Catch up on the day's buzz about the
Gamecocks! In today's edition: Baseball takes on LSU with SEC title implications; Men's Golf starts NCAA Regional play; Gamecocks in the NFL sign contracts and more
Baseball: Bringing the Lumber - Jackie Bradley Jr. (MILB.com) *JBJ noted for his .359 batting average and whopping .474 slugging percentage at the top of the lineup for the month of April with the Salem Red Sox.
Senior
left-handed pitcher Michael Roth is one of 10 finalists selected for
the 2012 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for baseball. Fans are encouraged to
vote on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award website through June 11. Fan votes
will be combined with media and Division I men's head coaches' votes to
determine the winner.
Great college football roundtable discussion on ESPN focusing on the Gamecocks:
FAN PHOTO OF THE DAY Today's photo is from Dave Duffy of himself with his son, Jameson, after "watching the great Gamecock victory over Nebraska at the Capital One Bowl!"
Catch up on the day's buzz about the
Gamecocks! In today's edition: Dawn Staley earns a big award; Grayson Greiner earns national honor; Baseball readies for USC Upstate; James Darnell making a splash with the Padres in MLB and more!
Darnell was following up this amazing play from Sunday:
VOTE FOR MICHAEL ROTH
Senior
left-handed pitcher Michael Roth is one of 10 finalists selected for
the 2012 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for baseball. Fans are encouraged to
vote on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award website through June 11. Fan votes
will be combined with media and Division I men's head coaches' votes to
determine the winner.
Catch up on the day's buzz about the
Gamecocks! In today's edition: Women's Golf wins their NCAA Regional to advance to the NCAA Championships; taking a look at baseball SEC Championship scenarios; ITA Region awards in both men's and women's tennis; senior Marvin Reitze medals in pole vault at SEC Championships and more!
Senior
left-handed pitcher Michael Roth is one of 10 finalists selected for
the 2012 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for baseball. Fans are encouraged to
vote on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award website through June 11. Fan votes
will be combined with media and Division I men's head coaches' votes to
determine the winner.
Check out highlights of Jaklin Alawi, named ITA Carolina Region Player to Watch today:
FAN PHOTO OF THE DAY
Today's photo is from Alex Quirk who says:
"Our family has been fans of the Gamecocks since my great uncle (Warren Muir) came here in the late 60's. Even though I live in Maine, I still watch every football game that we get up North. I've even come down and seen a couple of games. This one was back in 2010 when then #1 Bama came to town. It'll probably be my favorite game I've witnessed."
Baseball finishes out the regular season with a nonconference match-up against USC Upstate on Tuesday followed by a showdown with LSU in a three-game series that will help determine the SEC title. Friday night's game will serve as Senior Night for Michael Roth, Adam Matthews and Logan Munson so get to the game early to give them a proper recognition and farewell! Forecast for this weekend is mostly sunny with high temps in the lower 80's. Should be a beautiful weekend for Carolina Baseball!
Standing room only tickets are available for all three games vs. LSU. Click here to purchase online or call 800-4SC-FANS.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Baseball vs. USC Upstate - 7 p.m. -Play Baseball Bingo for a chance to win a prize -Official team posters and schedule cards ***Reserved seating tickets available! Purchase online.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Baseball vs. LSU - 7 p.m. -Play Baseball Bingo for a chance to win a prize -Official team posters and schedule cards ***Series opener, click here to see what scenarios would give the Gamecocks the SEC Championship.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Baseball vs. LSU - 7 p.m. -Play Baseball Bingo for a chance to win a prize -Official team posters and schedule cards ***Senior Night - Adam Matthews, Logan Munson and Michael Roth will be honored before the game.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Baseball vs. LSU - 1 p.m. -Play Baseball Bingo for a chance to win a prize -Official team posters and schedule cards ***Final regular season home game
With the rain cancellation of Sunday's series finale against Georgia, there was a lot of discussion about how not playing the game could affect the Gamecocks' chances at a conference title. Assistant Media Relations Director Andrew Kitick compiled the following information about the scenarios the baseball team faces this weekend.
South Carolina will enter this weekend with a 17-9 record in the SEC, one-half game behind Kentucky for first place in the Southeastern Conference with three league games remaining. The Gamecocks have won 14 of the last 16 games played in the league entering the match-up with LSU.
