Au revoir, Mr. Hyman.

As we all know, Eric Hyman officially resigned as the Athletic Director at South Carolina today and will take the same position at our new conference rival, Texas A&M. Hyman was just shy of his seventh anniversary as a member of Gamecock Nation.

While I have to admit the move is a little surprising to me, Hyman has family in Texas, so it makes sense in that regard. He also has previous experience in the area and is one of the top AD’s in the country.

He did so much at USC, and I’m sure the Aggies are hoping he can do as well there as he did here. Thanks for everything, sir, and like university president Dr. Pastides said today, we look forward to beating your new school at every possible opportunity.

So with Hyman out, who could the next AD be? Pastides has put together a five-person advisory committee that includes Dawn Staley and Tommy Suggs, and an interim athletic director appointment should happen in about a week.

One name that’s been thrown into the mix is current baseball coach Ray Tanner. He’s supposedly really, really interested in the position, and  he’s obviously very familiar with USC athletics. He also served as the associate AD at NC State before coming to Carolina, so it’s not like he’d be totally lost.

That being said, he’s done an excellent job with the baseball team, so a) would he actually want to be done coaching and b) would that be good for the baseball team? Assistant coach Chad Holbrook has long been seen as the coach-in-waiting, and I have no doubt that he could take over the program and run it very, very well. If Ray is truly ready to swap his coaching hat for an administrative one, then he should be strongly considered.

» Continue reading “Now That Hyman’s Out, Who Could Be In?”

Two quick bits of news today:

1) Gamecocks third baseman LB Dantzler will be one of eight participants in the 2012 TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby in Omaha. The derby will take place July 3rd, but it will be televised on CBS from 2-3 ET on July 7th. In the 2012 season, LB went yard 10 times, including once in the CWS.

2) New SEC member Texas A&M is reportedly interested in bringing current USC AD Eric Hyman in to fill the same role in College Station. Hyman is in his seventh year in Columbia and has played a major role in improving Gamecock athletics. He was said to be in consideration for the AD position at UNC, his alma mater, last year, but he chose to stay at USC.

A statement released by the university today said Hyman would not comment on the matter. His current contract with South Carolina ends in June 2015.

After last night’s loss, I just couldn’t bear to write a recap without letting things sink in a little bit. Now that I’ve come to terms with things, though, let’s proceed.

South Carolina dropped Game 2 of the CWS Finals to Arizona last night, making the Wildcats the 2012 champs. UA was just incredibly solid in all aspects of the game, and they certainly deserved the victory, but that doesn’t make the outcome any easier to swallow. It seemed that after two years of having all the right things happen at the right times for us, Arizona got to have that luck on their side last night.

Roth leaves the field for the last time in a Carolina uniform.

In his final start as a Gamecock (cue the sobbing), Michael Roth did everything he could to keep his team in it. He allowed just one run on three hits, walked one batter, and struck out three. What else is there to say, really, besides Roth was simply just Roth.

Even after he left the game (to a thunderous and well-deserved standing ovation), he was in the dugout laughing, smiling, and cheering his teammates on. Michael Roth is hands down one of, if not the best to ever wear the garnet and black, and we all owe him so, so much for what he did for Carolina baseball. (I really am crying again, you guys).

Arizona first got on the board in the top of the third. Joesph Maggi led off with a double and advanced to third on a sac ground out by Riley Moore. Trent Gilbert was up next and he also grounded out, but Maggi was able to make it home.

As they have for the past three years, the Yardcocks  rallied to tie the game. In the bottom of the seventh, Christian Walker had an excellent at-bat that went into double digit pitches and eventually ended in a lead off walk. Adam Matthews knocked a one-out single, which put runners on the corners. Kyle Martin hit the ball to first, but brought Walker across the plate to make the score 1-1.
» Continue reading “Bye Bye, Beloved Boys Of Summer: Gamecocks Fall Short In Omaha”

Pardon the innuendo, but the Cocks were limp tonight. That said, they may be down, but they’re not out – yet.

Arizona played a terrific game and came away with a 5-1 win in the opener of the finals at the College World Series tonight.

Starter Konner Wade tossed a complete game, his second-straight at the CWS. More on his night later.

