The No. 4 South Carolina Gamecocks (18-5, 4-2) are set to take on The Citadel Bulldogs (10-15) Wednesday night at Carolina Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7 pm.
The Bulldogs are coming in off of a 13-5 win over cross-town rival Charleston Southern, but have struggled lately losing nine of their last 12 games.
The Gamecocks are coming into the match-up on the strength of a big series win at then-No.1 Florida and are looking to build on that win.
USC will be without the services of RF Adam Matthews, however, as he suffered a hamstring injury in Sunday's 4-3 win over Florida. It is unlikely that Matthews will be available for this weekend's series against Kentucky either.
Junior pitcher Steven Neff will also be sitting out with tendinitis in his left shoulder. Neff is 2-0 on the year and has a 2.49 ERA allowing 17 hits in 21.2 IP so far this year. He also has 18 strikeouts and six walks.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
South Carolina tops Rhode Island 17-8
The No. 4 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks (16-4) (2-1) defeated the Rhode Island Rams (9-8) by the score of 17-8 Wednesday night at Carolina Stadium.
After beating up on College of Charleston Tuesday night, 24-4, the Gamecocks continued their hot hitting and for the second straight night South Carolina had all nine starters had at least one hit and eight of the nine Gamecock hitters batted in at least one run.
Reliever Jose Mata (2-0) recorded the win for South Carolina, he threw four innings and allowed only one run on two hits, no walks, striking out two Rhode Island batters. Rhode Island starter Brian Bodjiak (2-1) took the loss for the Rams allowing five runs on two hits and three walks, facing only five batters.
Carolina jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the first inning on the strength of two RBI doubles by Peter Mooney and Brady Thomas, as well as a two-run homer from Jackie Bradley, Jr., his team-leading sixth of the year. Robert Beary also added an RBI hit for the Gamecocks in the first inning.
Rhode Island struck back in the top of the second, scoring three runs on a bases loaded walk by Dan Haverstick, scoring Tom Columbe. A fielding error by reliever Jose Mata helped Rhode Island tack on another two runs, cutting the deficit in half, making it 6-3.
The Gamecocks, again, batted around in the bottom of the second to add four more runs to their total, making it 10-3. Back-to-back walks to begin the frame gave way to a two-out rally to end the inning. Bradley, Jr. and Christian Walker both reached and scored on an RBI double by Beary and an RBI bunt single from Evan Marzilli, respectively. After a walk to Scott Wingo that loaded the bases, Adam Matthews delivered an RBI single to left field plating two more Gamecocks, giving them a seven run lead.
Rhode Island was able to scratch one across in the fifth on a two-out RBI double by Ty Muller, scoring Jeff Cammans. The Gamecocks, however, responded with two more runs in the bottom half of the fifth on an Adrian Morales solo home run and a Scott Wingo RBI single to make it 15-4. The lead extended to 17-4 when Morales came through with an RBI double and Walker scored on a wild pitch. Rhode Island was able to score another four runs over the eighth and ninth innings to make the final score 17-8.
South Carolina finished with 19 hits and have now outscored their opponents 41-12 in the last two nights. Robert Beary finished the game with a career-high four RBI and tied his career-high with four hits and scored three runs.
South Carolina will head to Gainesville, FL this weekend to take on the top-ranked Florida Gators in a three-game weekend series starting Friday.
After beating up on College of Charleston Tuesday night, 24-4, the Gamecocks continued their hot hitting and for the second straight night South Carolina had all nine starters had at least one hit and eight of the nine Gamecock hitters batted in at least one run.
Reliever Jose Mata (2-0) recorded the win for South Carolina, he threw four innings and allowed only one run on two hits, no walks, striking out two Rhode Island batters. Rhode Island starter Brian Bodjiak (2-1) took the loss for the Rams allowing five runs on two hits and three walks, facing only five batters.
Carolina jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the first inning on the strength of two RBI doubles by Peter Mooney and Brady Thomas, as well as a two-run homer from Jackie Bradley, Jr., his team-leading sixth of the year. Robert Beary also added an RBI hit for the Gamecocks in the first inning.
Rhode Island struck back in the top of the second, scoring three runs on a bases loaded walk by Dan Haverstick, scoring Tom Columbe. A fielding error by reliever Jose Mata helped Rhode Island tack on another two runs, cutting the deficit in half, making it 6-3.
