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Ray Tanner weighing USC’s pitching options

June 23, 2010 By
Could Blake Cooper make his second start in Omaha tomorrow night?

Could Blake Cooper make his second start in Omaha tomorrow night?

USC coach Ray Tanner is still trying to decide who he will be his starting pitcher in tomorrow’s elimination game against either Oklahoma or Clemson.  The Tigers and Sooners will complete their rain/lightning delayed game this afternoon at 4:30.  Clemson is in control with a 6-1 lead in the sixth inning.

Tanner plans to make a decision at some point today although there is no guarantee Tanner will reveal his choice until tomorrow.   Logic would indicate that Tanner would prefer to wait until he knows if he will be facing Clemson or Oklahoma before he decides on a starter.

Tanner on pitching plans

Tanner2

Tanner is weighing the options of Nolan Belcher, Jay Brown, Tyler Webb and Blake Cooper. 

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Filed Under: college baseball, USC Gamecocks Tagged With: , , , ,

USC takes Super Regional opener 4-3

June 12, 2010 By
Ray Tanner

Ray Tanner

In a classic NCAA Super Regional thriller, USC held on Saturday afternoon for a 4-3 victory over  Costal Carolina in game one of the best of three series at sold out BB&T Coastal Field.  A crowd of 6599 watched as the Gamecocks moved to within one win of their ninth College World Series appearance and their first since 2004. 

USC post game press conference:

(Ray Tanner, Blake Cooper, Matt Price, Scott Wingo)

usc presser 6-12

Daniel Bowman

Daniel Bowman

Playing as the visitors, USC scored three runs in the first and one in the second for a 4-0 lead.  Christian Walker’s bases loaded, two out single to left scored two runs and, and a sacrafice fly by Kyle Enders plated the third run in the first.  A bases loaded one out walk to Jackie Bradley Jr. pushed across the Gamecocks run in the second. But with a chance to blow the game open, Adrian Morales struck out and Walker flied out to center to end the inning.   That run would turn out to be USC’s final run. 

Coastal got back into the game with a two out, two run homer to left by Daniel Bowman in the second.  It was his 14th homer of the season.  The Chants scored another run in the 4th on an RBI single by Chance Gilmore with no on out.  The Gamecocks got out of more trouble when Blake Cooper nailed Jose Iglesias at third on a fielders choice, got Bowman to ground out to third, and struck out Rich Witten to end the inning.

Scott Wingo

Scott Wingo

Coastal had two more golden oppportunities to tie or go ahead but great defense and great pitching spoiled those chances.  In the 6th, the Chants loaded the bases with one out.  Bowman then drilled a pitch up the middle that Cooper deflected to second baseman Scott Wingo who stepped on second and fired to first to complete the inning ending double play.

In the 8th, Cooper gave up a leadoff single to Rico Noel on his 113th pitch and then was lifted for Michael Roth.  Roth walked Tommy LaStella and was lifted for Jose Mata.  Mata walked Inglesias and then turned the game over to Matt Price.  Price proceeded to strike out Gilmore swinging, Taylor Motter looking, and induced Bowman to hit a comebacker to the mound. 

Gary Gilmore

Gary Gilmore

Coastal threatened again in the 9th getting runners to first and second with two outs, but Price got LaStella, the Chants leading hitter, to fly out to center to end the game.

Coastal Carolina post game press conference:

(Gary Gilmore, Daniel Bowman, Josh Conway)

coastal presser 6-12

Matt Price

Matt Price

Cooper earned the win for USC andn is now 12-1.  Price earned his 9th save.  Matt Rein was the surprise starter for Coastal and he suffered his first loss of the season against seven win.  Rein injured his ankle covering first on the first hitter of the game and lasted just one inning.  Six more pitchers were used by Gilmore including his #1 starter Anthony Meo.  Meo threw 13 pitches and Gilmore said he can be used again Sunday or Monday.

USC will start righthander Sam Dyson Sunday afternoon.  He’s 5-5 with a 4.00 ERA.  Coastal will start lefthandfer Cody Wheeler.  He’s 12-0 with a 3.59 ERA and has just one loss in his college career.  Sundays first pitch is set for 1:00 on ESPN. 

USC will be the home game for Sunday, and if necessary, Monday’s deciding game.

USC-Coastal Carolina box

Filed Under: college baseball, USC Gamecocks Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

USC and Coastal ready to rumble

June 11, 2010 By
Ray Tanner

Ray Tanner

The USC and Coastal Carolina baseball teams practiced Friday afternoon at BB&T Coastal Field in Myrtle Beach on the eve of their NCAA Super Regional.  The head coaches and two selected players from each team also met with the media to discuss the most important sporting event ever between the two schools.

USC press conference

usc presser 6-11

Blake Cooper

Blake Cooper

USC coach Ray Tanner announced Blake Cooper as his starting pitcher Saturday.  Sam Dyson will start Sunday.   Cooper is 11-1 with a 2.75 ERA.  He has struck out 100 and walked 32.  Opponents are batting .226 against him this season.

Coastal coach Gary Gilmore did not name his starter for Saturday saying it will be a game time decision.  Coastal’s normal number one starter is righthander Anthony Meo.  He’s been a little under the weather this week with a slight cold but said he would be ready to go Saturday if called up. 

Anthony Meo

Anthony Meo

This season Meo is 13-2 with a 2.63 ERA.  He has struck out 94 and walked 34.  Opponents are batting .227 against him.  Meo pitched twice in the regional last week giving up six runs in a losing start against the College of Charleston, then pitching three shutout innings in the regional clincher.

