USC baseball fell well short in 08

"Tanner admitted that his players could not close their ears to the cries of USC fans who believed this club should have been every bit as strong as the 2002, 2003 and 2004 teams that played in Omaha"....gotta agree that this team should have done more than 2 losses to NC State....read more of this article from Mr. Morris - here.

Any early predicitions for next year's team? I just hope we don't suffer like Klempson did and lose so many players that we basically suck in 2009. The State has a good view of the 09 team HERE


PROJECTED 2009 LINEUP per The State

CF: Whit Merrifield, sophmore
SS: Bobby Haney, junior
C: Justin Dalles, junior
LF: DeAngleo Mack, reshirt junior
3B: Nick Ebert, junior
1B: Jeff Jones, junior
DH: Jesse Barbaro, reshirt junior
RF: Adam Matthews, freshman
2B: Scott Wingo, sophomore
P: Sam Dyson, redshirt sophomore
P: Blake Cooper, junior
P: Mike Cisco: senior

Raleigh Re-Cap

Mr. Morris writes HERE and then here is a article from The State, which is more true b/c that has been the Achilles heal of the team.....if they can not smash the ball with power then it has been hard for USC to play "small ball" in the 08 campaign. HERE are some thoughts from the Greenville News.
Thoughts -- Why do you think the gamecocks fell short this year?

Meanwhile, if you get really bored at work today you can watch construction of South Carolina's new baseball stadium live via a webcam - here

Need 3

After a hurtful lose to NC State yesterday, the gamecocks now are faced with the need to win 3 straight....can it be done....I say yes!

Update - Havens is the man with the walk off HR to aid the gamecocks to a win over JMU. After James Madison tied it in the top of the ninth inning, shortstop Reese Havens’ cranked a two-run home run over the fence for a 7-5 victory for USC.....more here.

Next up round 2 with the Pack - USC leads 1-0 after another HR from Reese in the Botm of the 1st. Havens is 4-for-11 in the regional with 2 HR and 4 RBI....top of 5th and NC State just hit a solo HR to make it 1-1. Well the gamecocks are tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 5th. There is a weather delay right now after some lightening....after a single with bases loaded in the top of the 7th off USC P Bangs this puts NC State up 2-1....well that is all she wrote as the gamecocks could not battle back after a few chances....game over / season over --- 2-1 victory for NC state....USC finishes 40-23. Not how they wanted it to end.

Gamecocks win vs 49ers

The USC baseball team pounded out 18 hits today in a 15-8 victory over Charlotte at Doak Field at Dail Park in the first round of the NCAA baseball playoffs. DeAngelo Mack and James Darnell hit home runs for the Gamecocks (39-21) who advance to a 7 p.m. Saturday game against the winner of Friday night's N.C. State James Madison game. Dyson (8-0) took a 9-0 lead into the sixth before tiring, and left after surrendering a three-run home run to Aaron Bray in the seventh to make the score 10-7....so the 49ers made a game out of it but USC just had more power today... More HERE

Another great news story of the day is that Lipscomb beat UGA! Read about HERE...this would be great if UGA loses their regional and USC wins their regional...could mean one more round at the Sarge!

Game 1 - Gamecocks v 49ers

South Carolina and Charlotte have met 30 times in series history with the Gamecocks leading the all-time series 22-8 including two wins in last year's NCAA Regional. Charlotte and Carolina also met this year in the regular season with the 49ers defeating South Carolina 11-2 on March 5 at Sarge Frye Field. Let's hope it we can follow the course of history and get a win today....

Here is the match-up:

SOUTH CAROLINA
Record: 38-21, 15-15 SEC
Head coach: Ray Tanner
Arrival: At-large bid. Finished 10-10 last 20 and went 1-2 in SEC tournament
Team hitting: .299 BA, 103 HR, 416 R, 31 SB, 208 Ex-base hits
Team pitching: 4.38 ERA, 258 ER, 202 BB, 469 SO, 11 SV
Best bats: Jr. 1B Justin Smoak (.377, 21 HR, 66 RBIs); Jr. SS Reese Havens (.363, 16 HR, 53 RBIs); Jr. 3B James Darnell (.310, 18 HR, 78 RBIs); Sr. C/DH Phil Disher (.309, 19 HR, 57 RBIs)
Best arms: Fr. RH Sam Dyson (7-0, 3.27 ERA, 44 IP, 43 SO, 26 BB); Sr. RH Nick Godwin (7-3, 3.02 ERA, 86.1 IP, 77 SO, 22 BB); So. RH Blake Cooper (5-6, 4.22 ERA, 85.1 IP, 50 SO, 23 BB)
Notes: Carolina leads the SEC in home runs on the year with 103 in 59 games. The team is batting .299 (617-for-2063) with 416 runs scored. The pitching staff owns a team ERA of 4.38 in 530.1 innings with 469 strikeouts to 202 walks. Carolina is fielding .978 as a team, also leading the SEC.