The Gamecocks, again, batted around in the bottom of the second to add four more runs to their total, making it 10-3. Back-to-back walks to begin the frame gave way to a two-out rally to end the inning. Bradley, Jr. and Christian Walker both reached and scored on an RBI double by Beary and an RBI bunt single from Evan Marzilli, respectively. After a walk to Scott Wingo that loaded the bases, Adam Matthews delivered an RBI single to left field plating two more Gamecocks, giving them a seven run lead.
Rhode Island was able to scratch one across in the fifth on a two-out RBI double by Ty Muller, scoring Jeff Cammans. The Gamecocks, however, responded with two more runs in the bottom half of the fifth on an Adrian Morales solo home run and a Scott Wingo RBI single to make it 15-4. The lead extended to 17-4 when Morales came through with an RBI double and Walker scored on a wild pitch. Rhode Island was able to score another four runs over the eighth and ninth innings to make the final score 17-8.
South Carolina finished with 19 hits and have now outscored their opponents 41-12 in the last two nights. Robert Beary finished the game with a career-high four RBI and tied his career-high with four hits and scored three runs.
South Carolina will head to Gainesville, FL this weekend to take on the top-ranked Florida Gators in a three-game weekend series starting Friday.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
#4 South Carolina hosts College of Charleston tonight at 7pm
The No. 4 South Carolina Gamecocks (14-4) (2-1) will take on in-state rival College of Charleston (15-6) (2-1) Tuesday night at 7 at Carolina Stadium.
RANKINGS UPDATE
College of Charleston, after a 1-3 week last week, has dropped out of the USA Today/ESPN top 25 rankings as they were sitting at No. 23 last week. They will be looking to rebound after a tough weekend, dropping games vs. Southern Miss and Connecticut last weekend. The are ranked No. 28 in the National College Baseball Writers Association Poll.
South Carolina had a strong finish to a week that started off on the wrong foot last week. The Gamecocks lost to Furman in Greenville on Tuesday night, after beating them 14-1 earlier in the year. They bounced back to win Wednesday night at home vs. Wofford, then after losing the first game of a three game set with SEC foe Georgia, were able to win two straight, including a 2-1 walk-off thriller on Saturday afternoon to finish the week at 3-2. They move up from No. 7 to No. 4 in the USA Today/ESPN top 25 poll and will look to continue their good play into a big weekend at No. 1 Florida.
PITCHING MATCH-UP
College of Charleston will start RHP Robert Jeroszko who is 2-1 this season with a 3.13 ERA.
South Carolina will go with RHP Colby Holmes, who is 1-0 with a 5.00 ERA.
ALL TIME SERIES vs. C of C
South Carolina owns the all time series against C of C 42-5. This will be the first of two contests this season between C of C and the reigning College World Series National Champions. The two schools will also meet at Patriots Point, SC on April 19. Last year, South Carolina topped C of C 6-3 at Carolina Stadium.
STATISTICAL UPDATES
South Carolina's pitching staff ranks third in the SEC with a 2.76 earned run average. Carolina's pitchers have allowed just 130 hits in 160 innings with a 160-57 Strikeout-to-Walk ratio. Opponents are hitting just .223 against the Gamecocks, good for third best in the SEC.
South Carolina has a team batting average of .286. The Gamecocks are second in the Southeastern Conference with 16 home runs. Carolina has a .448 slugging percentage, good for fifth best in the league. Carolina also boasts a very average .381 on-base percentage. South Carolina's fielding has been shaky at times this season, but they maintain a fielding average of .968.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Furman tops South Carolina in Greenville
The South Carolina Gamecocks (11-3) were defeated 4-2 by the Furman Paladins (7-11) Tuesday night at Fluor Field in Greenville, SC.
The Gamecocks have hit a rough spot in their last couple of games, losing Sunday afternoon to Cal State-Bakersfield 8-3, and now dropping a winnable game to Furman 4-2.
The Gamecocks fell behind early 2-0 on the strength of three hits and a balk in the second inning. Taylor Johnson scored on a balk by Adam Westmoreland to give the Paladins a 1-0 advantage. Later in the inning, J.B. Jenkins scored on a single by Paul Nitto, putting Furman up 2-0.
The bats were quiet on both sides through the fourth inning, until Johnson continued his solid hitting again for Furman in the bottom of the fifth, singling in Aaron Thompkins putting Furman up 3-0. The Paladins struck again later in the inning when Jose Mata walked in Will Muzika to give Furman a four run cushion.
