USC Baseball Starts 3-Game Series With Penn State

COLUMBIA, S.C. (USC SID) — The Gamecocks (5-0) return to action on Friday hosting a three-game series vs. Penn State (2-2) at Founders Park.  First pitch on Friday is 4 p.m. with Saturday’s game at 2 p.m. and Sunday’s series finale at 1:30 p.m.

All three games will be broadcast on SEC Network Plus and can be heard on the Gamecock IMG Network including flagship station, 107.5 FM, “The Game.”

LIVE COVERAGE
Radio:  Gamecock Radio Network/flagship 107.5 FM “The Game” (Andy Demetra, Brad Muller & Tommy Moody)
Broadcast:  SEC Network Plus (Derek Scott & Trey Dyson)
Internet:       Additional coverage on Instagram & Twitter @GamecockBasebll

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Date    Teams   Pitcher         2016 Stats (W-L, ERA, IP, BB, SO)
Friday
South Carolina  Clarke Schmidt (So. RHP)        1-0, 1.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 4 BB, 6 SO
Penn State      Taylor Lehman (So. LHP) 0-1, 4.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 2 BB, 5 SO

Saturday
South Carolina  Braden Webb (Fr. RHP)   1-0, 3.60 ERA, 5.0 IP, 3 BB, 5 SO
Penn State      Sal Biasi (So. RHP)     1-0, 1.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 1 BB, 8 SO

Sunday
South Carolina  Taylor Widener (Jr. RHP)        0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.0 IP, 0 BB, 6 SO
Penn State      Justin Hagenman (Fr. RHP)       1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.0 IP, 0 BB, 6 SO

RANKINGS
South Carolina is ranked No. 15 by D1Baseball, No. 20 in the NCBWA poll and No. 23 in the USA TODAY coaches poll.

THAT WAS OFFENSIVE
South Carolina jumped out to a six-run lead in the first inning and belted out 15 hits on the way to a 16-4 victory over Winthrop on Wednesday at Founders Park. The 16 runs is a season high for Carolina and tied the fifth-highest in the Chad Holbrook era.
Five Gamecocks finished with multi-hit games. Alex Destino went 3-for-4 with Dom Thompson-Williams, John Jones, LT Tolbert and TJ Hopkins with two hits apiece also.  Destino and Hopkins both had four RBIs.  Tolbert drove in three runs with Chris Cullen adding two RBI as well.

HILL MAKES DEBUT
Freshman right-hander Adam Hill was impressive in his first career start on Tuesday for the Gamecocks as he pitched six scoreless innings with just two hits allowed, no walks and 11 strikeouts in Carolina’s 5-0 victory over the Mountaineers.  Hill, Josh Reagan and Colton Provey combined for the Gamecocks’ first shutout of the year and struck out a combined 16 batters.

MR. JONES
Sophomore catcher John Jones had a great first weekend in the Gamecock uniform. The junior college transfer hit .600 (6-for-10) with a double, a homer and nine RBI.  His nine RBI is the highest three-game series RBI total since LB Dantzler drove in 10 runs, ironically, vs. Albany in 2013.  He also walked twice and scored four runs.  His on-base percentage for the weekend was .667 with a 1.000 slugging mark.  Jones’ average tied for the third-best among SEC players for the first weekend, as did his RBI total.  Five of Jones’ nine RBI came with two outs.  Jones hit safely in all three games and had three multi-RBI games as well.
Jones leads the Gamecocks with a .421 average (8-for-17) with seven runs scored and nine RBI as well as a .500 on-base percentage and a .632 slugging mark.

SCHMIDT OFF TO GOOD START
Sophomore right-hander Clarke Schmidt picked up the win on Opening Day allowing one run on three hits with six strikeouts and four walks in six innings of work as Carolina defeated Albany 10-1.