CHARLOTTE
Record: 43-14, 19-8 Atlantic 10
Head coach: Loren Hibbs
Arrival: Automatic bid for winning A-10 tournament....Finished 14-6 last 20, comes in on five-game win streak
Team hitting: .331 BA, 53 HR, 484 R, 92 SB, 201 Ex-base hits
Team pitching: 4.33 ERA, 248 ER, 186 BB, 360 SO, 10 SV
Best bats: Fr. 2B Corey Shaylor (.372, 2 HR, 40 RBIs); So. IF/DH Rob Lyerly (.367, 14 HR, 73 RBIs); Sr. C/OF Chris Taylor (.343, 19 HR, 69 RBIs); Sr. OF O’Brien Taylor (.360, 25 RBIs, 11 SB).
Best arms: Fr. RH Joe Yermal (8-1, 3.81 ERA, 82.2 IP, 44 SO, 20 BB); Jr. RH Zach Rosenbaum (5-2, 4.34 ERA, 64.1 IP, 41 SO, 40 BB); Fr. RH Kelly McLain (7-0, 1.98 ERA, 50 IP, 50 SO, 9 BB)
Notes: One year after relying on one of the nation’s top pitching staffs, the 49ers are now a top hitting squad, ranking 12th nationally in average and 16th in runs.


Thoughts or predictions? I say we win this game 7-4. It is really a game that hinges on the shoulders of Bryson, if he shows up and pitches well then we will be okay b/c UNC-C can string some hits together much like Florida. If USC has bad pitching then it could make for a bad day but I am hoping for the best and I see USC pulling this one off.

USC DT Kicked Off Team

Backup defensive tackle Kenrick Ellis has been dismissed from the team for violating team rules and university policy....read more HERE.
Rumor is it is related to drug issues which is really sad for him and the team. He was a big boy that came on strong to close out the 07 season and would have been good as a reserve in 08 to fill those running lanes.

Let the college football anxiety begin

Now that Memorial Day has come and gone and the dog days of summer are ahead of us that could mean only one thing....college football anxiety has set in. You know that point where nothing is really on TV, pro sports bore you and not much going on besides the CWS in college sports. Add in the upstart of college football talk and predictions and you have a case of college football anxiety.

So to help ease or to contribute to this dilemma, I will provide you with some recent college football news.

• Garnet and Black gets a nice face lift to get things ready for the 08 campaign -- check it out HERE
• Talk about sounding fishy----Oklahoma has banned any business from employing more than five Sooners athletes at the same time as part of its response to NCAA violations that occurred when three football players took pay for work they had not done at a car dealership.
• A hat-tip to the Dead Guy for finding some interesting reading material over the weekend - 4 coaches rank among Rivals’ Top 10 College Football Coaches and then there is the CBS Sportsline article rating the Hot Seat for all 120+ coaches in D1 football. Coach Spurrier's seat is hotter than Bowden's...do you agree? Dead Guy had this to say -

USC’s Spurrier is on the 2nd hottest seat in the conference, which makes more sense. The Gamecocks’ epic collapse last season was due in large part to key defensive injuries, but the USC brass didn’t bring Spurrier in to go to middling bowls. I don’t think they’d actually fire Spurrier, but I doubt that they’re especially pleased with the results he’s delivered so far in his tenure. If Stephen Garcia continues to run amok though, it will be interesting to see how the USC fans react if the Gamecocks finish 6-6 this season.

I really have to disagree on this issue. I think Spurrier will live to see another day even if he finsihes in the season with the cocks going 6-6 (which will not happen in 08). Spurrier is building a program and there is no quick fix. Read my Post from earlier HERE and you get the reasoning I have....What do you think.....is the seat hot for Spurrier in 08?

And I got to agree with Joe Pa here....a playoff system is needed and is best for the game.
Also it seems we are closer...wait they broke up right?....meant to say we are inching closer to the SEC championship according to this prediction HERE (hattip: gray)....do you agree? I say yes.

Jean shorts wins the Indy 500

Here in the south we get a bad rap for our past, but the Mid-West should be scolded for there current situation. This past weekend at the Indy 500, I could not believe the over whelming number of dudes in jean shorts. I was told by one jorts wearer, that jean shorts will never go out of style. I say we start a nation wide campaign to put an end to jorts, before this epidemic gets out of hand.

Quote of the weekend: Poo is my life, don’t be a hog, save a log. Porta johns are getting full.

Monday Catch Up

After getting back from a weekend out of town, I figured I would do a quick update on some USC happenings. Our pal at the Garnet And Black shared some good USC updates over the weekend...here and here. As we all know by now the Gamecocks lost to Vandy and will now have the chance to travel north to NC State as the #2 seed. This will be ninth straight NCAA regional bid for USC.

The Gamecocks (38-21) will be a No. 2 seed and take on Charlotte (43-17) on Friday at 2 p.m.
Top-seeded NCSU (38-20) will take on James Madison (38-17) in the other first-round game at 7 p.m., with the winners and losers meeting Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m. The survivor of the regional advances to the NCAA super regional where they will be matched up with the UGA regional winner. USC has advanced to the super regional every year this decade except 2005.

It will be interesting to watch if USC gets a chance to go up against NC State b.c it is Tanner's old stomping ground.

In great news, Klempson will not....yes I said WILL NOT be making a trip to the NCAA baseball playoffs. Clemson had its 21-year streak of NCAA trips ended when the Tigers were omitted. Clemson (31-27-1) had been in the NCAA field every year since 1987.....let the crying and excuses begin.

I do agree with the City of Greenville in going out and trying to make a case for the ACC tourney. But the whole flag issue arises up again which to me is bogus...move on....The NCAA has banned its predetermined postseason events from being held in South Carolina and Mississippi, where the flag is displayed on State House grounds. Greenville served as host for the tournament from 1987-95....bring it back!