As a unit, the NCAA Division I baseball teams in South Carolina are having a dandy season. Seven of the 11 schools have winning records and another three are at .500.
Winning streaks have been frequent. South Carolina had a 10-game winning streak earlier this month. The Citadel had a nine-game winning streak snapped in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader with Maryland Baltimore County. Wofford had an eight-game winning streak snapped by VMI, 2-1, in a dandy pitchers duel of freshmen left-handers
Coastal Carolina's weekend sweep of UNC Asheville extended its winning streak to eight games. Earlier this week, the Chanticleers moved to 4-0 against Atlantic Coast Conference teams with its victory over Clemson.
Coach Gary Gilmore's Chanticleers have shown they can adapt to what's needed. They combined for 25 runs in the first two games at Asheville, then won a 2-1 game on Sunday to complete the sweep. They're in first place in the Big South Conference a 3-0 record.
Up next for Coastal is South Carolina, which makes its first visit to the new Springs Brooks Stadium on Tuesday.
* Speaking of South Carolina, Sunday's 7-5 victory at Missouri likely made the plane trip hope a little more enjoyable. The Gamecocks suffered one-run losses in the first two games of the SEC series to stretch their first losing streak of the season to three games.
In both games the Gamecocks couldn't make early leads hold up, at least in part to the inability to deliver on scoring opportunities. Saturday's loss came when the Tigers' offense came alive over the final four innings after having been stifled by USC starter Jack Wynkoop up to that point.
With the offense struggling, things looked grim when Mizzou scored three unearned runs in the first inning on Sunday.
But freshman right-hander Brandon Murray had a stellar relief outing and USC began chipping away. Senior first baseman Kyle Martin had four hits - giving him an 11-game hitting streak - and a pair of stolen bases to help energize the offense. The Gamecocks had 14 hits, their second-best output of the season.
Missouri got the potential tying run to the plate in the ninth, but Vince Fiori got the save to help the Gamecock move to 4-2 in the SEC, one game behind East Division co-leaders Missouri and Vanderbilt.
If the Sunday offense was the beginning of a trend and not an aberration, Gamecocks coach Chad Holbrook may feel better about where his team stands nearing midway through the regular season. Their next SEC series is at home against Georgia (3-3 SEC).
* Clemson coach Jack Leggett and Tigers fans may been a little better after winning two of three games at Virginia Tech to claim their first ACC series win of the season.
Granted, the Tigers had to count on another standout pitching effort from Matthew Crownover and a 10th-inning grand slam from Chris Okey for a 4-0 victory in the opener, but Clemson racked up 21 hits in a 15-8 romp on Saturday.
Sunday started out well, too, with the Tigers getting three first-inning runs. But that turned out to be all Clemson got get. The Tigers left 15 runners on base and that inability to deliver in clutch situations came back to hurt the Tigers. The Hokies tied the score in the eighth, then won the game 4-3 in the 12th. Clemson left seven runners on base in extra innings.
After a midweek visit to Western Carolina, Clemson gets a chance to improve on its 4-5 ACC record a home series against Wake Forest. The teams are tied for third place in the Atlantic Division, four games behind first-place Louisville and three behind Florida State.
* While Wofford's winning streak ended with Sunday's loss to VMI, the Terriers can find solace in the fact freshman left-hander Adam Scott was superb on the mound. He entered the game with a 3-0 record and 2.70 earned-run average. He allowed on one earned run in 7 2/3 innings Sunday, but was matched by an similarly strong effort by VMI's Brandon Barbery.
If coach Todd Interdonato can continued to get that type of pitching in SoCon series finales, the Terriers will be in good shape this season.
* College of Charleston moved its scheduled Sunday game to Saturday because of weather, but the Cougars were able to finish their first weekend of Colonial Athletic Association play with a 3-0 record. Friday pitcher Taylor Clarke wasn't as dominant as he has been most of the season, but the offense behind him made that allowable.
* Presbyterian dropped Game 3 of its series at No. 7 Central Florida, 18-4, but that shouldn't detract from Saturday victory, a source of pride for the Blue Hose program.
* Winthrop went from the joy of beating No. 5 on Wednesday to losing three of four after that, including two of three against Gardner-Webb in Big South play.
* Charleston Southern also had a forgettable week, losing two of three at Longwood and four of five for the week to drop to .500 for the first time this season.
* Furman junior Jordan Simpson went 6-for-11 with two home runs as the Paladins lost two of three in their opening SoCon series at Samford. The junior from Cincinnati is batting .531 during his current eight-game hitting streak.
As a team, the Paladins may have spent much of Sunday's bus ride home thinking about Saturday's nightcap. Furman had a 6-0 lead, but gave seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and lost, 7-6.
* The NJCAA Region 10 race is shaping up like a good one. USC Sumter has a one-game lead over Spartanburg Methodist and USC Lancaster and a two-game edge over Florence-Darlington Tech and Pitt CC. USC Lancaster plays host to USC Sumter next weekend.
* Francis Marion had a 5-0 week, including a .437 team batting average. You can read more about the Patriots here.
* Claflin is in the thick of the SIAC East Division chase after its weekend sweep of Morehouse improved the Panthers' record to 8-1 in the league. Aaron Perry (6 innings) and Emanuel Mitchell (1 inning) pitched a combined seven-inning no-hitter in Sunday's 3-0 victory over Morehouse to complete a three-game sweep.
* Erskine did nothing to hurt its No. 3 national ranking in NCAA Division II with a 5-0 week, including a three-game sweep of Emmanuel to move to 14-1 in Conference Carolinas action.
* USC Beaufort's losing streak in The Sun Conference reached six games as it was swept in a three-game home series with perennial power Embry-Riddle.
2 comments:
Today did not turn out in the best way for the Blue Hose, but I saw something today that made me be even more PROUD to be a Blue Hose parent. When the little boy got hit by a line drive foul ball today, our whole team came out and got down on their knees in a circle and started praying. Then the UCF team did the same. But what was even more amazing our boys walked over to the UCF team and they all gather together and prayed! Brought more tears to my eyes! Thankfully the little boy was okay and was taken to the hospital for observation! PROUD of our Blue Hose! They never backed down to the #7 team!
I did Tweet that info about PC & UCF, but did not post it. A very good moment for both schools. Thanks for reading my blog.
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