South Carolina (26-7) returns home Tuesday night to take on The Citadel (17-16) at 7 p.m. at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks will send right-hander Joel Seddon (1-0, 5.11 ERA) to the mound to face Citadel's freshman righty Austin Livingston (2-0, 6.48 ERA).
The Gamecocks are coming off of a much needed sweep of the Tennessee Volunteers last weekend to improve their standing in the SEC Eastern Division to second and they are third overall in the SEC. Carolina won four of five games last week, including a 9-5 win over Charleston Southern a week ago.
The last time USC faced The Citadel they defeated the Bulldogs 9-5 at Joe Riley Park in Charleston. Joey Pankake, Greyson Greiner and LB Dantzler all tallied home-runs, including three RBI's a piece from Greiner and Pankake.
But, lately the offensive production has come from several different areas.
"We've had some big swings of the bat," Head Coach Chad Holbrook said after Saturday's win over UT. "Offensively, we've squared some balls up, Max [Shrock] continues to swing it, Graham [Saiko] had a few hits and it was a very satisfying series win for us."
This weekend's performance was Carolina's best performance at the plate this season as the team hit a combined .375 (45-for-120) with 36 runs scored. The Gamecocks dished out a season-high 21 hits with 10 different players
recording at least one hit in Sunday's 19-2 win.
The 19 runs were the most in a game for USC since scoring 24 in a game vs.
College of Charleston in 2011 and the most in a conference game since scoring
20 on Alabama in 2010.
Max Shrock was named SEC Freshman of the Week after hitting .500 (11-for-22) in five games last week, including a game-winning RBI-double in the ninth against Tennessee Friday night to lift the Gamecocks to a 5-4 victory. He also tallied eight RBI, scored seven runs and lifted his season average to .264
"Hitting is contagious," Shrock said. "Once one guy gets hot, another guy can get hot and we just hit it today."
Another key to the Gamecocks strong run has been the input from the bullpen. Senior Adam Westmoreland played a big role in both Friday and Saturday's wins at Tennessee. His outing on Saturday was huge as he allowed
just one run on five hits in a season-high six innings of relief to improve to 4-0
on the year. Westmoreland fanned six and walked none in his six innings.
"I try to go out and just throw strikes," Westmoreland said after his strong performance on Saturday. "I try to just stay ahead of the hitters. I know they had a big inning, but our offense has responded well. They hit the ball and did some big things for us."
After facing The Citadel on Tuesday, the Gamecocks will travel to Gainesville this weekend for a three game set with Florida.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Carolina Sweeps Elon
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.
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.
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.”
Friday, December 16, 2011
2011 Bowl Predictions
It's bowl season and you know what that means. Tons of meaningful, action packed bowls and even more boring, senseless match-ups to dull the 2011 schedule. The Post & Cocky Analyst Ryan Mace has taken on the difficult task of predicting each of the bowls for the upcoming season, including predicting the score of the national title game between LSU and Alabama. Who will win? Find out here!
Gildan New Mexico Bowl: Temple over Wyoming
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Ohio over Utah State
R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: San Diego St. over UL-Lafayette
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl: FIU over Marshall
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl: TCU over Louisiana Tech
MAACO Bowl Las Vegas: Boise St. over Arizona St.
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl: Nevada over Southern Miss
AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl: Missouri over North Carolina
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Western Michigan over Purdue
Belk Bowl: NC State over Louisville
Military Bowl: Air Force over Toledo
Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl: Texas over Cal
Champs Sports Bowl: Florida State over Notre Dame
Valero Alamo Bowl: Baylor over Washington
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl: Tulsa over BYU
New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Iowa State over Rutgers
Franklin Am. Mortgage Music City Bowl: Mississippi State over Wake Forest
Insight Bowl: Oklahoma over Iowa
Meineke Car Care of Texas Bowl: Texas A&M over Northwestern
Hyundai Sun Bowl: Georgia Tech over Utah
AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Vanderbilt over Cincinnati
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: Illinois over UCLA
Chick-fil-a Bowl: Auburn over Virginia
TicketCity Bowl: Penn State over Houston
Outback Bowl: Georgia over Michigan State
Capital One Bowl: South Carolina over Nebraska
Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl: Ohio State over Florida
Rose Bowl: Oregon over Wisconsin
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma State over Stanford
Allstate Sugar Bowl: Michigan over Virginia Tech
Discover Orange Bowl: West Virginia over Clemson
AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic: Arkansas over Kansas State
BBVA Compass Bowl: Pittsburgh over SMU
GoDaddy.com Bowl: Northern Illinois over Arkansas State
Allstate BCS National Championship Game: Alabama over LSU
BCS National Championship Score Prediction: Alabama 17 LSU 13
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
South Carolina-Providence Preview
The South Carolina Gamecocks (2-4) will welcome Big East foe Providence (5-2) to Colonial Life Arena Thursday night in the Big East/SEC Challenge.
Providence comes into the game after a win against Holy Cross, but have lost two of their last three, including back to back losses to Iowa State and Northern Iowa. The Friars are led by junior guard Vince Council, who averages 18.0 points per game, and sophomore guard Gerard Coleman, who averages 16.7 points per contest.
