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Baseball Begins Series With Alabama On Thursday
April 25, 2012
South Carolina-Alabama Game Notes Columbia, S.C. - South Carolina (30-11, 11-7 SEC) returns to the field on Thursday, April 26 beginning a three-game SEC series against Alabama (17-25, 6-12 SEC) at Carolina Stadium. First pitch for the opener is 7:30 p.m. It is the SEC Game of the Week and will be televised live on ESPNU with Dave Neal, Kyle Peterson and Jessica Mendoza calling the game. Game two on Friday is set for 7 p.m. The series finale is on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. All three games can be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network from IMG College with Andy Demetra and Tommy Moody behind the microphone. South Carolina is ranked No. 5 in this week's USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, No. 7 by Baseball America and No. 7 by Collegiate Baseball. LIVE COVERAGE PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION Thursday Friday Saturday DID YOU KNOW?? SERIES HISTORY Overall: SC leads 26-25 Date Winner Score Site 4/27/07 ALA 10-5 Tuscaloosa 4/28/07 SC 4-1 Tuscaloosa 4/29/07 ALA 11-10 Tuscaloosa 5/20/09 SC 9-5 (11)Hoover 4/30/10 SC 9-7 (11)Columbia 5/1/10 ALA 6-4 Columbia 5/2/10 SC 20-15 Columbia 5/19/11 ALA 2-1 Tuscaloosa 5/20/11 SC 6-3 Tuscaloosa 5/21/11 SC 3-2 Tuscaloosa
QUICK RECAP
ROTH A FINALIST FOR THE LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 30 candidates announced in February. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to determine the winner. 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. Lowe's, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the Senior CLASS Award® winner during the 2012 NCAA College World Series®, which will be held June 15-26 in Omaha. For more information on all the finalists, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
ROTH LEADS THE WAY ON THE FIELD Roth's victory vs. Vanderbilt was his 20th career win, making him the 20th player in school history to tally 20 or more career victories.
THE PRICE IS RIGHT He is the career saves leader at Carolina with 33 over the past three years.
ONE MORE APPEARANCE FROM ROTH & PRICE
Appearance List 88 Matt Price (2009-present) 88 Rob Mosser (1990-93) 87 Aaron Rawl (2002-05) 87 Jason Pomar (1996-99) 86 Jamie Poston (1997-00) 84 Michael Roth (2009-present)MORE ON THE AUBURN SERIES In this weekend's sweep of Auburn, the Gamecocks had 29 hits in three games as well as 28 runs scored. The Gamecocks also walked 14 times, were hit by five pitches and struck out just 10 times for a team on-base percentage of .378. The Gamecocks did not make an error over the weekend vs. Auburn and the team raised its season fielding percentage to .979. Carolina has just 31 errors for the year with 22 games played without an error. For the weekend, South Carolina's pitching staff struck out 29 batters, the most strikeouts by the staff vs. a SEC opponent. Friday's 12 runs and 13 hits were both season-high totals for the Gamecocks vs. a SEC opponent.
LB LIGHTS IT UP Dantzler tallied a walk-off RBI single in the 2-1 win on Saturday night vs. Tennessee. He hit his fifth homer of the year and finished with three RBI in the 6-4 win over Vanderbilt. He was 2-for-4 with a season-high three runs scored in the 6-4 win vs. Appalachian State. Dantzler was solid in his debut vs. VMI as he tallied a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning as South Carolina defeated VMI 2-1 in the opener. Dantzler followed that up with a three-run homer, a double and four RBI in the 13-1 win over VMI that helped Carolina sweep the Keydets. Dantzler finished the weekend 4-for-11 (.364) at the plate with five RBI and a .727 slugging percentage.
HOLMES WITH THE ANSWER
MONTGOMERY CONTINUES TO SHINE Montgomery earned SEC Freshman of the Week after his first career SEC start. He worked a career-high eight innings and limited Tennessee to just one run on three hits on the way to a 2-1 South Carolina victory over the Volunteers. Against a Tennessee team that was on an eight-game winning streak, Montgomery kept UT at bay with 12 batters retired at one point in the game. Montgomery did not walk a batter and tallied seven strikeouts.
ENGLISH HAS A KNACK English led the Gamecocks in hitting in the MSU series with a .455 average (5-for-11). English scored four runs over the weekend with a triple and also a RBI. He tallied two hits in the 9-3 win over Florida. He was 2-for-5 with a run scored in the 8-5 win over Furman He had a season-high three hits and a run scored in the 5-2 win over Charleston Southern. English went 2-for-4 with two runs in the 8-1 win over UNC Asheville. He scored a run in all three games of the Elon series and hit safely in all three games as well. English drove in three runs for the weekend with a key two-run triple to left-center in 6-0 win over Elon in the second inning.