Coastal Carolina press conference

coastal presser 6-11

Gary Gilmore

Gary Gilmore

This will be the first meeting between the teams since 2002.  USC has won 10 of the 15 previous meetings.  The best two out of three Super Regional is completely sold out.  The first pitch Saturday is scheduled for noon on ESPNU.  Sunday’s first pitch is set for 1:00 PM on ESPN.  And if necessary, the third game on Monday will start at either 1:00 PM or 7:00 PM with the ESPN outlet to be announced. 

USC takes a 46-15 record into the game.  Coastal is 55-8.  USC is in a Super Regional for the 8th time.  The Gamecocks are seeking their ninth trip to the World Series.  Coastal is in a Super Regional for the second time and is seeking its first ever trip to Omaha.

Filed Under: college baseball, USC Gamecocks Tagged With: , , , , , ,

USC knocks off Citadel, moves to title game

June 6, 2010 By
Blake Cooper earns his 11th win of the season

Blake Cooper earns his 11th win of the season

USC moved one step closer to advancing to the super regional round of the NCAA tournament with a 9-4 win over the Citadel in Columbia Saturday night. The Gamecocks will move into Sunday night’s 7:00 Championship game while the Bulldogs fall into the losers bracket and will play Virginia Tech at 2:00 Sunday.

USC postgame press conference

USC post Citadel

The winner of that losers bracket game will play USC Sunday night and they will have to beat the Gamecocks twice. Should USC lose Sunday night, the deciding game would be played Monday at 7:00.

Now that we have the formalities of the regional format out of the way, let’s get to the game. More bad weather (shocker) pushed the start time back to almost 8:30 but the fans that patiently waited for things to get started weren’t shortchanged.

Carolina starting pitcher Blake Cooper was spectacular on the mound. He struck out a career high 14 batters in his seven innings of work. He had the Bulldogs off completely confused all night. He did give up four runs, however none of them were earned.

Wojiechowski was impressive but ran out of gas late

Wojiechowski was impressive but ran out of gas late

Cooper managed to overcome what at first looked to be a crushing mistake by catcher Kyle Enders in the bottom of the 5th. After a strikeout that would have ended the inning Enders let the ball get past him and then threw wildly to first base allowing the runner to reach safely. That lead to a two out three run homer by Bryan Altman that gave the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead going into the 6th inning.

That two run lead was looking pretty good with Bulldogs ace Asher Wojciechowski on the mound. The Southern Conference pitcher of the year and probable first round pick in next week’s MLB draft was having an impressive night on the mound. He struck out 11 Gamecock batters on the night, a total that moved him into the national lead in K’s with 155.

Citadel postgame press conference

Citadel post USC

Wojciechowski did run into trouble in the 7th inning though when the Gamecocks broke through with a five spot. It certainly looked like fatigue caught up to him on a hot, sticky night in Columbia. Wojciechowski threw 132 pitches on the night and counting his total from Sunday’s Southern Conference tournament final he has thrown over 300 pitches in the past ten days.

Despite that he was still hitting the low to mid 90’s all night. He gave a gutsy performance but it wasn’t enough to outduel Cooper who improved to 11-1 on the season.

As for tomorrow’s game Ray Tanner will probably start Jay Brown. Brown is 3-0 with a 4.40 ERA this season. Nolan Belcher could also get a look but I would be shocked if he doesn’t hand the ball to Brown to start the game.

Filed Under: USC Gamecocks Tagged With: , , ,

Gator Bait: Florida takes down USC 3-2 in game 1

May 21, 2010 By

Florida scored three runs in the third and fourth innings and three Gator relievers combined to limit the Gamecocks to just one run in the final 5.2 innings as Florida defeated South Carolina 3-2 in the series opener on Thursday night in front of 8,188 fans at Carolina Stadium, the third largest crowd in school history.

USC skipper Ray Tanner breaks down game one

ray tanner 5-20

 Florida is 39-12 and 21-7 in the SEC while the loss drops Carolina to 42-12 and 20-8 in conference play. The series resumes on Friday night with first pitch at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on FSN.

 Florida reliever Jeff Barfield improved to 4-0 on the year after working 2.2 innings. He allowed one run on two hits and struck out four batters. South Carolina starter Blake Cooper suffered his first loss of the season and is now 10-1 on the year. He allowed three runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings with three strikeouts and one walk.

Blake Cooper talks about his first loss of the season

blake cooper 5-20

Tyler Thompson gave the Gators a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. On a 1-2 pitch, Thomson drove a shot to right center for his second home run of the season. The Gators added one more run in the frame to go ahead 2-0 as Daniel Pigott doubled with two outs and scored on Preston Tucker’s RBI base hit up the middle.

Florida added a single run in the top of the fourth to extend the advantage to 3-0. Matt den Dekker reached base with a single followed by Brian Johnson’s double to right field. Josh Adams drove in den Dekker with a RBI ground out.

South Carolina answered in the bottom of the fourth with a single run and knocked Florida starter Alex Panteliodis from the game. Adam Matthews reached base with one out on a bunt single followed by a base hit by Kyle Enders. The Gamecocks’ third straight hit would come from Bobby Haney, who laced a RBI single to right field scoring Matthews and bringing the Gamecocks to within two runs at 3-1.  Florida was able to escape a bases loaded jam with one out though as Barfield came on and struck out Whit Merrifield and Jackie Bradley Jr. to end the Carolina threat.

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Filed Under: USC Gamecocks Tagged With: , , ,
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