The USC Gamecocks Baseball team keeps moving in the right direction as far as national rankings are concerned. Rivals placing USC at 7th, USA Today / ESPN has the “Yardcocks” as 8th, Baseball America at 7th, and Collegiate Baseball at 3rd. Not too shabby for the boys playing out of Columbia, South Carolina.
The Gamecocks are now 32-8 on the year and 14-4 in SEC play. The Gamecocks lead the Southeastern Conference by one game over Arkansas and are two games ahead of Florida for the lead in the SEC East. Hard to believe this team started out slow with a 6-4 record and many Gamecock fans were complaining. Like I have said a few weeks back, truly feel this is one of Ray Tanner’s best coaching jobs in his career. I like our chances for hosting a regional but crucial mid-May series with both Arkansas and Florida. Those two will determine a lot about post-season hopes.
A Big Congrats to Sam Dyson for Earning SEC Pitcher Of The Week Honors
When you get a chance read this article, here are some interesting tidbits to pull from it in my view…
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The Gamecocks are the only SEC squad to have won all six of its conference series this year. Carolina has won nine consecutive SEC series dating back to last year.
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Carolina’s pitching staff continues to be among the top in the nation sporting a 3.31 ERA in 356.2 innings pitched. The squad’s ERA ranks second best in the SEC with the squad leading the conference in opponents batting average allowing teams to be hitting at just a .217 clip on the year. Carolina also is second in the Southeastern Conference with 373 strikeouts.
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In SEC contests, Carolina leads the conference in opposing batting average (.223) and is second best in ERA (3.17) and strikeouts (149).
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Whit Merrifield has hit safely in 37 of 40 games this year.
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USC has pitched 7 shutouts, that is the most recorded by a SEC staff this year.
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Carolina is now fielding .974 for the season.
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South Carolina is now 27-1 for the season when leading entering the top of the seventh inning. South Carolina is also 22-2 for the year when scoring first in a game. In other superlatives, the Gamecocks are 26-3 when out-hitting its opponent and 29-4 when allowing five runs or less. The Gamecocks are 13-5 in games decided by three runs or less.
Upcoming Slate of Games for the Gamecocks Baseball Team:
4/30/10 – vs. Alabama (7 p.m.)
5/1/10 – vs. Alabama (1 p.m.) (CSS)
5/2/10 – vs. Alabama (1:30 p.m.)