WALKER PROVIDES A PUNCH In the SEC, Walker ranks fifth in runs batted in (40), sixth in walks (27), seventh in on-base percentage (.455) tied for seventh in home runs (7) tied for ninth in total bases (82) and 11th in slugging percentage (.539). In SEC contests, through 18 leagues games he leads the league in walks (17), is tied for second in homers (40) and runs scored (17), tied for third in runs batted in (16), sixth in on-base percentage (.447), and 10th in slugging percentage (.545). Walker was the top hitter for the Gamecocks in the Vanderbilt series as he hit .500 (6-for-12) with a .625 on-base percentage and a phenomenal 1.250 slugging percentage. Walker belted three homers in the series and drove in five runs with five runs scored as well. Walker tallied his first two-homer game of his career at South Carolina with three RBI and three runs scored in the 8-3 win on Friday vs. the Commodores. In Sunday's 6-4 win, he reached base five times including a game-winning two-run homer in the top of the 13th in the victory. Walker also became the 25th player in South Carolina history to reach the 200 career hit total with his homer in the 8-3 win over Vanderbilt. He is now at 218 for his three-year career with the Garnet & Black, 16th best in school history.
AT THE PLATE, IN THE FIELD & ON THE MOUND South Carolina is fielding .979 as a team.
GREINER EARNS SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONORS Greiner earned SEC Freshman of the Week after the Mississippi State series. It marked the second straight week a Gamecock had earned Freshman of the Week accolades. Greiner had a key solo home run that jumpstarted a four-run rally in the bottom of the eighth as the Gamecocks came from behind to defeat MSU 7-6. Greiner collected three hits over the weekend with a pair of doubles and the home run. He also scored two runs. He also had a grand slam in the 8-0 win over The Citadel on Tuesday night.
Tyler Webb MAKES HIS MARK
CLOSE CALLS
MARZILLI PUTS ON A SHOW Marzilli reached base in the first 31 games of the 2012 season but saw his streak snap in Sunday's 6-1 victory vs. the Volunteers. Marzilli had four hits including a three-run homer in the 8-5 win over Furman and was 3-for-4 win the 9-3 win over Florida. Marzilli had a game-winning three-run double as well as a career-high four RBI in the 6-4 win over Appalachian State. He also tied a school record with three doubles in the 2-1 win over Princeton. It is the 25th time in school history that a player has tallied three doubles in one game. Marzilli's defense was essential for the Gamecocks in the 3-2 win over Clemson in 11 innings. Marzilli had his first assist of the year with a throw to home plate to nab a Tiger runner trying to score and his diving catch with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning sealed the Gamecock victory. Marzilli was effective in the first weekend vs. VMI as he hit .500 (6-for-12) with a .538 on-base percentage. Marzilli had a 3-for-4 day at the plate on Opening Day. He scored the game-winning run in the opener and also was key in the 13-1 victory as he went 2-for-4 with a triple, run scored and two RBI.
SHOWING OFF THE GLOVE
PANKAKE SHOWCASE Pankake gave the Gamecocks some insurance in the 6-4 win over Mississippi State with a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning. Pankake, who moved to the leadoff role, had five hits and hit .357 vs. the Bulldogs. He had a 5-for-6 game with a pair of RBI in the 8-5 win over Furman. The last Gamecock player with five hits in a game was Christian Walker on April 5, 2011 vs. USC Upstate. He tallied his first career homer and RBI in the 2-1 win vs. Presbyterian. The game-winning hit came in the bottom of the fourth inning. In the Elon series, he was 2-for-4 with a triple and three runs scored in the 8-1 win in the opener. He had two walks in game two and a hit and a run scored in the Sunday series finale.
CHASE HIM ON BASE
IN A PINCH WITH SULLIVAN
BRING THE PAYNE He was 6-for-11 (.545) in the Kentucky series as well as 3-for-7 in midweek contests vs. CSU and ASU. Payne had two hits apiece in all three games at Kentucky as well as a solo home run in Friday's 4-3 loss.
BEAL BRINGS IT For the year, Beal is 2-3 with a 4.23 ERA and five saves. Beal has 36 strikeouts in 27.2 innings. Opponents are hitting just .177 against him. Beal earned his first career win in the 9-6 victory vs. Clemson. Beal entered the game in the bottom of the fifth and retired nine in a row and lasted four innings allowing just two runs on three hits while striking out five and walking one.
A BRIGHT SPOT
Bright is batting .275 (14-for-51) with eight runs scored and eight RBI in 13 starts.
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