In the rebounding department, freshman forward LaDontae Henton leads the Friars with 8.1 boards per game and also averages 11.4 points per game, making him one of Providence's most versatile threats on the hardwood.
In Providence's win over Holy Cross, guard Bryce Cotton led the Friars with 24 points.
The Gamecocks are coming back home for the first time since a 61-57 win over Mississippi Valley State. South Carolina is coming off of losses to then-No. 1 UNC and Southern California in the Las Vegas Invitational.
Senior Malik Cooke leads the Gamecocks with over 11 points per game followed by guard Eric Smith, who averages 8.3 per game. R.J. Slawson and Demontre Harris both lead South Carolina in rebounding, averaging 5.3 boards per contest.
Harris led the Gamecocks in scoring in their 63-60 loss to So. California, but has struggled scoring the ball so far this season. South Carolina had trouble guarding the three vs. So. California, allowing Maurice Jones to go seven for seven from beyond the arc, scoring 28 points in the Trojan victory.
The Gamecocks are going to need a strong game out of freshman Anthony Gill if they are going to want to win this game. Gill, despite not playing many minutes due to foul trouble, has been able to make a strong impact for South Carolina. He averages over eight points per game and over five rebounds per contest and if he's able to avoid foul trouble early, he could keep the Gamecocks in this one.
The Friars aren't in great form right now and the Gamecocks are coming off of a close loss to one of the best teams they've played so far this season. I think South Carolina has the edge in this game with the home court advantage and see the Gamecocks recording their third win of the season on Thursday night over the Providence Friars.
Providence comes into the game after a win against Holy Cross, but have lost two of their last three, including back to back losses to Iowa State and Northern Iowa. The Friars are led by junior guard Vince Council, who averages 18.0 points per game, and sophomore guard Gerard Coleman, who averages 16.7 points per contest.
In the rebounding department, freshman forward LaDontae Henton leads the Friars with 8.1 boards per game and also averages 11.4 points per game, making him one of Providence's most versatile threats on the hardwood.
In Providence's win over Holy Cross, guard Bryce Cotton led the Friars with 24 points.
The Gamecocks are coming back home for the first time since a 61-57 win over Mississippi Valley State. South Carolina is coming off of losses to then-No. 1 UNC and Southern California in the Las Vegas Invitational.
Senior Malik Cooke leads the Gamecocks with over 11 points per game followed by guard Eric Smith, who averages 8.3 per game. R.J. Slawson and Demontre Harris both lead South Carolina in rebounding, averaging 5.3 boards per contest.
Harris led the Gamecocks in scoring in their 63-60 loss to So. California, but has struggled scoring the ball so far this season. South Carolina had trouble guarding the three vs. So. California, allowing Maurice Jones to go seven for seven from beyond the arc, scoring 28 points in the Trojan victory.
The Gamecocks are going to need a strong game out of freshman Anthony Gill if they are going to want to win this game. Gill, despite not playing many minutes due to foul trouble, has been able to make a strong impact for South Carolina. He averages over eight points per game and over five rebounds per contest and if he's able to avoid foul trouble early, he could keep the Gamecocks in this one.
The Friars aren't in great form right now and the Gamecocks are coming off of a close loss to one of the best teams they've played so far this season. I think South Carolina has the edge in this game with the home court advantage and see the Gamecocks recording their third win of the season on Thursday night over the Providence Friars.
Monday, November 28, 2011
The Post & Cocky SEC Bowl Projections
BCS National Championship, Jan. 9: LSU vs. Alabama
Capital One Bowl, Jan. 2: Arkansas vs. (Big Ten team)
AT&T Cotton Bowl, Jan. 6: South Carolina vs. (Big 12 team)
Outback Bowl, Jan. 2: Georgia vs. (Big Ten team)
Chick-fil-A Bowl, Dec. 31: Auburn vs. (ACC team)
Gator Bowl, Jan. 2: Florida vs. (Big Ten team)
Music City Bowl, Dec. 30: Mississippi State vs. (ACC team)
Liberty Bowl, Dec. 31: Vanderbilt vs. (C-USA or Big East team)
*Outcome of SEC Championship (LSU vs. Georgia) could change these projections drastically. For bowl projection purposes, The Post & Cocky is predicting a LSU victory over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, CBS).
Capital One Bowl, Jan. 2: Arkansas vs. (Big Ten team)
AT&T Cotton Bowl, Jan. 6: South Carolina vs. (Big 12 team)
Outback Bowl, Jan. 2: Georgia vs. (Big Ten team)
Chick-fil-A Bowl, Dec. 31: Auburn vs. (ACC team)
Gator Bowl, Jan. 2: Florida vs. (Big Ten team)
Music City Bowl, Dec. 30: Mississippi State vs. (ACC team)
Liberty Bowl, Dec. 31: Vanderbilt vs. (C-USA or Big East team)
*Outcome of SEC Championship (LSU vs. Georgia) could change these projections drastically. For bowl projection purposes, The Post & Cocky is predicting a LSU victory over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, CBS).
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