The South Carolina Gamecocks (6-0) completed the sweep of the Elon Phoenix (4-3) Sunday afternoon at Carolina Stadium, winning 6-0.
The Gamecocks were able to sprint out to a five run lead early in the game thanks to a three run first inning and another two runs in the second.
South Carolina relied heavily on the pitching staff this weekend. Elon came in hitting a solid .288 against its opponents in rout to its 4-0 start. Gamecock pitching cooled the Phoenix bats, allowing only seven hits in 86 at bats in the series.
Saturday, Matt Price tied a career high in strikeouts as he picked up his first win of the year in the Gamecocks' 3-2 victory. Price allowed only one hit in his five innings of work.
Friday night, Michael Roth dazzled yet again as he tossed a near no-hitter in Carolina's 8-1 win, pitching seven innings and allowing only one hit, a solo home run by Elon's Garrett Koster. Joey Pankake went 2-for-4, scoring three runs and Grayson Greiner added two hits as well.
South Carolina will play Presbyterian this Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Carolina Stadium before they head to Charleston this Friday night to take on Clemson at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
South Carolina-Florida Preview
The South Carolina Gamecocks (9-11, 1-5) will travel to Gainesville, Fla. tonight to take on No. 11 Florida (17-4, 5-1) at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
USC has had trouble this year closing out games and playing two full halves of basketball, but they were able to put it together last Wednesday night with a 56-54 upset win over Alabama (14-7, 3-4).
Looking to build on that win last Saturday in Oxford, MS, however, the Gamecocks found themselves moving backwards again with a 66-62 loss to Ole Miss after senior Malik Cooke missed a late free throw with a chance to tie the game.
Despite that loss, Head Coach Darrin Horn remains optimistic that his team can continue to improve.
“Our focus has continued to be the same thing,” Horn said. “Let’s keep getting better. We definitely made progress on the road at Ole Miss, we had a chance to win the game. That’s what you want to do in league play on the road. We missed a free throw and credit their kid for making a shot.”
If South Carolina is going to want to get back in the win column Thursday night, they're going to have to defeat a very stout Gator team.
Florida's offense has come on strong lately as the Gators have won five straight since dropping a 67-56 affair at Tennessee in early January, including a comeback 79-65 win at South Carolina two weeks ago. The Gators have averaged just over 71 points per game during their five game winning streak and are top 10 in the country in points per game, averaging over 80 per contest overall this season.
“We have got a very dangerous Florida team coming up,” Horn said. “They’re essentially leading the country in three-point shooting. I think if you say that you have to go in and shut down their three-point shooting, well that isn’t going to happen, they put up 26 a game. Some are going to drop in. I think what we have to do is eliminate some of the easy ones that come off of our mistakes where we have a bad turnover and it leads to a transition tbree.”
The Gamecocks have gotten used to playing top ranked teams this season. South Carolina has played three top five teams so far this year and will be taking on No. 1 Kentucky this Saturday at home. The high ranking does not intimidate the Gamecocks however, as they are still focused on winning ball games.
Damien Leonard will be in the starting lineup again tonight despite his poor shooting lately. He shares USC's frustration, as the Gamecocks are desperate for a few victories.
“I just want to win,” Leonard said. “I just want to go out there and play hard and do what the coaches want me to do.”
USC has had trouble this year closing out games and playing two full halves of basketball, but they were able to put it together last Wednesday night with a 56-54 upset win over Alabama (14-7, 3-4).
Looking to build on that win last Saturday in Oxford, MS, however, the Gamecocks found themselves moving backwards again with a 66-62 loss to Ole Miss after senior Malik Cooke missed a late free throw with a chance to tie the game.
Despite that loss, Head Coach Darrin Horn remains optimistic that his team can continue to improve.
“Our focus has continued to be the same thing,” Horn said. “Let’s keep getting better. We definitely made progress on the road at Ole Miss, we had a chance to win the game. That’s what you want to do in league play on the road. We missed a free throw and credit their kid for making a shot.”
If South Carolina is going to want to get back in the win column Thursday night, they're going to have to defeat a very stout Gator team.
Florida's offense has come on strong lately as the Gators have won five straight since dropping a 67-56 affair at Tennessee in early January, including a comeback 79-65 win at South Carolina two weeks ago. The Gators have averaged just over 71 points per game during their five game winning streak and are top 10 in the country in points per game, averaging over 80 per contest overall this season.
“We have got a very dangerous Florida team coming up,” Horn said. “They’re essentially leading the country in three-point shooting. I think if you say that you have to go in and shut down their three-point shooting, well that isn’t going to happen, they put up 26 a game. Some are going to drop in. I think what we have to do is eliminate some of the easy ones that come off of our mistakes where we have a bad turnover and it leads to a transition tbree.”
The Gamecocks have gotten used to playing top ranked teams this season. South Carolina has played three top five teams so far this year and will be taking on No. 1 Kentucky this Saturday at home. The high ranking does not intimidate the Gamecocks however, as they are still focused on winning ball games.
Damien Leonard will be in the starting lineup again tonight despite his poor shooting lately. He shares USC's frustration, as the Gamecocks are desperate for a few victories.
