April 21, 2014
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina won two of three games at Auburn last week. The Gamecocks are now 30-10 and 10-8 in the SEC. Carolina sits at second place in the SEC Eastern Division and in a tie for fourth place overall with four conference weekends left to play.
Record: 30-10
SEC: 10-8
Home: 23-4
Neutral: 1-0
Away: 6-6
Last Week: 2-3
4/15/14 – vs. Charleston Southern (L, 4-1)
4/16/14 – at The Citadel (L, 10-8)
4/19/14 – at Auburn (L, 4-2)
4/19/14 – at Auburn (W, 3-2)
4/20/14 – at Auburn (W, 4-3)
NOTES
South Carolina won a pair of one-run contests at Auburn to claim a 14th consecutive series vs. the Tigers, a stretch that began in 1998. South Carolina is 7-3 in one-run games this year as well as 15-8 in games decided by three runs or less. The Gamecocks are 28-5 on the year when allowing five runs or less in a game and 13-1 on the year when scoring six runs or more. South Carolina is 21-1 when leading after the sixth inning and 9-9 when trailing or tied including six victories when trailing or tied entering the ninth inning.
Junior catcher Grayson Greiner hit .500 (6-for-12) for the Auburn series with three hits in Saturday’s 3-2 win as well as three hits in the 4-3 victory in the series finale. Greiner drove in a pair of runs in the 4-3 contest. He is hitting .326 (44-for-135) with seven doubles, four homers and a team-high 36 RBI. Greiner owns a team-best .467 slugging percentage.
Junior right-hander Joel Seddon picked up a win and a save in the Auburn series. Seddon pitched a perfect ninth inning to claim his 10th save in the 3-2 win vs. the Tigers. He followed that up with 2.1 scoreless innings in the 4-3 rubber game to earn a victory. Seddon has won two games and is 10-for-11 in save opportunities this year. He sports a 0.33 ERA with just two runs, one earned, allowed on 10 hits and seven walks in 27.1 innings of relief. He has struck out 34 batters and opponents are hitting a miniscule .112 against him in 17 relief appearances.
Junior first baseman Kyle Martin leads the Gamecocks at the plate with a .340 batting average (53-for-156) tied with junior outfielder Connor Bright. Martin is on a nine-game hitting streak after going 4-for-12 in the Auburn series including a pair of hits in the 4-3 win in series finale on Sunday. Martin has a team-high 17 multi-hit games. Martin’s .320 average (24-for-75) in SEC games leads the team as well.
Despite a no-decision, sophomore left-hander Jack Wynkoop was effective in the 3-2 win at Auburn. He worked seven-plus innings and allowed two runs, both unearned, on eight hits with no walks. Wynkoop is 5-2 for the season with a 2.07 ERA. He has pitched a team-high 61.0 innings and has 45 strikeouts to just eight walks. Wynkoop picked of a his team-best fifth runner of the season as well on Saturday.
Freshman outfielder Gene Cone came through for the Gamecocks in both victories at Auburn. He belted a career-high three hits including a game-tying RBI double in the top of the ninth inning to help South Carolina rally for a 3-2 win at Auburn on Saturday. He then followed that up on Sunday going 1-for-3 with game-winning RBI sacrifice fly in the eighth inning of South Carolina’s 4-3 win at Auburn.
Junior left-hander Jordan Montgomery hurled his first complete game of the year in a 4-2 loss at Auburn. Despite the loss, Montgomery gave a great effort as he limited the Tigers to just four hits with all four runs coming in the first inning. Montgomery is 5-3 with a 3.62 ERA. He has 59 strikeouts in 59.2 innings to lead the team. Opponents are hitting .235 against him.
Sophomore infielder DC Arendas went 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored in the 4-3 win at Auburn and hit .333 (4-for-12) in the series. In the 10-8 loss at The Citadel, Arendas reached base all five times at the plate with a homer, three walks and a hit by pitch. Arendas is hitting .254 (29-for-114) with a .356 on-base percentage and 16 walks, tied for second-highest on the team.
Junior right-hander Cody Mincey had a pair of scoreless outings out of the pen in the 3-2 and 4-3 wins at Auburn. Mincey is 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA in a team-high 21 relief appearances. He has 35 strikeouts in 24 innings with opponents hitting .173 against him.
Freshman infielder Jordan Gore came up with his second game-winning hit of his career with a RBI single in the ninth inning of South Carolina’s 3-2 win over Auburn.
Freshman right-hander Wil Crowe was effective in a no-decision in Sunday’s 4-3 win at Auburn. He allowed three runs on six hits in 5.2 innings with two walks and six strikeouts. Crowe is 6-2 with a 2.37 ERA in 60.2 innings pitched.
South Carolina is hitting .282 (388-for-1374) for the year with a .355 on-base percentage and a .384 slugging percentage. The Gamecocks own a 2.10 ERA in 364.0 innings, opponents batting .219 against the Gamecocks. South Carolina is fielding .974 as a team with 39 errors.
NEXT WEEK
4/22 – Davidson – 7 p.m. (FOX Sports South)
4/23 – USC Upstate – 7 p.m. (FOX Sports South)
4/25 – Alabama – 7 p.m.
4/26 – Alabama – 2 p.m. (ESPN)
4/27 – Alabama – 1 p.m. (ESPN)
