Feb. 20, 2014
South Carolina (4-0) opens a three-game series on Friday vs. Eastern Kentucky (1-3) at Carolina Stadium. Friday’s opener is set for 3 p.m. with Saturday scheduled for 4 p.m. and Sunday’s series finale at 1:30 p.m.
South Carolina is ranked No. 5 by Baseball America, No. 6 by Perfect Game, No. 9 by the NCBWA and No. 10 by Collegiate Baseball in this week’s polls.
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network/Flagship WNKT FM 107.5 “The Game” in Columbia. Andy Demetra, Derek Scott & Tommy Moody have the call.
Internet: Live Gametracker stats at GamecocksOnline.com. Live video streaming for all three games. Additional coverage on Twitter @GamecockBasebll and Facebook/Gamecocksonline
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Live Stats
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PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Friday
South Carolina – Jordan Montgomery (Jr. LHP) 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.0 IP, 1 BB, 4 SO
Eastern Kentucky – Brent Cobb (Sr. RHP) 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.1 IP, 3 BB, 3 SO
Saturday
South Carolina – Jack Wynkoop (So. LHP) 1-0, 3.60 ERA, 5.0 IP, 1 BB, 6 SO
Eastern Kentucky- Dan Weigel (Sr. LHP) 0-0, 3.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 0 BB, 4 SO
Sunday South Carolina – Wil Crowe (Fr. RHP) 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.1 IP, 1 BB, 5 SO
Eastern Kentucky – Myles Scott (Sr. RHP) 0-1, 15.00 ERA, 3.0 IP, 3 BB, 3 SO
SERIES HISTORY
Overall: South Carolina leads 1-0
Date – Winner – Score – Site
3/21/1982 SC 11-3 Columbia
DID YOU KNOW??
South Carolina has not allowed a run in 24 consecutive innings
A LOOK BACK
Three Gamecock pitchers combined for a seven-hit shutout as South Carolina defeated Presbyterian 4-0 on Tuesday afternoon at Carolina Stadium. Junior first baseman Kyle Martin went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. Junior outfielder Connor Bright went 2-for-3 with an RBI and his fourth double in as many games. Junior outfielder Elliott Caldwell also went 2-for-3 recording his first career hit as a Gamecock.
Freshman left-hander Josh Reagan earned his first career win as he pitched 2.1 innings allowing no runs and just one hit while striking out two batters. Right-hander Curt Britt hurled a career-high 5.1 scoreless innings in his first start of the year. The sophomore allowed five hits and two walks while striking out three batters. Junior right-hander Cody Mincey added 1.1 scoreless innings of relief giving up only one hit and tallied three strikeouts to close out the victory.
After five scoreless innings, the Gamecocks took a 1-0 lead over the Blue Hose in the bottom of the sixth. Grayson Greiner drew a one-out walk and scored on Connor Bright’s double off the wall in left field.
The Gamecocks added insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh as a pair of walks to Max Schrock and Joey Pankake set the stage for Martin, who crushed a three-run homer over the right field wall to extend the lead to 4-0.
THE LAST TIME
South Carolina and Eastern Kentucky have met once previously on the baseball diamond. South Carolina defeated the Colonels 11-3 on Mar. 21, 1982, The Gamecocks scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on the way to the victory.
First baseman Greg Morhardt had the key hit in the fourth with a three-run homer to left-center. Jeff Swindell added a homer as well.
Joe Kucharski pitched a complete game for the Gamecocks allowing three runs, all unearned, on six hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.
SOME MORE ON EASTERN KENTUCKY
The Colonels of Eastern Kentucky enter the weekend with a 1-3 record. Last season they made it to the championship round of the 2013 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament before they were knocked off by No. 1 seed Tennessee Tech.
EKU returns 19 letterwinners from last year including six position starters. Head coach Jason Stein is in his sixth season at the helm of the program. Senior catcher Sean Hagen was 2013 All-Ohio Valley Conference and last year was named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List.
Eastern Kentucky opened the season going 1-2 in a series at Alabama State and fell in midweek play on Wednesday in a 13-1 loss at seventh ranked Louisville.
All three projected starting pitchers are seniors including right-hander Brent Cobb, who will get the ball on Friday. Cobb won his first game last week with 6.1 scoreless innings in a 8-2 win over Alabama State.
DOMINANT WEEKEND
South Carolina opened the 2014 season last week with a series sweep of Bucknell at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks won a doubleheader on Saturday with victories of 17-4 and 12-2 and closed out the series on Sunday with a 12-0 win.
South Carolina scored 41 runs on 39 hits in the weekend series vs. Bucknell. Gamecock position players hit .368 (39-for-106) with a .493 on-base percentage. Kyle Martin was the Gamecocks’ leading hitter for the weekend with a .778 average (7-for-9), four RBI and six runs scored. Connor Bright had a team-high seven RBI for the weekend with Joey Pankake and Max Schrock each scoring eight runs. South Carolina made just one error and the pitching staff combined for a team ERA of 2.00 with 32 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched. Bucknell hit just .186 in the three games.
CROWE NAMED SEC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Freshman right-hander Wil Crowe has been SEC Pitcher of the Week as announced by the league office on Tuesday.
Crowe had an impressive debut as he hurled 6.1 hitless innings in his first career start. Crowe walked just one and hit one batter while finishing with five strikeouts to earn his first career win in a Gamecock uniform. Bucknell had just one runner reach second base and none reach third base while Crowe was on the mound. Crowe retired 13 consecutive batters in a row before coming out of the game as he reached his pitch count total.
