March 21, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina went 5-0 last week with midweek wins at USC Upstate and vs. Davidson and a three-game series sweep vs. Arkansas. The Gamecocks are 20-2 on the year and tied atop the SEC standings with a 3-0 league mark after one week of conference play.

Record: 20-2
SEC: 3-0
Home: 18-0
Neutral: 0-1
Away: 2-1

Last Week: 5-0
3/15/16 ââ’¬” at USC Upstate ââ’¬” W, 12-6
3/16/16 ââ’¬” Davidson ââ’¬” W, 15-2
3/18/16 ââ’¬” Arkansas ââ’¬” W, 10-6
3/19/16 ââ’¬” Arkansas ââ’¬” W, 6-2
3/20/16 ââ’¬” Arkansas ââ’¬” W, 8-6

NOTES:
Sophomore catcher John Jones had a strong week at the plate as he hit .409 to help the Gamecocks to five victories this past week including a series sweep against No. 13 Arkansas. Jones hit .500 (7-for-14) vs. Arkansas with a pair of game-winning home runs. Jones opened the series going 3-for-5 with a pair of run scored and a RBI in the 10-6 win. He followed that up with a two-run homer to break a 2-2 tied in the 6-2 win over Arkansas on Saturday. Jones capped the weekend off going 3-for-5 with a double and a game-winning three-rum homer in the bottom of the eighth inning that lifted Carolina to an 8-6 victory vs. the Razorbacks. Jones’ five RBIs in Sunday’s contest was a career-high as well. Jones leads the SEC in batting average (.422) and is tied for the league lead with six home runs and 57 total bases. He ranks third in RBIs (31), third in on-base percentage (.515), fourth in slugging percentage (.687)

Sophomore right-hander Clarke Schmidt leads the Gamecocks on the mound as he owns a 5-0 record with a 1.27 ERA. Schmidt is one of only three pitchers in the SEC with five wins on the year. Schmidt has allowed just five runs on 22 hits in 35.1 innings of work with six walks and 43 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .180 against him. He ranks third in innings pitched and strikeouts and fifth in earned run average. Schmidt pitched seven innings and struck out a career-high 11 batters to earn the win in Friday’s 10-6 victory over Arkansas.

Junior outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams has reached base in all 22 games this year and is on an 11-game hitting streak. In his current hitting streak, Thompson-Williams has also scored at least one run in each of those games. Thompson-Williams went 7-for-17 (.412) in last week’s games including 2-for-3 with three runs in the 15-2 win over Davidson, 2-for-4 with two runs a triple and two RBI in Friday’s 10-6 win over Arkansas and a two-run triple in Sunday’s 8-6 victory over the Razorbacks. For the season, Thompson-Williams is hitting .395 (32-for-81) with 28 runs scored, six doubles, two triples, four homers and 20 RBI. He has a team-high 16 walks, has a .505 on-base percentage and is at a .667 slugging mark. Thompson-Williams is tied for second in the SEC in runs scored is tied for fifth with 54 total bases, is fifth in on-base percentage, seventh in slugging percentage, tied for seventh in walks and hits and ninth in batting average. He is also 9-for-10 in stolen base attempts, which is tied for seventh in the league.

Freshman right-hander Braden Webb earned a win his first career SEC start logging a career-high 6.1 innings and tying a career-high with seven strikeouts in the 6-2 win over 13th ranked Arkansas. Webb allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits with four walks to improve to 4-1 on the year. Webb has allowed 10 runs, five earned, in 26.1 innings of work this year to go along with a 1.71 ERA. He has 28 strikeouts and opponents are batting .147 against him. Webb’s .147 opponents batting average is second-best in the league with his ERA ranked ninth in the SEC also.

Sophomore outfielder/first baseman Alex Destino is on a 14-game hitting streak for the Gamecocks that dates back to the March 1 game at The Citadel. Destino’s top performance of the week was a 3-for-4 day at the plate with two runs and two RBI in Friday’s 10-6 win over the Razorbacks. For the season, Destino is batting .364 (32-for-88) with 19 runs scored, three doubles, four homers and 22 RBI. He is slugging .534 as well. Destino’s 22 RBI ranks him 12th in the SEC.

Junior left-hander Josh Reagan has not allowed a run in 16.2 innings of relief work this year. Reagan has a 1-0 record with six saves in 10 relief appearances. He has allowed just seven hits and two walks while striking out 15 batters. Opponents are batting .127 against him. Reagan pitched 0.2 scoreless in Friday’s 10-6 win over Arkansas and worked 2.1 scoreless for his first win of the year with three strikeouts in the 8-6 win over the Razorbacks. Reagan leads the SEC with six saves.