DTW
Junior outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams had a stellar weekend at the plate in his debut as well.  Thompson-Williams hit .400 (4-for-10) with a homer, four RBI and four runs scored vs. Albany.  Thompson-Williams also had four walks and finished with a .571 on-base percentage.
Thompson-Williams is hitting .353 (6-for-17) with four RBI and six runs scored.
DYNAMIC DESTINO
Sophomore first baseman Alex Destino tied a career-high with four RBI in Wednesday’s win vs. Winthrop, the fourth time he has reached the mark.  Destino finished the game 3-for-4 tying his career-high for hits in a game as well.

WEBB WITH A WIN
Freshman right-hander Braden Webb allowed two runs on one hit with three walks and five strikeouts to earn his first win as a Gamecock in Saturday’s 6-2 win.

MOONEY IN THE MIDDLE
Senior infielder Marcus Mooney had the team’s second-highest on-base percentage of the Albany weekend with a .636 mark and hit .333 (2-for-6) as well.  Mooney doubled twice, drove in a run and scored four runs.  He also tallied two sacrifice hits and stole two bases.  Mooney reached base in all four plate appearances and scored three runs in Sunday’s 8-1 win.
Mooney has six runs scored and a .500 on-base percentage after five games and is tied with Thompson-Williams for the team lead with five walks.

WIDENER SOLID IN FIRST START
Junior right-hander Taylor Widener allowed only one unearned run on two hits with no walks and six strikeouts in five innings of work in Sunday’s victory over Albany.  Widener’s six strikeouts were one short of his career-high.

JONAH WITH A JOLT
Sophomore infielder Jonah Bride leads the Gamecocks with a .636 on-base percentage.  Bride is hitting .333 (4-for-12) and leads the Gamecocks with eight runs scored.  He has walked four times and leads the team and the SEC with six hit by pitches.

JOHNSON MAKES AN APPEARANCE
Sophomore right-hander Tyler Johnson has a team-high three relief appearances through the first six games.  Johnson has struck out five batters in 2.1 innings pitched.

AN ASSIST & A RECORD TO TJ
Freshman outfielder TJ Hopkins tied a single-game school record with two outfield assists on Opening Day. vs. Albany  He also hit his first career homer, a three-run shot, in Wednesday’s 16-4 win over Winthrop.  Hopkins is hitting .400 (4-for-10) with five RBI in four starts.

REAGAN FROM THE LEFT
Junior left-hander Josh Reagan tallied his first career save with 1.2 perfect innings of relief in Saturday’s 6-2 win over Albany.  He struck out four batters in the outing.  He added a strikeout in one perfect inning of relief in the 5-0 win over Appalachian State.

CULLEN CATCHING ON
Freshman catcher Chris Cullen is hitting .385 (5-for-13) with a pair of runs scored and four RBI in three starts.  Three of Cullen’s four RBI have come with two outs.

GREAT SCOTT
Junior right-hander Reed Scott pitched 2.1 perfect innings of relief retiring all seven batters he faced in a 6-2 win vs. Albany, his first appearance of the year.

BOWERS BRINGS IT
Junior right-hander Colie Bowers won his first career game with the Gamecocks after pitching 1.1 scoreless innings of relief with two strikeouts in the 8-1 win over Albany.

LT
Freshman infielder LT Tolbert went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a double in Sunday’s 8-1 win over Albany.  He also went 2-for-3 with three RBI in the 16-4 win over Winthrop.  Tolbert has two starts at second base and two as a designated hitter.

CENTER FIELD
Three different Gamecocks have started in center field in the first five games.
Sophomore Clark Scolamiero has three of the five starts and is hitting .333 (3-for-9) with a run scored and three RBI.
Junior Gene Cone has seen action in four games with two starts, one in center, and is hitting .375 (3-for-8) with three runs and d a pair of RBI.
Freshman Danny Blair also has a start and seen action in three games.  He has a hit, RBI and a run scored and owns a .333 on-base percentage.

CAREER-HIGH FOR CROPPER
Sophomore right-hander Canaan Cropper made his second career start, pitched a career-high 3.2 innings and struck out a career-high eight batters in Wednesday’s 16-4 win over Winthrop.

