GamecockCentral.com Blog

Live Blog from the MLB Draft, Day 3

posted by David Cloninger, 6/11/2009 11:11:00 AM

Greetings once again, folks, from the third and final day of the Major League Baseball Draft. It's about to start in 20 minutes and I'll be live blogging and sending text alerts throughout the day for any USC connections that are picked.

Rounds 31-50 are today and they'll go pretty quickly. USC's Nick Ebert, Bobby Haney and Blake Cooper, plus recruits Christian Walker and Ethan Carter, are all on my list as potential draftees but going this late probably ensures they'll all come to school. We'll get started in 20 minutes.

11:40 a.m. -- Round 31. The Nationals start it with pick No. 922 and they take UNLV's center fielder. Kentucky's Clint Tilford goes to the Rockies.

11:50 a.m. -- Round 32. The Rockies take a kid named Steven Junker. A pitcher. Honest. Georgia's Will Harvil goes to the Diamondbacks. The Yankees make it two Gamecocks in this year's draft by taking Nick Ebert with the No. 975 pick. I'd say he'll be back after going that low.

Noon -- Round 33. Elon's Pat Irvine goes to the Pirates. Arkansas' Mike Bolsinger goes to Oakland.

12:05 p.m. -- Round 34. A kid I covered in high school, York's Zac Fuesser, goes to the Pirates. The Orioles take a kid named Malcolm Clapsaddle. Kansas City takes Justin Trapp out of Fairfield Central High School. Alex Farotto goes to the White Sox. Good for him.

12:15 p.m. -- Round 35. The Reds take Oliver Santos from USC-Salkehatchie. Mississippi State's Jackson Hogue goes to Houston. Tennessee's Danny Wiltz goes to the White Sox. The Citadel's Wes Wrenn goes to the Mets.

12:25 p.m. -- Round 36. Clemson signee Scott Firth goes to the Orioles. Alabama's Robbie Evans goes to Cleveland. Clemson's Mike Freeman goes to Arizona. The Red Sox take Yaz's grandson -- how do you not see that coming? Alabama's Brandon May goes to the Cubs.

12:35 p.m. -- Round 37. The Blue Jays take George Mason's Shawn Griffith. He's a familiar face.

12:45 p.m. -- Round 38. The Braves take Tripp Faulk out of North Myrtle Beach High School.

12:50 p.m. -- Round 39. The Giants take Ole Miss catcher Kyle Henson.

1 p.m. -- Round 40. Vanderbilt's Jonathan White goes to the Giants. St. Louis takes Jesse Simpson out of CofC. Muhammad Ali's son goes to the Angels with the last pick of the round.

1:25 p.m. -- Round 41. Colorado takes Clemson's Matt Sanders. Kansas City takes Georgia's Joey Lewis.

1:35 p.m. -- Round 42. Blair Carson from Anderson University goes to Cincinnati.

1:45 p.m. -- Round 43. Edward Fallon goes from USC Upstate to Pittsburgh. Mississippi State's Richard Bowen goes to the Reds.

1:55 p.m. -- Round 44. Texas takes Tyler Christman from USC Sumter. The White Sox take Auburn's Taylor Thompson.

2:05 p.m. -- Round 45. USC signee Adrian Morales got picked by the Astros. Shouldn't worry too much about that one.

2:15 p.m. -- Round 46. Parker Bangs goes to the Pirates early.

2:25 p.m. -- Round 47. Georgia's Justin Earls goes to Pittsburgh. USC signee Colby Holmes goes to the Braves. Greenwood High School's Christian Powell goes to Cleveland. USC Upstate's Matt Branham goes to the Astros.

2:35 p.m. -- Round 48. Clemson's Clinton McKinney goes to Colorado. Clemson's Addison Johnson goes to Oakland two picks later. Laurens High School's Travis Burnside goes to the Dodgers.

2:40 p.m. -- Round 49. Signee Christian Walker goes to the Dodgers.

2:50 p.m. -- Round 50, the final round. Ole Miss' Brett Basham goes to the Padres. The Braves take Josh Edgin out of Francis Marion. The Mets take Zach Godley from Bamberg-Ehrhardt High School, although they say Bamberg-Earnhardt High School. Insert stereotype here.

And this year's equivalent of Mr. Irrelevant -- Alibay Barkley, from George Washington (N.Y.) High School. He goes to the Angels, who dedicate their draft to the memories of Preston Gomez and Nick Adenhart.

Live Blog from the MLB Draft, Day 2

posted by David Cloninger, 6/10/2009 11:15:00 AM

Greetings, everyone, DC back again for the second day of coverage from the Major League Baseball Draft. I'm attempting to keep my muscles from approaching atrophy as I embark on what's expected to be an eight-hour update.

It could be worse -- I could have a real job and have to work for a living.

In case you missed it, Day 1 was very kind to the Gamecocks. Recruits Chris Owings and Wil Myers were drafted, but Myers, by all accounts the top player in the class, went much lower than he was expected. A third-round selection by Kansas City is unlikely to offer the same kind of money Myers apparently wants, so I'd say USC has a very strong chance of getting Myers into a USC uniform in the fall.

Sam Dyson also didn't get picked, which was surprising. Considered at lowest a second-rounder, Dyson's name failed to appear through three rounds. He has a bit more leverage since he's got two years of school left, so we'll have to see where he lands.

Dyson, Justin Dalles, Nick Ebert, DeAngelo Mack and possibly Blake Cooper are all expected to be drafted today. Recruits Christian Walker, Brooks Hall and Ethan Carter are also possibilities. We'll keep you informed with this blog and text alerts throughout the day.