Here are the standings in the conference as of today.
1) Kentucky 18-9 2) South Carolina 17-9 3) LSU 17-10 4) Florida 16-11 5) Ole Miss 14-13 6) Georgia 13-13 7) Arkansas 13-14 Mississippi State 13-14 Vanderbilt 13-14 10) Auburn 12-15 11) Tennessee 8-19 12) Alabama 7-20
The SEC champion will be determined by the team with the highest winning percentage. Due to the rain-out on Sunday in Athens, this scenario will become a factor depending on the results of the final weekend.
If all games are played this weekend and there are no cancellations, the Gamecocks will have to win at least two games to have a shot at the SEC Championship.
If South Carolina wins two games vs. LSU, the Gamecocks will need Kentucky to lose at least two games at Mississippi State to win the title.
If South Carolina wins two and Kentucky wins one South Carolina 19-10 (.655) Kentucky 19-11 (.633)
If South Carolina wins all three games vs. LSU, the Gamecocks will need Kentucky to lose at least one game at Mississippi State to win the title. South Carolina 20-9 (.690) Kentucky 20-10 (.667)
For the first time this year, 10 teams will be represented at the Southeastern Conference Tournament. The Eastern Division champion and the Western Division champion earn the top two seeds and byes. LSU has already clinched at least the one or two seed depending on results from the final weekend. South Carolina has clinched one of the top four seeds. We'll have more SEC Tournament information for you after the games this weekend.
Catch up on the day's buzz about the
Gamecocks! In today's edition: Catch up on the newest NFL Gamecocks; Baseball takes on Georgia this weekend; Women's Tennis and Women's Golf open up strong in their NCAA Tournament bids; four more Volleyball Gamecocks sign on the dotted line and more!
Coach Love Smith on Alshon after practice: "Guys do a lot of working out on their own, but it's not like when you come here and work out. I really liked what Alshon did earlier in practice, for most of the practice really. I didn't see him drop a ball. He's got great hands, is a big target and really liked the way he came in. He's going to be a good football player for us."
Senior
left-handed pitcher Michael Roth is one of 10 finalists selected for
the 2012 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for baseball. Fans are encouraged to
vote on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award website through June 11. Fan votes
will be combined with media and Division I men's head coaches' votes to
determine the winner.
He's a two-sport athlete, showing off his athleticism and speed on the gridiron with the Gamecock football team with some clutch plays on offense this past season, even a few times making the starting line-up. As soon as football season was over he switched gears to his second sport to finish out the year, re-joining the football squad briefly for spring practice.
You might have thought at first glance I was describing football and basketball star Bruce Ellington. And that would be a good guess... except I'm actually talking about freshman Damiere Byrd.
Debuting on the football field this past season as a true freshman, Byrd is also an elite sprinter for the Gamecocks' track & field program. Fortunately for Byrd the seasons do not overlap as severely as basketball and football do for Ellington, but for a freshman adjusting to college, it can be a lot to manage.
"Fall is all football because track is in offseason workouts. During the winter [after the bowl game] I was full track; I lifted and practiced with track. Spring football started and I went to pretty much every practice and when we didn't have practice, I would go to track practice. Whenever we didn't have [football] weekend scrimmages, I'd go to track meets," Byrd explained. "The schedule actually worked out well. I only missed two meets, but they weren't major ones."
Time management can be tough on any first year college student, especially a student-athlete, but Byrd handled it admirably. The average day this year started with his classes in the morning, grabbing some lunch, then trying to get work done with about an hour and a half of study hall before heading to practices in the afternoon. After practice he usually headed back to the Dodie for dinner and more study hall to finish his schoolwork.
He competed in the 60-meter dash during the indoor track & field season, even earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors after placing sixth overall in the event at the prestigious Tyson Invitational. At the time, his 6.72 second mark was the No. 3 60-meter dash time for a freshman in the NCAA. He finished 7th overall in the event at the SEC Indoor Championships, one of just two freshmen in the league to make the finals.
For the outdoor season, Byrd has competed mostly on relay teams, helping the squad to a season best 39.92 second time in the 4x100 relay at the Pepsi Florida Relays. He was also on the 4x200 team that won their heat at the Penn Relays to advance to the Championship of America final where they finished third in front of a nationally-televised audience. The quartet ran 1:23.24, the seventh-fastest time in program history.
