The Beginning Of One Wild Ride
posted by Scott Hood on Monday, March 03, 2008
Before then? It doesn’t matter.
The first weekend of June is ‘go time’ for the Gamecocks and, hopefully, this year they’ll host a Super Regional rather than having to play away from Sarge Frye Field. We’ve seen what happens when USC has to go on the road to play for the right to advance to the College World Series. It isn't pretty.
This weekend’s sweep of Clemson – especially Saturday’s 10-1 drubbing of the Tigers - showed what the Gamecocks are capable of when they’re playing splendidly
If they maintain this high level of play over the next three months, they’ll certainly finish with a top eight national seed.
Notice I didn't say No. 1 team. Polls mean nothing in college baseball, since the national champion is decided on the field. The main goal of every decent team is to put themselves in position to host a Super Regional.
The most important thing we learned this weekend – besides the fact USC is a better baseball team than Clemson – is that USC’s starting lineup features an intriguing mix of experience and youth.
There are the big names most fans, casual or hardcore, already know like Justin Smoak, Reese Havens and James Darnell. These core players all hit the ball and fielded the ball well enough in the first six games, especially Havens, who’s batting leadoff for the first time in his college career after experimenting with it in the Cape Code League last summer.
If college baseball held a similar elevated position in the public consciousness as college football or basketball, Havens would be the lead story on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
The numbers put up by Havens so far are staggering. Through six games, he’s currently hitting .500 (12 for 24) with four homers, 11 runs scored and 15 RBI. Wow.
Is there a hotter hitter in the country? I doubt it.
Smoak hasn’t been completely unleashed yet, though his titanic home run on Sunday afternoon in Clemson could be a precursor of things to come.
Within the next few weeks, Smoak should become USC’s all-time home run leader. I think once Smoak gets past that record, he’ll take off.
But, in my opinion, three names will make this season spectacularly interesting – Justin Hopper, Whit Merrifield and Scott Wingo.
What do these three players have in common? They’re all true freshman. And they’re all making major contributions to the Gamecocks right now.
All three of these young players share one common trait – they can run very fast.
Hopper and Merrifield earned starting jobs in the fall, and have showed the Gamecock fans why in the first six games. Hopper’s diving catch in Saturday’s win over Clemson was something to behold. It saved two runs, easily, and possibly three. There’s no question it would have been a different game had he failed to make the catch.
Hopper’s swinging a hot bat, as well. He’s batting over .400 and seems to have had no problem adjusting to major college pitching.
We knew before the season that with players like Havens, Smoak, Darnell and Phil Disher, USC would hit the ball a ton and score a bunch of runs.
That led to fingers being pointed at the pitching staff as the key to the 2008 season.
So far, so good.
Mike Cisco is far from a flamethrower, but he dominated the Clemson offense at times in Saturday’s game by mixing up his pitches and changing speeds. Blake Cooper had a solid six-inning outing Sunday.
If you had concerns about the USC pitching staff when the season started, I’m sure the first six games have eased your mind a bit.
At this point, the wildcards on the pitching staff are Will Atwood and Nick Godwin. We didn’t know what to expect from Atwood when the season started since he was coming off the shoulder injury, but his first two appearances have been impressive.
In fact, I’m predicting Atwood will be the established third weekend starter by the end of March. Godwin allowed just two hits in six innings against UNC Asheville on Wednesday, so he has a shot too.
To the extent Atwood and Godwin are competing to become the third starter, Atwood has a distinct advantage in the fact he’s left-handed.
There’s also a huge difference between facing Big South hitters and SEC quality hitters. A few more solid starts during the week and Godwin might be ready for a weekend role.
Six regular season games are in the books. We have 50 to go.
I have a gut feeling it’s going to be one wild ride.
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
Based on everything I saw this weekend, the South Carolina baseball team should be a serious national championship contender by the time the calendar turns June.
Before then? It doesn’t matter.
The first weekend of June is ‘go time’ for the Gamecocks and, hopefully, this year they’ll host a Super Regional rather than having to play away from Sarge Frye Field. We’ve seen what happens when USC has to go on the road to play for the right to advance to the College World Series. It isn't pretty.
This weekend’s sweep of Clemson – especially Saturday’s 10-1 drubbing of the Tigers - showed what the Gamecocks are capable of when they’re playing splendidly
If they maintain this high level of play over the next three months, they’ll certainly finish with a top eight national seed.
Notice I didn't say No. 1 team. Polls mean nothing in college baseball, since the national champion is decided on the field. The main goal of every decent team is to put themselves in position to host a Super Regional.
The most important thing we learned this weekend – besides the fact USC is a better baseball team than Clemson – is that USC’s starting lineup features an intriguing mix of experience and youth.
There are the big names most fans, casual or hardcore, already know like Justin Smoak, Reese Havens and James Darnell. These core players all hit the ball and fielded the ball well enough in the first six games, especially Havens, who’s batting leadoff for the first time in his college career after experimenting with it in the Cape Code League last summer.
If college baseball held a similar elevated position in the public consciousness as college football or basketball, Havens would be the lead story on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
The numbers put up by Havens so far are staggering. Through six games, he’s currently hitting .500 (12 for 24) with four homers, 11 runs scored and 15 RBI. Wow.
Is there a hotter hitter in the country? I doubt it.
Smoak hasn’t been completely unleashed yet, though his titanic home run on Sunday afternoon in Clemson could be a precursor of things to come.
Within the next few weeks, Smoak should become USC’s all-time home run leader. I think once Smoak gets past that record, he’ll take off.
But, in my opinion, three names will make this season spectacularly interesting – Justin Hopper, Whit Merrifield and Scott Wingo.
What do these three players have in common? They’re all true freshman. And they’re all making major contributions to the Gamecocks right now.
All three of these young players share one common trait – they can run very fast.
Hopper and Merrifield earned starting jobs in the fall, and have showed the Gamecock fans why in the first six games. Hopper’s diving catch in Saturday’s win over Clemson was something to behold. It saved two runs, easily, and possibly three. There’s no question it would have been a different game had he failed to make the catch.
Hopper’s swinging a hot bat, as well. He’s batting over .400 and seems to have had no problem adjusting to major college pitching.
We knew before the season that with players like Havens, Smoak, Darnell and Phil Disher, USC would hit the ball a ton and score a bunch of runs.
That led to fingers being pointed at the pitching staff as the key to the 2008 season.
So far, so good.
Mike Cisco is far from a flamethrower, but he dominated the Clemson offense at times in Saturday’s game by mixing up his pitches and changing speeds. Blake Cooper had a solid six-inning outing Sunday.
If you had concerns about the USC pitching staff when the season started, I’m sure the first six games have eased your mind a bit.
At this point, the wildcards on the pitching staff are Will Atwood and Nick Godwin. We didn’t know what to expect from Atwood when the season started since he was coming off the shoulder injury, but his first two appearances have been impressive.
In fact, I’m predicting Atwood will be the established third weekend starter by the end of March. Godwin allowed just two hits in six innings against UNC Asheville on Wednesday, so he has a shot too.
To the extent Atwood and Godwin are competing to become the third starter, Atwood has a distinct advantage in the fact he’s left-handed.
There’s also a huge difference between facing Big South hitters and SEC quality hitters. A few more solid starts during the week and Godwin might be ready for a weekend role.
Six regular season games are in the books. We have 50 to go.
I have a gut feeling it’s going to be one wild ride.
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.