March 6, 2014
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (12-0) continues non-conference action this weekend with a three-game series vs. Brown (0-0). First pitch for the opener on Friday is 7 p.m. with Saturday’s contest at 4 p.m. and Sunday’s series finale set for 12:30 p.m. Friday and Sunday’s games can be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network from IMG College including flagship station 107.5 FM “The Game.” Saturday’s game will be on 1320 AM. Derek Scott and Tommy Moody will have the call Friday and Saturday with Andy Demetra and Moody calling the Sunday contest.
South Carolina is ranked No. 1 by Collegiate Baseball and the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll as well as No. 3 by Baseball America and No. 4 by Perfect Game.
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: Friday and Sunday – Gamecock Radio Network/Flagship WNKT FM 107.5 “The Game” in Columbia. Saturday – 1320 AM. Andy Demetra, Derek Scott & Tommy Moody have the call.
Internet: Additional coverage on Twitter @GamecockBasebll and Facebook/Gamecocksonline
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Live Stats
PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Friday
South Carolina – Jordan Montgomery (Jr. LHP) 2-0, 2.60 ERA, 17.1 IP, 8 BB, 17 SO
Brown – Anthony Galan (Sr. RHP)
Saturday
South Carolina – Jack Wynkoop (So. LHP) 3-0, 1.96 ERA, 18.1 IP, 3 BB, 19 SO
Brown – Dave St. Lawrence (Jr. RHP)
Sunday
South Carolina – Wil Crowe (Fr. RHP) 2-0, 1.40 ERA, 19.1 IP, 2 BB, 12 SO
Brown- Christian Taugner (Fr. RHP)
Live Video
A LOOK BACK
South Carolina swept a two-game midweek series this week with Stetson. Carolina won 7-1 on Tuesday and rallied for a 4-2 victory on Wednesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Gamecocks scored six runs in the first two innings on the way to a 7-1 victory. Freshman left-hander Josh Reagan worked five innings allowing one run, unearned, on six hits while striking out six batters to pick up the win and is now 2-0 on the year. Matthew Vogel hurled two scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit while striking out two batters. Taylor Widener and John Parke each added scoreless innings as well to close it out for the Gamecocks. Grayson Greiner went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Max Schrock and Marcus Mooney had two hits apiece while Joey Pankake accounted for a pair of RBI and scored two runs.
In Wednesday’s 4-2 win, Weber Pike’s two-out two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning capped a four-run frame as Carolina rallied for the two-run victory.
Trailing 2-0, the Gamecocks mounted a comeback as Tanner English led off with a single followed by a walk by Marcus Mooney. Joey Pankake would drive in South Carolina’s first run with a one-out single to score English. With two outs and runners on second and third, the Gamecocks tied it as Connor Bright reached on an infield single that scored pinch runner Gene Cone. After Bright stole second base, Pike would lift a 0-2 pitch into center for a single scoring a pair of runners and giving Carolina a two-run lead.
Cody Mincey would retire all three batters he faced in the eighth inning and Joel Seddon would close out the game with a perfect ninth inning for his fourth save. Senior right-hander Hunter Privette earned a win with one scoreless inning of relief.
WHAT A START
South Carolina’s 12-0 start is the best start in school history since the Gamecocks opened the 2004 season with an 18-0 record. The school record for best start was 22-0 in the 2000 season.
MONTGOMERY GETS IT STARTED
Junior left-hander Jordan Montgomery battled in a no-decision on Friday vs. Clemson. Montgomery struck out a season-high nine batters in 5.1 innings of work. He is 2-0 for the season with a 2.60 ERA in 17.2 innings with 17 strikeouts.
A BRIGHT SPOT
Junior outfielder Connor Bright has hit safely in all 12 games and owns a 13-game hitting streak dating back to last year. Bright hit .500 (6-for-12) in the Clemson series with a pair of runs scored as well as a pair of RBI. Bright is hitting .444 (20-for-45) for the season with 10 runs scored and 14 RBI. He leads the team with six doubles. Bright tied a career-high in hits with a 3-for-4 day at the plate in the 5-3 win at Clemson on Sunday.