Arizona got on the board early, putting up two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Johnny Field hit a one-out single and got to second on a ground out from Alex Mejia. Robert Refsnyder went yard after that, making it 2-0 Wildcats.

They added another run in the third. Trent Gilbert reached on an error by Joey Pankake, and Joey Rickard singled to put runners on first and second with no outs. Mejia knocked a one-out base hit, and was able to get to second on the throw. That also brought Gilbert across the plate to up the score to 3-0.

Arizona added more insurance in the fifth. With one out, Field walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Seth Mejias-Brean later singled to bring Field in, making it 4-0 Wildcats.

The final UA run came in the seventh inning, when Refsnyder laced a one-out single, advanced on a ground out by Mejias-Brean, and then crossed the plate thanks to an RBI single from Bobby Brown.

South Carolina mustered their only run in the sixth. Grayson Greiner led off the inning with a double and came home on an RBI single from Evan Marzilli. Christian Walker followed that with a walk, but LB Danztler grounded out to end the inning.

» Continue reading “Wildcats Beat Cocks In Game 1 Of CWS Finals”

I will never get tired of seeing things like this.

Holy moly. The magical ride continues.

South Carolina walked away with a win tonight, putting them in the title series for the third straight year at the College World Series. And when I say they walked, I mean they might not have won had it not been for the two runs that were walked in.

That may have been due, at least in part, to the absolutely terrible umpiring at home plate, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

Arkansas wasted no time getting on the board. Tim Carver led off the game with a single, advanced to second on a sac bunt by Jacob Mahan, and came home on an RBI single from Matt Reynolds.

The Hogs added their second run in the top of the third. USC starter Colby Holmes hit the Jake Wise to start the inning, then Carver doubled, putting runners at second and third with no outs. Holmes was lifted for Tyler Webb, who got Mahan to ground out and Reynolds to fly out. Wise was able to score on the fly ball, though. Dominic Ficociello was intentionally walked and Carver stole third, but a strike out from Brian Anderson ended the scoring threat.

Arkansas had a chance to pad their lead in the fourth, but were unable to capitalize. Bo Bigham took a lead off walk and got to second on a sac bunt from Joe Serrano. He advanced to third on a single by Matt Vinson, but Webb K’d Wise and got a fly out from Carver to end the inning before any of the runners could make it home.

Even so, things were looking a bit grim for Carolina, and one of the common reactions on twitter was that this game looked a whole lot like Monday’s game against Arkansas – the only one that Carolina has lost in Omaha since that game against Oklahoma in 2010. Things began to go USC’s way in the bottom of the fifth inning, though.

» Continue reading “Gamecocks Squeak Past Razorbacks, Return To CWS Finals!”

Jordan Montgomery was nearly flawless in his CWS debut.

Thanks to stellar pitching, South Carolina lives to play another day in Omaha.

Behind a tremendous start from freshman Jordan Montgomery, USC blanked Arkansas 2-0 tonight in Omaha. The win forces another elimination game between the two teams tomorrow night.

The Cocks scored their runs in the top of the second inning. Erik Payne got things started with a double, and Tanner English followed suit, bringing Payne home. English got to third when Grayson Greiner grounded out, and Chase Vergason knocked an RBI single to bring English home.

The bats went quiet after that, but those two runs were enough. The Hogs were unable to get any runners home, and Carolina got their first-ever CWS shut out victory.

The Yardcocks did have a chance to pad their lead in the top of the sixth, but couldn’t capitalize. LB Dantzler reached first thanks to an error, then advanced to second on a passed ball. Adam Matthews laced a one-out single, but Dantzler advanced only one base. Their was a fielding miscue by Arkansas, but Dantzler didn’t go home. He ended up being tagged out at the plate on a fielder’s choice on the next play. Luckily, that didn’t come back to haunt South Carolina.

Defense played a big role in the Cocks’ victory tonight. More than once, they turned double plays that ended a Razorbacks scoring threat and kept the momentum going the way of the garnet and black. The most impressive one involved a diving catch by Christian Walker in the eighth, after Montgomery had walked the lead off batter.

» Continue reading “Montgomery’s Gem Leads Gamecocks Past Razorbacks”

The Yardcocks stayed alive in Omaha this afternoon, topping the Flashes 4-1.

