March 7, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina went 2-2 last week including a 6-3 win at The Citadel and an 8-1 win over Clemson in Columbia. The Gamecocks are 10-2 on the year after three weeks of action.
Record: 10-2
SEC: 0-0
Home: 9-0
Neutral: 0-1
Away: 1-1
Last Week: 2-2
3/1/16 — at The Citadel — W, 6-3
3/4/16 — Clemson — W, 8-1
3/5/16 — vs. Clemson — L, 5-0
3/6/16 — at Clemson — L, 4-1
NOTES:
South Carolina went 2-2 last week including a 6-3 win at The Citadel and an 8-1 win over Clemson in Columbia. The Gamecocks are 10-2 on the year after three weeks of action.
Sophomore right-hander Clarke Schmidt struck out a career-high nine batters in eight scoreless innings of work in Friday’s 8-1 win over Clemson. Schmidt’s outing was the longest of his career. He is 3-0 on the year with a 0.43 ERA after three starts. Schmidt has struck out 23 batters to just five walks. He has allowed one run on nine hits in 21.0 innings of work. Opponents are batting .143 against him. Schmidt earned the Tom Price Award as MVP of the Gamecocks for the Clemson series. Schmidt’s ERA ranks second-best in the SEC. he is also fifth-best in opposing batting average and tied for sixth-highest in the league in strikeouts. Schmidt is one of nine pitchers in the SEC with three wins on the year.
Sophomore Alex Destino was 5-for-5 with four RBI in Friday’s 8-1 win over Clemson. Destino’s five hits are a career-high as well. He is hitting .340 (18-for-53) for the season with a pair of homers, 16 RBI and eight runs scored. He has a .472 slugging percentage also. Destino is second on the team with three multi-RBI games and tied for second with five multi-hit games. He enters the week with a four-game hitting streak. Destino ranks tied for sixth in the SEC in runs batted in.
Freshman right-hander Adam Hill pitched five scoreless innings on the way to his second victory of the year in Tuesday’s 6-3 win at The Citadel. Hill allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out eight batters to improve to 2-0 on the year. He has 19 strikeouts in 11.0 innings pitched in two starts for the Gamecocks. Opponents are batting .143 against him.
Sophomore catcher Johns Jones had a pair of multi-hit games in the week. He was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored in Tuesday’s 6-3 win at The Citadel. He went 2-for-3 with a walk in Sunday’s game at Clemson as well. Jones leads the Gamecocks with a .500 average (21-for-42) with 14 runs scored and 19 RBI. He owns a .618 on-base percentage and a .786 slugging mark. Jones ranks second in the SEC in batting average and on-base percentage along with third in slugging percentage and runs batted in. Jones has a team-high six multi-RBI games and a team-high seven multi-hit contests.
Junior left-hander Josh Reagan put together two scoreless appearances out of the bullpen. Reagan has not allowed a run in five relief appearances for the season. He has pitched 9.1 scoreless innings with just two hits allowed and two walks while striking out 11 batters. Reagan pitched a perfect ninth inning in Tuesday’s 6-3 win at The Citadel for his third save of the year. Reagan added 4.1 scoreless innings in Sunday’s contest at Clemson. Reagan is tied for second in the SEC in saves.
Junior outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams has reached base safely in all 12 games for the year. Thompson-Williams opened the week going 3-for-5 with a run scored in the 6-3 win at The Citadel. He followed that up with two walks and two runs scored in Friday’s 8-1 win vs. Clemson. Thompson-Williams doubled and scored in Sunday’s game at Clemson as well. Thompson-Williams is third on the Gamecocks with a .333 batting average (15-for-45) for the season. He has scored 13 runs and has a .464 on-base percentage.
Freshman right-hander Braden Webb struck out a season-high seven batters in Saturday’s game vs. Clemson. Webb has 17 strikeouts in 14.1 innings. Opponents are batting .148 against him. He is 2-1 with a 2.51 ERA on the year.
Sophomore infielder Jonah Bride went 2-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI in Friday’s 8-1 win vs. Clemson. He drove in a run also in last Tuesday’s win at The Citadel. Bride is hitting .300 (12-for-40) with six RBI and 15 runs scored and a .481 on-base percentage. Bride’s 15 runs scored is tied for fifth-highest in the SEC.
Sophomore right-hander Brandon Murray retired all eight batters he faced for 2.2 perfect innings in the 6-3 win at The Citadel. Murray has a 1.50 ERA in four relief appearances. He has four strikeouts to no walks.
Senior infielder Marcus Mooney is tied for third-best in hitting for the team with a .333 batting average (11-for-33). He has seven walks, two hit by pitches to two strikeouts. He owns a .476 on-base percentage. Mooney had two hits and a run scored in Friday’s 8-1 win vs. Clemson. He had a two-out RBI single in the 6-3 win at The Citadel.
Nine different Gamecocks recorded at least one hit with six different players driving in one run apiece in the 6-3 win at The Citadel.
South Carolina pitchers own a team ERA of 1.95, third-best in the SEC and are tied for the league lead in opponents batting average with opposing teams hitting just .180 on the year against the Gamecocks. South Carolina has 122 strikeouts to 40 walks in 106.0 innings pitched. The Gamecocks have allowed five runs or less in all 12 games this year.
South Carolina is hitting .311 (128-for-412) as a team with a .409 on-base percentage and a .410 slugging mark. The Gamecocks are fielding .977 on the year. Carolina has not committed an error in six of 12 games this year.
NEXT WEEK
3/8/16 — Wofford — 7 p.m.
3/9/16 — Furman — 7 p.m.
3/11/16 — Charleston Southern — 7 p.m.
3/12/16 — Charleston Southern — 4 p.m.
3/13/16 — Charleston Southern — 1:30 p.m.