South Carolina was able to strike in the top of the sixth. Adam Matthews scored on an Adrian Morales single to put the Gamecocks on the board. A two out RBI single by Robert Beary plated Jackie Bradley, Jr. to cut the Furman lead to 4-2.
Unfortunately for Carolina, that would be the final.
Matt Plate replaced Daniel Stallsmith on the hill for Furman in the sixth inning, and threw 2.1 scoreless innings for the Paladins before giving way to Dylan Cole who gave Furman a scoreless ninth inning.
South Carolina will be back in action hosting the Wofford Terriers on Wednesday night at Carolina Stadium at 7 p.m. They will play their first SEC series this weekend at home, facing off against Georgia on Friday at 7, Saturday at 4, and Sunday at 1:30.
Hitting for Carolina:
Scott Wingo, 2B 0-4
Adam Matthews, RF 1-4
Jackie Bradley, Jr., CF 1-3
Christian Walker, 1B 0-4
Adrian Morales, 3B 2-4, RBI
Jake Williams, DH 0-4
Robert Beary, C 1-3, RBI
Brady Thomas, C 0-1
Evan Marzilli, LF 1-3
Peter Mooney, SS 1-3
Pitching for Carolina:
Adam Westmoreland 2.0 IP 4 H 2 ER 2 BB 0 K's
Jose Mata 3.0 IP 5 H 2 ER 2 BB 2 K's
John Taylor 3.0 IP 0 H 0 ER 2 BB 3 K's
The Gamecocks have hit a rough spot in their last couple of games, losing Sunday afternoon to Cal State-Bakersfield 8-3, and now dropping a winnable game to Furman 4-2.
The Gamecocks fell behind early 2-0 on the strength of three hits and a balk in the second inning. Taylor Johnson scored on a balk by Adam Westmoreland to give the Paladins a 1-0 advantage. Later in the inning, J.B. Jenkins scored on a single by Paul Nitto, putting Furman up 2-0.
The bats were quiet on both sides through the fourth inning, until Johnson continued his solid hitting again for Furman in the bottom of the fifth, singling in Aaron Thompkins putting Furman up 3-0. The Paladins struck again later in the inning when Jose Mata walked in Will Muzika to give Furman a four run cushion.
South Carolina was able to strike in the top of the sixth. Adam Matthews scored on an Adrian Morales single to put the Gamecocks on the board. A two out RBI single by Robert Beary plated Jackie Bradley, Jr. to cut the Furman lead to 4-2.
Unfortunately for Carolina, that would be the final.
Matt Plate replaced Daniel Stallsmith on the hill for Furman in the sixth inning, and threw 2.1 scoreless innings for the Paladins before giving way to Dylan Cole who gave Furman a scoreless ninth inning.
South Carolina will be back in action hosting the Wofford Terriers on Wednesday night at Carolina Stadium at 7 p.m. They will play their first SEC series this weekend at home, facing off against Georgia on Friday at 7, Saturday at 4, and Sunday at 1:30.
Hitting for Carolina:
Scott Wingo, 2B 0-4
Adam Matthews, RF 1-4
Jackie Bradley, Jr., CF 1-3
Christian Walker, 1B 0-4
Adrian Morales, 3B 2-4, RBI
Jake Williams, DH 0-4
Robert Beary, C 1-3, RBI
Brady Thomas, C 0-1
Evan Marzilli, LF 1-3
Peter Mooney, SS 1-3
Pitching for Carolina:
Adam Westmoreland 2.0 IP 4 H 2 ER 2 BB 0 K's
Jose Mata 3.0 IP 5 H 2 ER 2 BB 2 K's
John Taylor 3.0 IP 0 H 0 ER 2 BB 3 K's
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
SEC Tournament 2011: South Carolina-Ole Miss Preview
The South Carolina Gamecocks (14-15, 5-11) will kick off the 2011 SEC Basketball Tournament against the Ole Miss Rebels (19-12, 7-9) Thursday afternoon at 3:30 pm at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA.
South Carolina ended the season on a bitter note, losing at home on senior night 73-69 to Tennessee, after a late rally fell short. They also lost their last regular season game against Mississippi State 60-58 on a questionable decision by Ramon Galloway to kick out a pass to Bruce Ellington instead of driving to the basket to cap a late rally that ultimately fell short.