Freshman infielder LT Tolbert hit .455 (5-for-11) in the Arkansas series with a double and five runs scored. He also hit .409 (9-for-22) for the week with a two-run homer on Tuesday at USC Upstate and a 2-for-5 game vs. Davidson. Tolbert tied a career-high in hits in Friday’s 10-6 win over Arkansas going 3-for-5 with a run. He capped the weekend off going 2-for-4 with a double and two runs in Sunday’s 8-6 victory.

Sophomore right-hander Tyler Johnson picked up his first career save in Saturday’s 6-2 win over Arkansas. Johnson pitched 2.2 scoreless with two strikeouts and just one hit allowed. For the season, Johnson has 18 strikeouts in 12.1 innings with opponents batting .209 against him and a 3.65 ERA.

Junior outfielder Gene Cone hit .333 (4-for-12) in the Arkansas series with a pair of walks. Cone had five runs scored in the Arkansas series. He was 2-for-4 with two runs in Friday’s 10-6 win as well as 1-for-4 with a run on Saturday and 1-for-4 with two runs on Sunday. Cone is on an eight-game hitting streak as well. He is hitting .304 (17-for-56) with seven RBI and 13 runs scored.

Freshman right-hander Adam Hill continues to impress as he opened Sunday’s game retiring the first eight batters he faced. Hill struck out five and walked one in three-plus innings. He is 4-0 on the year with 37 strikeouts to four walks in 22.1 innings pitched. Hill’s 37 strikeouts ranks tied for eighth in the SEC.

Senior infielder Marcus Mooney tied a career-high on Tuesday and Wednesday in hits going 4-for-5 in the 12-6 win over USC Upstate and 4-for-4 in Wednesday’s 10-6 win over Davidson. Mooney added a key two-run single in Saturday’s 6-2 win over the Razorbacks. He is hitting .313 (21-for-67) with 13 RBI and 15 runs scored. Mooney has a .439 on-base percentage with 11 walks, four hit by pitches and just two strikeouts.

Junior right-hander Reed Scott is right behind Reagan out of the bullpen with nine relief appearances on the year. Scott pitched one scoreless inning of relief in Friday’s 10-6 win over Arkansas and 3.1 scoreless with a season-high three strikeouts in Sunday’s 8-6tt win. Scott is 1-0 with a 2.65 ERA. He has allowed five runs on 16 hits in 17.0 innings.

Freshman catcher Chris Cullen caught four of the five games this week. He had a two-run double at USC Upstate and a two-run double in Friday’s 10-6 win over the Razorbacks. He is hitting .291 (16-for-55) with four doubles, six runs and 13 RBI.

Junior right-hander Matt Vogel won his first career game in Saturday’s 15-2 win over Davidson with two innings of work out of the bullpen. He tied a season-high with three strikeouts. Vogel has struck out eight in four innings of work.

Senior infielder DC Arendas tallied a two-run double on Tuesday at USC Upstate, was 2-for-2 with two runs scored in Wednesday’s win vs. Davidson and went 2-for-4 with a double, a homer and a season-high three RBI in Friday’s 10-6 win over Arkansas. Arendas is hitting .255 with a .381 on-base percentage.

South Carolina’s pitching staff is second in the SEC with a 2.25 ERA and second in the league with a .208 opponents batting average. The Gamecocks have struck out 217 batters in 196.0 innings, tied for third-best in the league. South Carolina has allowed 60 runs, 49 earned, on 147 hits. South Carolina has allowed five runs or less in 19 of 22 games.

South Carolina is hitting .325 as a team (245-for-755) on the year with a .415 on-base percentage and a .458 slugging mark. The Gamecocks rank second in the SEC in hitting and on-base percentage as well as third in runs scored with 166 on the year. South Carolina’s 19 home runs is tied for fourth also.

South Carolina is 16-0 on the year when out-hitting its opponent. The Gamecocks are 14-0 on the year when hitting at least one home run and 17-0 when scoring first in a game. South Carolina is 6-1 in games decided by three runs or less. The Gamecocks are 19-0 when leading entering the seventh inning and won its first game of the year on Sunday when trailing entering the seventh.

NEXT WEEK
3/24/16 ââ’¬” at Ole Miss ââ’¬” 7:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network Plus)
3/25/16 ââ’¬” at Ole Miss ââ’¬” 7:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network Plus)
3/26/16 ââ’¬” at Ole Miss ââ’¬” 3 p.m. ET (SEC Network)