Starter Michael Roth was fantastic, throwing a complete game two-hitter. This was the second elimination game of his career. In his first, against Clemson in 2010, he threw a complete game three-hitter.

Kent State scored their lone run in the top of the second inning. George Roberts singled to lead off the inning and got to second on a groundout by TJ Sutton. Sawyer Polen lacked a single to bring Roberts home.

The Gamecocks responded in the bottom of the inning with two runs of their own. Adam Matthews and Kyle Martin each knocked one-out singles to put runners at first and second. With two outs, Grayson Greiner hit a single off Polen’s glove. The ball rolled into foul territory and Matthews motored home. Chase Vergason roped a base hit into right to bring Martin home.

The third inning saw Carolina add to their lead. Christian Walker smacked a two-out double, and LB Dantzler followed that up with a booming home run, his 10th of the year. That gave Carolina a 4-1 lead.

» Continue reading “Roth Throws Complete Game As Carolina Eliminates Kent State”

Sorry for the lack of updates last week, guys. I was on vacation, but I’m back now and the updates will return to their regularly scheduled frequency!

All good things must come to an end, I guess. Unfortunately, this ending happened a lot sooner that anyone would’ve liked.

South Carolina lost to Arkansas 2-1 in an SEC showdown winner’s bracket game tonight in Omaha. The Yardcocks will take on Kent State Wednesday night at 8 ET, and the winner of that game will face Arkansas. Carolina will have to win three straight games in order to play for the title.

With the loss, a couple record streaks were snapped. The postseason winning streak ended at 22 and the Omaha win streak ended at 12. Those are still amazing numbers, though, and we should all be incredibly proud of what the teams have done over the past few years.

Very few things went right for the Gamecocks tonight, especially on offense. They were never really able to get much of anything going, and while Arkansas’ bats were fairly quiet, too, they were simply the better team and did enough to win.

USC starter Colby Holmes struggled early, allowing a run in the top of the first. Tim Carver singled to lead off and got to second on a sac bunt. Dominic Ficociello doubled later in the inning to bring Carver home.

The Hogs added their second run in the fourth inning. Brian Anderson walked, stole second base, and came across the plate thanks to a two-out RBI single from Matt Vinson.

South Carolina got on the board in the fifth, when Evan Marzilli  smacked a two-out triple that scored Chase Vergason.

The Cocks were outhit 6-4 and each team recorded an error.

» Continue reading “Streaks Come To An End As Cocks Fall To Hogs”

Dogpiles are my FAVORITE.

Battle? Check. Win anyway? Check. Fear the fish? Check. Return to Omaha? Check.

After rain forced a postponement until this afternoon, the Gamecocks found some offense and beat Oklahoma 5-1 to win the Super Regional and advance to the College World Series.

The first five and a half innings, played Sunday night, were relatively uninteresting. Each team had a chance to get on the board in the third, but neither could capitalize.

Both starters, Colby Holmes for USC and Jonathan Gray for OU, were solid on the mound Sunday night. Holmes allowed one hit in five innings of work, Gray gave up three in six innings. The game resumed this afternoon in the bottom of the sixth inning with the Sooners at the plate.

Tyler Webb started on the mound and got a lead off strike out from Tanner Toal before getting into a bit of a jam. Caleb Bushyhead appeared to hit into a routine groundout, but Joey Pankake and Christian Walker had difficulty making the play. Erik Ross followed that with a K and Bushyhead stole second, giving the Sooners a runner in scoring position with two outs.

Max White and Matt Oberste both walked, loading the bases with two down. Cody Reine flied out to end the inning, though he made Webb work for it, and fouled off five straight pitches as part of a 10-pitch at-bat.

USC broke the scoreless tie in the top of the seventh. DH Connor Bright led off with a double and Tanner English reached on a beautiful two-strike bunt. TJ Costen, who was pinch running for Bright, came home when the ball sailed past Okalhaoma’s third baseman, and English made it to second. That made the score 1-0 in favor of the Cocks, and Chase Vergason came up to sac bunt English over to third. Pankake would later walk and English came home on a wild pitch to give Carolina a 2-0 lead.

» Continue reading “THE YARDCOCKS ARE OMAHA-BOUND!”