“I just want to win,” Leonard said. “I just want to go out there and play hard and do what the coaches want me to do.”
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
South Carolina-Vanderbilt Preview
The South Carolina Gamecocks (8-7, 0-1) will welcome conference rival Vanderbilt (11-4, 1-0) to Colonial Life Arena Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET for the Gamecocks' SEC home opener. The game will air live on ESPNU.
After a rocky start to the season, Darrin Horn's Gamecocks have started to find a winning groove as of late, winning six of their last eight after losing three straight earlier in the year. Both of South Carolina's losses in the eight game span have been to then-No. 2 Ohio State and No. 2 Kentucky last Saturday in Lexington. USC has shown some promising signs in the past few week's and Coach Horn is hoping to build on those things.
“After having an opportunity to review the film from Saturday, we saw a lot of really, really good things that we emphasized and wanted to focus on, mainly taking care of the basketball and rebounding,” Horn said. “To out-rebound that team was a really good job and the job we did on the offensive glass was something that we want to build on moving forward.”
If Horn and the Gamecocks want to have success against Vanderbilt Tuesday night, they're going to need a great offensive effort against one of the best defensive units in the conference. In the Commodores' last game vs. Auburn, Vanderbilt's stifling defense held the Tigers to just 35 points, in route to a convincing 65-35 win to move to 1-0 in the SEC.
“We’ve got to find a way to put those things together as we move forward through conference play," Horn said. "Every game is a new challenge and I think Vanderbilt presents a great challenge from the standpoint that, defensively, they’re as good, if not the best team in our league.”
Not only will the Gamecocks need a stellar offensive game to upset Vanderbilt, South Carolina will need to focus on stopping Vanderbilt's offensive attack, led by junior guard John Jenkins, who leads the SEC in scoring with 20.3 points per game.
“He’s a great scorer and terrific shooter,” Horn said. “Obviously, he’s the focal point of their offense. Usually guys like that are going to find a way to get enough shots and have enough offensive opportunities — there’s a reason he scores 20 points per game even though every team that plays him is trying to shut him down. I think any time you play a player of his caliber, I think you’ve got to try to make it as hard on him as you can and do your very best to try to limit as much as possible.”
The Gamecocks opened conference play last year with a 83-75 upset of Vanderbilt in overtime. Sam Muldrow had a triple double in the game to lead South Carolina to a 1-0 start in SEC play. This year is the first season under Darrin Horn that the Gamecocks haven't started conference play with a victory.
Senior Malik Cooke is looking to help South Carolina turn it around Tuesday with a victory over a tough Vanderbilt squad.
“We feel like we can beat anybody on any given night,” Cooke said. “It was a learning experience last year and we learned a lot from that game and hopefully we can carry that into this one.”
After a rocky start to the season, Darrin Horn's Gamecocks have started to find a winning groove as of late, winning six of their last eight after losing three straight earlier in the year. Both of South Carolina's losses in the eight game span have been to then-No. 2 Ohio State and No. 2 Kentucky last Saturday in Lexington. USC has shown some promising signs in the past few week's and Coach Horn is hoping to build on those things.
“After having an opportunity to review the film from Saturday, we saw a lot of really, really good things that we emphasized and wanted to focus on, mainly taking care of the basketball and rebounding,” Horn said. “To out-rebound that team was a really good job and the job we did on the offensive glass was something that we want to build on moving forward.”
If Horn and the Gamecocks want to have success against Vanderbilt Tuesday night, they're going to need a great offensive effort against one of the best defensive units in the conference. In the Commodores' last game vs. Auburn, Vanderbilt's stifling defense held the Tigers to just 35 points, in route to a convincing 65-35 win to move to 1-0 in the SEC.
“We’ve got to find a way to put those things together as we move forward through conference play," Horn said. "Every game is a new challenge and I think Vanderbilt presents a great challenge from the standpoint that, defensively, they’re as good, if not the best team in our league.”
Not only will the Gamecocks need a stellar offensive game to upset Vanderbilt, South Carolina will need to focus on stopping Vanderbilt's offensive attack, led by junior guard John Jenkins, who leads the SEC in scoring with 20.3 points per game.
“He’s a great scorer and terrific shooter,” Horn said. “Obviously, he’s the focal point of their offense. Usually guys like that are going to find a way to get enough shots and have enough offensive opportunities — there’s a reason he scores 20 points per game even though every team that plays him is trying to shut him down. I think any time you play a player of his caliber, I think you’ve got to try to make it as hard on him as you can and do your very best to try to limit as much as possible.”
The Gamecocks opened conference play last year with a 83-75 upset of Vanderbilt in overtime. Sam Muldrow had a triple double in the game to lead South Carolina to a 1-0 start in SEC play. This year is the first season under Darrin Horn that the Gamecocks haven't started conference play with a victory.
Senior Malik Cooke is looking to help South Carolina turn it around Tuesday with a victory over a tough Vanderbilt squad.
“We feel like we can beat anybody on any given night,” Cooke said. “It was a learning experience last year and we learned a lot from that game and hopefully we can carry that into this one.”
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