Being fast always came naturally to Byrd. Although he was a football player first, he started running at a young age too, playing pee wee football and running for a club track team in the summer.
"I actually started running track to get better at running for football and it just so happened that my first year I went to nationals and ended up getting a few medals. I just kept going after that," said Byrd.
Just being fast isn't enough to succeed in football though. You have to be "football fast".
"It's a little different," said Byrd. "You can't have football speed until you feel comfortable out playing on the field. I wouldn't be able to transfer that track speed if I wasn't comfortable with the plays and the playbook."
Byrd has been able to make the shift from high school to college this year as a true freshman, but thinks he'll be even better next year as a sophomore.
"In college I'm trying to learn more techniques and doing more quality practicing then the next day turn around and come out on the football field and still going 100% every day," said Byrd of the effort it takes to manage both sports. "This year I was taking everything day by day. Next year, I'll be able to know exactly what I have to do, how much time I have to put in to get things done so I can make it easier on myself."
Damiere Byrd and the Gamecocks are in Baton Rouge this weekend competing in the SEC Outdoor Championships for Track & Field. Follow along on Twitter with @GamecockTrack. You can catch Byrd again (if you're speedy) on the football field next fall.
Catch up on the day's buzz about the
Gamecocks! In today's edition: Fan Fest fun continues; Baseball preps to head to Georgia; media rank Gamecocks' latest head coach hire as No. 1; the Gamecocks' dugout antics and more!
Fan Fest Tour in Augusta at Lady Antebellum Amphitheater TONIGHT! Event starts at 5:30 p.m.
Senior
left-handed pitcher Michael Roth is one of 10 finalists selected for
the 2012 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for baseball. Fans are encouraged to
vote on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award website through June 11. Fan votes
will be combined with media and Division I men's head coaches' votes to
determine the winner.
VOTE TO BRING A COLLEGE GAMEDAY COMMERCIAL TO COLUMBIA
ESPN
will film a College GameDay commercial this summer on a campus selected
by fans. The school with the most votes wins, so vote daily to bring
GameDay to Columbia! Bookmark it and vote every day!
Since first competing in the SEC in 1992, the South Carolina Women's Tennis has enjoyed consistent success in a league that is arguably the toughest in the nation. Since the league expanded to 12 teams, the Gamecocks are one of six SEC schools to win 100 league matches, and their .537 (124-107) winning percentage ranks fifth in the conference.
Softball senior center fielder Lauren Lackey became the first Gamecock to earn first team All-SEC honors since 2003 after leading the Gamecocks with a .401 batting average and tallying the second-highest average in the SEC with her .388 mark.
FAN PHOTO OF THE DAY
This was our favorite photo from last night's Fan Fest in Greenville. This young boy was so excited to take a picture with Coach Spurrier; he just watched him in awe at first and seemed to be shaking a little! Check out more photos from the event here on our Facebook page.
ABC Columbia's features on the "The
Midlands 10 Most Fascinating People" continued yesterday with a feature
on South Carolina Men's Basketball head coach Frank Martin.
Check out their interview:
ABC Columbia also shared some bonus footage on their website:
Check out other South Carolina coaches who also made the list:
As the home of the Gamecocks for four seasons now, Carolina Stadium has seen so many wonderful memories already. At Wednesday night's game vs. Furman, we were set to surpass one million fans in attendance at the state of the art ballpark.
We chose one fan at the game to represent the one millionth fan, rewarding him with some great prizes including a signed Opening Day print of Carolina Stadium and other Carolina Baseball gear. George Lemacks, the winner, went on air with the Gamecock radio crew during the game. He told them he never misses a game and he is even headed to Athens this weekend to cheer on the team against Georgia.
George showing one of his prizes
Thank you to ALL the fans who have attended games at Carolina Stadium and made it one of the best, if not THE best, atmospheres in all of college baseball! Go Gamecocks!
There are only four regular season home games left, May 15 vs. USC Upstate and May 17-19 three game series vs. LSU. Purchase tickets online here.
Senior
left-handed pitcher Michael Roth is one of 10 finalists selected for
the 2012 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for baseball. Fans are encouraged to
vote on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award website through June 11. Fan votes
will be combined with media and Division I men's head coaches' votes to
determine the winner.