SCOUTING PENN STATE
Penn State comes to Columbia after a 2-2 start last week hosting a tournament at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, N.C.  The Nittany Lions fell 3-1 to Monmouth in the season opener, swept a doubleheader on day two vs. Army, 5-4 and 11-0 and fell 3-1 to Bryant on the final day.
Head coach Rob Cooper is in his third year at the helm of Penn State.  Cooper does have a connection to the South Carolina program as he coached current Gamecock Alex Destino on USA Baseball’s 2013 18U National Team that won a gold medal at the IBAF U18 World Cup.
Junior shortstop Jim Haley leads Penn State with a .471 average (8-for-17) through the first four games with a pair of runs scored and four RBI.  Junior outfielder Nick Riotto also has a .444 (4-for-9) average and a .706 on-base percentage as he leads the team with six walks and two hit by pitches.  Freshman right-hander Justin Hagenman won his first career start last week with seven scoreless innings and just four hits allowed.  Sophomore right-hander Sal Biasi also picked up a win with eight strikeouts in six innings pitched and just one run allowed.
Senior right-hander Jack Anderson is on the NCBWA Preseason Stopper of the Year Watch List after a team-high 29 relief appearances last year.  He won four games in 2015 and tallied five saves.

SERIES HISTORY
South Carolina is 3-1 vs. Penn State in series history including a pair of wins in a midweek series last year in Columbia.
Game one of the series saw Josh Reagan work 6.2 scoreless innings allowing just one hit as Carolina defeated the Nittany Lions 3-0.  After a tight contest in game one, the Gamecocks belted out 15 hits en route to a 13-3 win in game two.  Six different Gamecocks recorded multi-hit games including Alex Destino who had three hits as well as four RBI.

TO ARMS
South Carolina pitchers lead the SEC with a team ERA of 1.20 as well as an opponents batting average of .153 in the first five contests.  The pitchers have 59 strikeouts to 14 walks in 45.0 innings.  Carolina has allowed eight runs, six earned, on 24 hits as well.

THE BULLPEN
South Carolina’s bullpen did not allow a run in 11 innings of work in the Albany series and struck out 13 batters. The bullpen allowed just four singles and four walks.

AT THE PLATE AND ON THE FIELD
South Carolina is hitting .313 (51-for-163) as a team with 41 RBI and 45 runs scored.  The Gamecocks have a .405 slugging percentage and a .440 on-base percentage.  The Gamecocks are also fielding .978 with just four errors.  The Gamecocks have not committed an error in three of five games.

THE ALBANY SERIES
South Carolina hit .323 (31-for-96) for the Albany weekend with a .446 on base percentage.  The Gamecocks also walked 16 times to 12 strikeouts and were hit by pitch seven times. Carolina committed just two errors and fielded .983 for the weekend with two error-less games for the series.

A NEW NAME
Founders Federal Credit Union and the University of South Carolina announced a partnership awarding naming rights of Carolina Stadium to Founders Federal Credit Union. Carolina Stadium officially became Founders Park on October 22, 2015.
Unveiled in 2009, the $35-plus million facility has a capacity of 8,242 fans and is the crown jewel among baseball stadiums across the nations. South Carolina has ranked among the top three in the nation in total attendance in five consecutive years, including a mark of 250,057 last season as well as a season-high 6,049 season tickets sold last year.
Founders Park will be officially dedicated on Sat., April 23 before game two of the Missouri series.  South Carolina totaled 22,480 in attendance the first weekend for an average of 7,493 per contest at Founders Park.

RECRUITING CLASS RANKED NO. 2 IN THE NATION
South Carolina’s newcomers have been ranked the No. 2 recruiting class in the country by Collegiate Baseball.  This year’s crop features seven players previously selected in the MLB Draft.

HONOR ROLL
The Gamecocks had 29 players in the fall semester with a GPA of 3.0 or better.