JACK OF ALL TRADES
Sophomore left-hander Jack Wynkoop is now 3-0 on the year after earning a win in Saturday’s 10-2 victory over the Tigers. He allowed just two runs on nine hits in six-plus innings with a walk and three strikeouts. Wynkoop owns a 1.96 ERA on the year in 18.1 innings with just three walks and a team-high 19 strikeouts.
Wynkoop pitched 7.1 scoreless innings and struck out a career-high 10 batters in a 2-0 win over Eastern Kentucky on February 22. He allowed just three hits and one walk.
K-MART
Junior first baseman Kyle Martin is among the team’s leaders in hitting with a .405 average (17-for-42) on the year. Martin has driven in 11 runs and scored 14 as well. He went 2-for-4 in both the 9-6 and 10-2 wins vs. the Tigers. Martin has a team-high six multi-hit games.
SEDDON SEALS IT
Junior right-hander Joel Seddon has not allowed a hit or a run in seven relief appearances this year. He has four saves and 13 strikeouts in 8.2 innings pitched.
Recently, Seddon had a pair of saves vs. Clemson and a save in the 4-2 win on Wednesday vs. Stetson.
WHAT A RELIEF
South Carolina’s bullpen has not allowed a run in 36.1 consecutive innings going back to the final inning of the first game of the season vs. Bucknell. In the Clemson series, Cody Mincey, Joel Seddon and Vince Fiori pitched nine scoreless innings of relief with just four hits allowed and three walks while striking out 11 batters.
GREINER SHINES
Junior catcher Grayson Greiner won the Tom Price award as the MVP for South Carolina in the weekend series vs. the Tigers. Greiner hit .400 (4-for-10) for the weekend with four runs scored. His grand slam homer on Friday helped lift South Carolina to a 9-6 win. He had a team-high four walks on the weekend as well. Greiner is hitting .350 (14-for-40) with 12 runs scored and a team-high 18 RBI. He also leads the Gamecocks with three homers on the year. His on-base percentage is .458 with a .625 slugging percentage.
MINCEY MAKES AN APPEARANCE
Junior right-hander Cody Mincey picked up a pair of wins in relief vs. Clemson. Mincey hurled 2.2 scoreless innings with just one hit allowed and four strikeouts in the 9-6 win on Friday. He had two scoreless innings with three strikeouts and two hits allowed in Sunday’s 5-3 win.
Mincey has not allowed a run in a team-high eight relief appearances with just four hits allowed. He has 17 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched.
A LITTLE BIT OF ENGLISH
Junior outfielder Tanner English currently owns a six-game hitting streak. He has raised his batting average to .326 (14-for-43) with five runs scored and 10 RBI.
He went 2-for-4 with a run scored vs. Stetson in the 4-2 win and had a hit and a run scored in the 7-1 win vs. the Hatters the previous day. He played well in the Clemson series as he went 2-for-3 with the game-winning double in Sunday’s 5-3 win against Clemson. English also had a solo homer in the Friday night 9-6 win over the Tigers.
CROWE MAKES AN IMPACT
Freshman right-hander Wil Crowe had a quality start in the 5-3 win on Sunday vs. the Tigers. Crowe allowed three runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings with two strikeouts. Crowe is 2-0 on the year with a 1.40 ERA in a team-high 19.1 innings. He has 12 strikeouts to just two walks and 12 hits allowed. Opponents are hitting .185 against him.
Crowe was honored twice by the Southeastern Conference in the first two weeks of the regular season. On February 24, he earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors after working 6.1 scoreless innings in a 6-0 win over Eastern Kentucky with just four hits allowed and one walk to pick up his second win of the season.
The previous week, Crowe was SEC Pitcher of the Week. He 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.
MOONEY MAKES A MARK
Sophomore infielder Marcus Mooney joined English and Greiner with a team-high five RBI in the weekend series vs. Clemson. Mooney’s two-out base hit in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 5-3 tied the game up as Carolina rallied to a victory. Mooney also had a two-run single in with two outs in the third inning of Saturday’s 10-2 win against the Tigers. Mooney is hitting .310 (13-for-42) on the year with a .420 on-base percentage.