MONTGOMERY GETS IT STARTED
Junior left-hander Jordan Montgomery pitched five scoreless innings on Opening Day to earn the victory. He allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out four batters. Montgomery is now 13-2 in his career with the Gamecocks.
K-MART
Kyle Martin is off to a fast start with a .692 average (9-for-13) in the first four games with seven runs scored and seven RBI. He has a .706 on-base percentage and a 1.000 slugging percentage.
Martin’s weekend vs. Bucknell included a career-high four hits in Sunday’s 12-0 victory. Martin went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and a RBI in Sunday’s series finale.
A LITTLE BIT OF ENGLISH
Junior outfielder Tanner English hit .455 (5-for-11) and drove in a career-high five runs in the 12-2 victory over Bucknell in the nightcap on Saturday. English tripled in that game, his eighth career three-base hit. English now sits in a tie for seventh place on the USC all-time career list.
JACK OF ALL TRADES
Sophomore left-hander Jack Wynkoop picked up the win in Saturday’s 12-2 win. Wynkoop allowed just two runs on six hits in five innings. He struck out a career-high six batters as well.
GREINER OFF TO A GOOD START
Junior catcher Grayson Greiner hit .417 (5-for-12) in the Bucknell series including a two-run homer in Sunday’s win. Greiner added two doubles and led the team in total bases with 10 for the weekend. His slugging percentage is .833 for the year. Greiner also had a pickoff at second base from behind the plate.
PANKAKE DELIVERS
Also hitting his first home run of the season vs. Bucknell on Sunday was junior infielder/outfielder Joey Pankake. Pankake started at third base in the opener and started games two and three in left field. Pankake hit .400 (4-for-10) for the weekend with a .600 on-base percentage. He walked twice and was hit three times.
A LITTLE MORE ON GREINER & PANKAKE
Both Greiner and Pankake are two of 60 players to be named to USA Baseball’s initial watch list for the 2014 Golden Spikes Award, given to the top amateur baseball player in the United States.
MAX IT OUT
Sophomore infielder Max Schrock tied a school record with four walks in a game in the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday. He would add two stolen bases in the nightcap and homered in Sunday’s series finale. Schrock hit .333 (3-for-9) with a .600 on-base percentage.
For the season, Schrock has a .579 on-base percentage and is tied with Pankake for the team lead in runs scored with nine on the year. He also leads the team with three stolen bases.
SEDDON SEALS IT
Junior right-hander Joel Seddon pitched a perfect inning of relief with two strikeouts in his first appearance of the season in the 12-0 win vs. Bucknell.
DYNAMIC DC
Sophomore infielder DC Arendas went 3-for-4 with his first career homer, a run scored and three RBI in the season opening 17-4 win vs. Bucknell. Arendas hit .400 (4-for-10) for the weekend with a .538 on-base percentage and a .800 slugging percentage.
A BRIGHT SPOT
Junior outfielder Connor Bright has factored in a lot for the first four games. Bright had a RBI double in the 4-0 win on Tuesday vs. Presbyterian. He has doubled in all four game this year. Bright is hitting .467 (7-for-15) with five runs scored and eight RBI.
Bright hit .417 (5-for-12) in the Bucknell series with five runs scored, a team-high three doubles and seven RBI. Bright scored twice and drove in three runs in the 17-4 win. He added three hits and three runs in the 12-2 victory and finished the weekend with a two-run double in the 12-0 shutout.
LEADING OFF WITH MARCUS
Sophomore infielder Marcus Mooney has started all four games at shortstop and led off four games. He hit .308 (4-for-13) in the Bucknell series with a .400 on-base percentage and scored four runs. Mooney went 2-for-3 with three runs in the first game on Opening Day.
MINCEY
Junior right-hander Cody Mincey has two solid relief appearances under his belt. He pitched a perfect inning of relief in Sunday’s 12-0 win over Bucknell and followed that up with 1.1 scoreless innings vs. Presbyterian on Tuesday. He has five strikeouts in 2.1 innings
WIDENER
Freshman right-hander Taylor Widener had two scoreless innings of relief with two strikeouts in the 17-4 win over Bucknell. He also started as designated hitter in the Sunday series finale and went 1-for-3.
REAGAN WINS IT
Josh Reagan had 0.2 scoreless innings in the Sunday win over Bucknell and followed that up with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief to pick up his first career win in the 4-0 victory against Presbyterian.
VINNY
Sophomore left-hander Vince Fiori who struck out all three batters he faced in the 12-2 win over Bucknell.
GREAT SCOTT
Freshman right-hander Reed Scott pitched 0.2 perfect innings with a strikeout in the 12-2 win over Bucknell.
A DEBUT
The Gamecocks had 15 players make their debut in the series. Elliott Caldwell, Gene Cone, Wil Crowe, Jordan Gore, Logan Koch, Zack Madden, Brock Maxwell, Trey McNickle, Cody Mincey, Marcus Mooney, Weber Pike, Josh Reagan, Reed Scott, Matthew Vogel and Taylor Widener.
DOUBLE DIGITS
South Carolina’s three double-digit run totals in the Bucknell series is the first time since 1987 that the Gamecocks reached double digits in runs in all three games.
OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN
Grayson Greiner, Jordan Montgomery, Joey Pankake and Hunter Privette are the captains for the 2014 season.
