Westmoreland pitched three scoreless outings this past week. He picked up a win in the 9-3 victory over Wofford with 1.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. He had 0.2 scoreless innings of work in the 7-2 win over Georgia and worked three scoreless innings with four strikeouts in the 8-3 victory over the Bulldogs.
Westmoreland is 6-1 on the year with a 1.57 ERA as well as three saves. In 21 relief appearances, he has pitched 51.2 innings and he has struck out 52 batters. His ERA ranks third best in the SEC with his opposing batting average of .212 the seventh best in the SEC.
ON BASE WITH CHASE
Chase Vergason tied a school record held by many with two sacrifice flies in the 4-0 win at LSU. Last player to accomplish the feat was Jake Williams on June 5, 2011 vs. Stetson. Vergason also scored two runs this week and tripled in the 4-0 victory.
Vergason owns a .269 average (49-for-182) with 34 runs scored and 23 RBI. He owns a .368 on-base percentage. Vergason tied a career-high with three hits, scored a run and drove in one run also in the 9-3 win over Wofford on Wednesday night.
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.
