Feb. 10, 2015
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Former South Carolina left-handed pitcher Michael Roth will throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks begin the 2015 season on Friday at 4 p.m. hosting College of Charleston in the first of a three-game series.
Roth pitched on back-to-back national championship teams in 2010 and 2011 and won 26 career games as a member of the Garnet & Black and made 94 appearances on the mound, third-highest in school history.
Roth put together one of the most prolific single seasons in school history as he put together an impressive 14-3 record in 2011 with a miniscule 1.06 ERA in 21 games with 112 strikeouts in 145 innings pitched. His 14th win of the season took place in Omaha at T.D. Ameritrade Park, as Roth went 7 2/3 innings to help the Gamecocks clinch a second consecutive national title in a 5-2 victory over Florida.
Roth’s career postseason record was 8-0 with a 1.33 ERA in 95.0 innings pitched. His postseason ERA of 1.49 is the fifth lowest among all pitchers in College World Series history. He concluded his career with four CWS victories, one shy of the record five set by his teammate, Matt Price. He made eight career CWS starts; a record three starts in the Championship Finals and hurled a CWS record 60.1 innings pitched. He was s CWS All-Tournament Team recipient in 2011 and 2012.
Roth excelled in the classroom as well as he won the 2012 SEC H. Boyd McWhorter Male-Scholar Athlete of the Year award, the highest male student-athlete honor in the conference and received from Dr. Harris Pastides the 2012 President’s Award, the most prestigious honor given to a South Carolina student-athlete. He was a first-team Academic All-America in 2011 and 2012.
Roth made his major league debut in April 13, 2013 with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He is now a member of the Cleveland Indians organization.
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South Carolina won the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship in 2010 and 2011 at the College World Series. South Carolina has 11 College World Series appearances, including six in the last 13 years. The Gamecocks own the second-highest win total in the nation in the last 15 years (2000 to the present) with a 713-289 record. South Carolina is one of five schools to appear in the NCAA Regional every season in the last 15 years, including 11 NCAA Super Regional appearances in that span, one of only two schools to accomplish the feat.