AT THE PLATE, IN THE FIELD & ON THE MOUND
South Carolina is hitting .317 (128-for-404) for the season with a .409 team on-base percentage and a .446 slugging percentage. The Gamecocks have a .977 fielding percentage with just 10 errors on the year. South Carolina pitchers own a 1.50 team ERA with 112 strikeouts in 108.0 innings. The Gamecocks have allowed 20 runs, 18 earned, on 83 hits. Opponents are batting only .208 against the Gamecocks.
IN A PINCH WITH BRISON
Senior Brison Celek came up with a big pinch-hit single in Sunday’s 5-3 win vs. the Tigers. Celek is hitting .353 (6-for-17) in seven games played with four starts.
ON THE OFFENSIVE
The Gamecocks hit .300 against Clemson (33-for-110) with 24 runs scored and just three errors in the field.
HOME SWEET HOME
South Carolina has two sellouts this year and 32 in school history at Carolina Stadium. South Carolina has totaled 73,781 in attendance in the first 10 home games for an average of 7,378 per contest.
South Carolina is 165-32 in all-time games at Carolina Stadium, a winning percentage of .837. That is the best winning percentage of all 14 SEC schools since opening the facility.
PANKAKE DELIVERS
Junior infielder/outfielder Joey Pankake leads the team with 17 runs scored. His on-base percentage is .352 as he has drawn five walks and been hit by four pitches.
SCOUTING BROWN
Brown is one of the last Division I schools to open up its college baseball season as the Bears open the year at Carolina Stadium.
Brown returns 21 letterwinners from last season. Senior right-hander Anthony Galan will get the ball for Brown on Friday. He pitched four complete games and hurled 54.2 innings last season. He finished the year with a 2-5 record.
Junior outfielder Will Marcal is the team’s leading returning hitter. He hit .324 (47-for-145) with 20 runs scored, three homers and 23 RBI. He was a second-team All-Ivy League recipient. Also a second-team All-Ivy League returnee is senior J.J. Franco. He and sophomore Tim McKeithan make up the double play combination for Brown. McKeithan hit .317 (20-for-63) last year as well. Senior outfielder Daniel Massey is back in the outfield as well in left. He led Brown with four homers in 2013.
LAST TIME VS. BROWN
South Carolina last faced Brown in 2010 and swept the three-game series.
The teams opened the series with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 13 2010 with Carolina winning game one 8-4 and earning a 10-7 victory in the nightcap.
Parker Bangs homered and drove in a career-high four RBI in the 8-4 win with Blake Cooper picking up the win with six innings of work with just two runs allowed.
Game two of the series saw the Gamecocks rally for a the three-run victory. Trailing 6-2 entering the bottom of the fourth inning, the Gamecocks sent 10 batters to the plate and broke ahead with seven runs to take a 9-6 lead. Brady Thomas singled to open the inning and scored on Adam Matthews’ RBI double. That was followed up by another RBI hit as Robert Beary roped a triple to left center for the second run of the inning. Christian Walker kept the momentum going as he drove in Beary with RBI sacrifice fly. Scott Wingo would walk with one out followed by a single by Whit Merrifield and a RBI base hit from Adrian Morales. Pinch hitter Jeffery Jones added a two-run single and Nick Ebert closed out the scoring with RBI sacrifice fly that saw Whit Merrifield score all the way from second base, as Ebert just missed a home run to deep left centerfield.
Jay Brown would allow just one run in 4.1 innings of relief to pick up the victory.
In the series finale, senior catcher Kyle Enders went 3-for-5 with a career-high four RBI including a two-out RBI base hit in the 10th inning to lift South Carolina to a 6-5 win over Brown.
The see-saw affair saw the Gamecocks break the tie in extra innings. Evan Marzilli would open the 10th inning with a double down the left field line to put a runner on base for the Gamecocks. After a sacrifice bunt by Scott Wingo advanced Marzilli to third, the Bears loaded the bases with a pair of intentional walks to Whit Merrifield and Adrian Morales. Brown reliever Matt Kimball battled and struck out Nick Ebert to get the second out of the inning that set the stage for Enders’ at bat. On a 1-2 count, Enders drilled a pitch on the outside corner to right field for a single scoring Marzilli and giving the Gamecocks a one-run victory.