The good news for Carolina is that they have the confidence they need to beat Ole Miss, having accomplished the feat earlier in the year in a 79-73 home win, which turned out to be their last win of the regular season. The bad news for the Gamecocks is that it is very difficult to beat a team twice in the same year, especially in the SEC, where the Eastern and Western divisions, for the most part, are very deep and competitive.
Ole Miss is entering the contest winning two of their last three regular season games, including big wins against a very strong Alabama team, who is the regular season champion in the SEC Western division, and Arkansas. The Rebels could have been entering this first round game on a three game winning streak if it wasn't for a difficult loss at Auburn 76-73 in a game which the Rebels led by as much as 20 points.
Carolina will need to continue the trend of their last few regular season contests of getting the ball into the paint. The Gamecocks were very successful in the second half against Tennessee in getting looks from inside instead of settling for jump shots, where they have struggled mightily for most of the year. If Carolina can get their bigs involved early and often, especially Senior PF Sam Muldrow, then I do not see a reason why South Carolina cannot win this game. If they are timid in driving to the basket to get some layups and try to draw a few fouls, then Ole Miss could make this game ugly.
Ole Miss needs to focus on getting some help for G Chris Warren. He had a career-high 33 points in the Rebels' loss at South Carolina earlier in the year, but despite his efforts, the rest of the team only combined for 40 points. If Warren is forced to do it all as he did last time, then the Rebels may find it difficult to find opportunities for Warren as Carolina can focus on double teaming and trapping Warren all day. If he is able to spread the wealth, the Ole Miss should have a good chance to create opportunities down low, which will open up the outside shot for Warren later in the game.
Given the Gamecocks' struggles throughout the season, especially in the second half, I would normally give the edge to Ole Miss in this game, but the Rebels have many issues defensively, which is something that can hurt you, especially late in games. Carolina has a good chance to win this game, in my opinion, and I believe that after blowing an 18 point second half lead in last year's first round game against Alabama, Head Coach Darrin Horn won't want a repeat performance this year.
Prediction:
South Carolina 71 Ole Miss 68
South Carolina ended the season on a bitter note, losing at home on senior night 73-69 to Tennessee, after a late rally fell short. They also lost their last regular season game against Mississippi State 60-58 on a questionable decision by Ramon Galloway to kick out a pass to Bruce Ellington instead of driving to the basket to cap a late rally that ultimately fell short.
The good news for Carolina is that they have the confidence they need to beat Ole Miss, having accomplished the feat earlier in the year in a 79-73 home win, which turned out to be their last win of the regular season. The bad news for the Gamecocks is that it is very difficult to beat a team twice in the same year, especially in the SEC, where the Eastern and Western divisions, for the most part, are very deep and competitive.
Ole Miss is entering the contest winning two of their last three regular season games, including big wins against a very strong Alabama team, who is the regular season champion in the SEC Western division, and Arkansas. The Rebels could have been entering this first round game on a three game winning streak if it wasn't for a difficult loss at Auburn 76-73 in a game which the Rebels led by as much as 20 points.
Carolina will need to continue the trend of their last few regular season contests of getting the ball into the paint. The Gamecocks were very successful in the second half against Tennessee in getting looks from inside instead of settling for jump shots, where they have struggled mightily for most of the year. If Carolina can get their bigs involved early and often, especially Senior PF Sam Muldrow, then I do not see a reason why South Carolina cannot win this game. If they are timid in driving to the basket to get some layups and try to draw a few fouls, then Ole Miss could make this game ugly.
Ole Miss needs to focus on getting some help for G Chris Warren. He had a career-high 33 points in the Rebels' loss at South Carolina earlier in the year, but despite his efforts, the rest of the team only combined for 40 points. If Warren is forced to do it all as he did last time, then the Rebels may find it difficult to find opportunities for Warren as Carolina can focus on double teaming and trapping Warren all day. If he is able to spread the wealth, the Ole Miss should have a good chance to create opportunities down low, which will open up the outside shot for Warren later in the game.
Given the Gamecocks' struggles throughout the season, especially in the second half, I would normally give the edge to Ole Miss in this game, but the Rebels have many issues defensively, which is something that can hurt you, especially late in games. Carolina has a good chance to win this game, in my opinion, and I believe that after blowing an 18 point second half lead in last year's first round game against Alabama, Head Coach Darrin Horn won't want a repeat performance this year.
Prediction:
South Carolina 71 Ole Miss 68
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