April 18, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina went 1-3 last week with a win at Georgia in a three-game SEC series. The Gamecocks are 29-8 and 11-4 in the SEC. The Gamecocks are tied with Florida for first place in the SEC. Carolina’s 11-4 SEC record is the best conference record by the Gamecocks at the halfway point of the conference slate since the 2011 team went 12-3 in the first 15 league games.

Record: 29-8
SEC: 11-4
Home: 22-1
Neutral: 0-2
Away: 7-5

Last Week: 1-3
4/13/16 ââ’¬” vs. North Carolina ââ’¬” L, 15-0
4/15/16 ââ’¬” at Georgia ââ’¬” W, 3-1
4/16/16 ââ’¬” at Georgia ââ’¬” L, 13-4
4/17/16 ââ’¬” at Georgia ââ’¬” L, 5-3

NOTES:
South Carolina went 1-3 last week with a win at Georgia in a three-game SEC series. The Gamecocks are 29-8 and 11-4 in the SEC. The Gamecocks are tied with Florida for first place in the SEC. Carolina’s 11-4 SEC record is the best conference record by the Gamecocks at the halfway point of the conference slate since the 2011 team went 12-3 in the first 15 league games.

Sophomore right-hander Clarke Schmidt pitched his second career complete game and his first in nine innings to earn the win in a 3-1 victory at Georgia on Friday in the series opener. Schmidt allowed just one run on five hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts to pick up the victory. He is now 8-1 on the year with a 1.66 ERA. Schmidt has allowed 15 runs, 12 earned, on 53 hits with 10 walks and 80 strikeouts in 65.0 innings pitched. Opponents are batting just .221 against him. He leads the SEC in wins, strikeouts and innings pitched and ranks second in ERA.

Junior outfielder Gene Cone was Carolina’s top hitter in the Georgia series going 5-for-12 (.417) with a pair of RBI, a home run and four runs scored. Cone owns a 23-game hitting streak and is two away from the single-season school record of 25 set by Greg Keatley in 1976 and three away from the school record 26-game hitting streak held by Whit Merrifield over the course of the 2009 and 2010 seasons (14 in 2009, 12 in 2010). Cone is batting .333 (38-for-114) for the season with 28 runs scored and 11 RBI. He has 22 walks to 12 strikeouts and owns a .439 on-base percentage. Cone is the team’s top hitter in SEC play with a .379 average (22-for-59) in 15 league games with 19 runs scored. He also has a team-high 13 walks and a .500 on-base percentage in league contests. That on-base percentage in 15 league games is second-best in the SEC with his batting average fifth-highest as well.

Sophomore outfielder Alex Destino is South Carolina’s leading hitter with a .349 average (44-for-126) with 22 runs scored, eight doubles, four homers and 30 RBI. He has a .390 on-base percentage and a team-best .508 slugging mark. Destino was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a double in Sunday’s 5-3 loss at Georgia.

Freshman right-hander Adam Hill allowed two runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts in five-plus innings of work in a no-decision in Sunday’s 5-3 loss at Georgia. Hill is 5-0 with a 2.95 ERA. He has allowed 14 runs on 32 hits in 42.2 innings with 16 walks and 50 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .213 against him. Hill’s ERA is 15th best in the SEC.

Freshman catcher Chris Cullen had a key two-out RBI single in Friday’s 3-1 win at Georgia. Cullen has driven in 11 of his 19 runs this year with two outs.

Despite a loss on Saturday at Georgia, freshman right-hander Braden Webb still remains one of the top pitchers in the SEC. Webb is 7-2 with a 3.46 ERA. He has allowed 25 runs, 20 earned, on 36 hits in 52.0 innings. He has 66 strikeouts and opponents are batting .193 against him. Webb’s opponents batting average is fifth-best in the SEC. He ranks seventh in the SEC in strikeouts.

Sophomore infielder Madison Stokes has hit safely in all five games he has started this year. Stokes is batting .300 (6-for-20) since returning to the field after a Jones fracture caused him to miss the first half of the regular season.

Junior left-hander Josh Reagan is one of the top relief pitchers in the SEC with a 1-1 record and 10 saves in 19 relief appearances. Reagan has allowed just three runs on the year and owns a 0.88 ERA. He has 27 strikeouts in 30.2 innings. Opponents are batting .152 against him.

Sophomore infielder Jonah Bride tied a season-high with a pair of hits in Sunday’s 5-3 loss at Georgia. Bride is batting .2262 (34-for-130) with 16 RBI and 29 runs scored.

Junior outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams leads Carolina with a team-high 15 multi-hit games and owns nine multi-RBI games, second-highest on the squad. Thompson-Williams is hitting .326 (43-for-132) with 28 RBI and 32 runs scored. He also leads the Gamecocks with a .441 on-base percentage. His slugging mark of .508 ties him with Destino for the team lead. He is tied for seventh in the SEC in walks with 26 on the year and tied for 13th in the league in runs scored.

Sophomore catcher John Jones is hitting .312 (44-for-141) with six homers, eight doubles and a team-high 35 RBI. H is at a .420 on-base percentage and .496 slugging mark. He is tied for eighth in the SEC in homers, tied for ninth in walks and ranks 11th in the league in RBI>

The Gamecocks own a team ERA of 3.26 on the year. South Carolina has allowed 137 runs, 120 earned, on 278 hits with 126 walks to 355 strikeouts in 331.0 innings pitched. Opponents are batting .227 against the Gamecocks.

South Carolina is hitting .290 (368-for-1270) as a team with a .381 on-base percentage and a .402 slugging percentage. The Gamecocks have hit 24 homers. Carolina is fielding .979 as a team with just 28 errors on the year.

South Carolina has outscored its opponents this year 234-137 including 60-23 in the first two innings of play. The Gamecocks are 22-2 on the year when scoring first and 14-2 when scoring in the first inning. South Carolina is 21-1 when out-hitting its opponent and 16-2 when hitting at least one home run. The Gamecocks are 27-0 when leading after the sixth inning. South Carolina is 11-4 in games decided by three runs or less. Carolina has reached double-digits in hits in 15 games this year with a 15-0 record with 10 hits or more.

NEXT WEEK
4/20/16 ââ’¬” vs. Furman (at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.) ââ’¬” 7 p.m.
4/22/16 ââ’¬” Missouri ââ’¬” 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
4/23/16 ââ’¬” Missouri ââ’¬” 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
4/24/16 ââ’¬” Missouri ââ’¬” 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)