April 23, 2002
COLUMBIA, SC –
Fresh off the school’s first series victory against LSU, the fifth-ranked South Carolina baseball team (31-9) will look for its second win of the season against top-ranked Clemson (34-5), Wednesday evening with first pitch set for 7 p.m. The Gamecocks and Tigers met last Wednesday at Clemson, with USC coming away with an 8-6 at Doug Kinsmore Stadium.
Taking the hill for South Carolina tomorrow will be junior LHP Steven Bondurant. Bondurant is 5-1 on the year for Carolina with a 2.95 ERA. On the mound for the Tigers will be junior RHP Matt Henrie, who enters the contest with an 8-1 record and 2.17 ERA. In last week’s victory at Clemson, senior OF Steve Thomas batted 2-for-4 with a HR and three RBI, including the game-winning double to score two runs in the fifth inning.
Freshman RHP Aaron Rawl earned his first career victory in relief, limiting the Tigers to one run on three hits. Rawl was also able to get out of a bases loaded no-out jam with a strikeout and double play groundball. Senior RHP Blake Taylor pitched two innings of relief to notch the save. Taylor currently leads the SEC in saves with 11 on the season. Immediately following Wednesday’s contest, the Tom Price and Bob Bradley Awards will be presented. The Price Award and Bradley award are presented to the Most Valuable Players of the Clemson-South Carolina four-game baseball series
The Price Award is named in honor of South Carolina SID emeritus and historian Tom Price and presented to the MVP from South Carolina. Tom Price served as Sports Information Director at the University of South Carolina for 31 years before retiring in 1992. Price is a member of the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame and still continues to serve as official scorer for baseball at home Carolina games and color analyst on radio for all Carolina road games.
The Bradley Award is named in honor of former Clemson Sports Information Director Bob Bradley and presented to the MVP from Clemson. Bradley worked as Sports Information Director 34 years with the Tiger athletic department, and 11 more years as SID emeritus. Bradley continued his work with Clemson until he passed away in October of 2000 after a bout with cancer.
Price and Bradley are both members of the CoSIDA hall of fame and recipients of the Arch Wade Award, named every year for the Sports Information Man of the Year. Price and Bradley also each received the Wilburn Snypp Award for excellence in promotion of college baseball.