12:15 p.m. -- Washington begins Day 2 by picking Anthony Morris from Kansas State. Alabama's Kent Matthes went to the Rockies in the early fourth round. Clemson's Chris Dwyer went to Kansas City just after Matthes. Ole Miss' Scott Bittle went to St. Louis in the same round. And a kid FROM USC SUMTER, B.J. Hyatt, just got picked. That's gotta hurt some egos -- it took MLB around five minutes to put his name up, probably because they couldn't find him in the database.

There he goes -- signee Brooks Hall goes 136th to Milwaukee. I like USC's chances of getting him on campus.

12:30 p.m. -- Round five begins. Ole Miss' Nathan Baker goes early. The Braves take Aynor native David Berryhill, who plays at Newberry. Austin Wood, the Texas pitcher who threw 12 no-hit innings in that 25-inning game, goes to Detroit. Two SEC boys, LSU's Louis Coleman and Auburn's Joseph Sanders, go next. Chase Austin from Elon goes to Florida. LSU's Ryan Schimpf goes to the Blue Jays. The Yankees take Caleb Cotham from Vanderbilt. A dude named Seth Schwindenhammer gets picked. No one can fit that on the back of a jersey. Round five over.

12:45 p.m. -- Round six wrapup -- Justin Dalles goes 176th to Baltimore. Ruben Sierra's kid goes to the Rangers, same team as his old man. A kid gets taken out of the "Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, in Puerto Rico." That's so no one confuses it with the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy in Lake View. Butch Hobson's kid goes to Toronto. Kid from Charlotte goes to the Yankees, poor guy.

1 p.m. -- Daniel Weaver from Georgia goes to the Nationals and UNC continues to have its entire team drafted. The Braves take a Georgia JUCO kid. Dallas Keuchel goes from Arkansas to Houston. Clemson commitment Madison Younginer goes from Mauldin to Philadelphia. Still no sign of Dyson.

1:05 p.m. -- Going into the eighth round. Devin Harris, whose name is synonymous with "Satan" around these parts, goes from East Carolina to Baltimore. He and Dalles ought to have a lot to talk about. Stephen Richards goes from Arkansas to Florida.

1:15 p.m. -- Ninth round begins. Another of my former Winthrop boys, John Murrian, goes to Detroit. Great kid, that one. Coastal Carolina's Nick McCully goes to St. Louis. The Citadel's Richard Jones goes to the Cubs.

1:30 p.m. -- 10th round. Clemson's Ryan Hinson, from the great town of Rock Hill, goes to the Padres. Great kid. There goes Sam Dyson, with the 303rd pick to Oakland. If he signs, perhaps he could join Landon Powell in the bigs. That low of a pick, though, and with two years to come back, why not come back for one?

1:45 p.m. -- 11th round. Avery Barnes from Florida goes to Colorado. Kentucky's Chris Wade goes to Florida.

2 p.m. -- 12th round. Alabama's Vincent DiFazio got taken by Texas. Tennessee's Nick Hernandez goes to Philadelphia. Travis Witherspoon from Spartanburg Methodist to end the round.

2:10 p.m. -- 13th round. Matt Cerione from Georgia goes to Seattle. Vanderbilt's Nick Christiani goes to Cincinnati. Another Gamecock -- DeAngelo Mack goes to the Yankees with pick No. 405.

2:20 p.m. -- 14th round. Newberry's Casio Grider goes to the Dodgers, followed by Sequoyah Stonecipher. What is he doing playing baseball when he should be in films? Clemson's Graham Stoneburner goes to the Yankees.

2:30 p.m. -- 15th round. Vanderbilt's Steven Liddle goes to the Twins. Alabama's Del Howell goes to Milwaukee, followed by teammate Austin Hyatt on the very next pick to Philadelphia.

2:40 p.m. -- 16th round. Florida's Matt den Dekker goes to Pittsburgh. A kid from Charlotte Christian HS goes to Boston. Coastal Carolina's Tyler Bortnick goes to Tampa Bay.

2:50 p.m. -- 17th round. Georgia's Jeff Walters goes to Baltimore. Arkansas' Ben Tschepikow goes to Kansas City. A kid I saw play against Winthrop, Radford's Alex Gregory, goes to the Mets.

3 p.m. -- 18th round. Miss' Ole Brett Bukvich goes to Florida.

3:10 p.m. -- 19th round. The Braves take Tyrell Harris from Tennessee.

3:20 p.m. -- 20th round. Patrick Keating goes from Florida to Kansas City. Florida takes James Smith from AppaLAYchian State. I wonder if that's the same as AppaLATCHian State? Toronto takes Kevin Nolan, another of my former Winthrop boys.

3:45 p.m. -- 21st round. Just talked to DeAngelo Mack on a teleconference and he said "we'll see how it goes" when it comes to taking his position. Ole Miss' Phillip Irwin went to Pittsburgh. The Braves take The Citadel's Matt Crim. The Tigers take CofC's Matt Mansilla.

3:50 p.m. -- 22nd round. Ole Miss' Evan Button goes to Arizona. Another Cougar goes -- Joseph Bergman goes to St. Louis. Florida's Buddy Munroe goes to Minnesota.

4 p.m. -- 23rd round. Florida's Mike Mooney goes to Baltimore.

4:10 p.m. -- 24th round. The Yankees take another kid out of App State. The Phillies take Justin Long (not the actor).

4:20 p.m. -- 25th round. I just heard this exchange -- Moderator: St. Louis? Other guy: I think you meant Pittsburgh. Moderator: Sorry. San Diego?

Texas picks Florida's Riley Cooper. Clemson commitment Richie Shaffer just went but I bet he'll be in school come fall. The Reds got a guy named Michael Monster. Words do not describe how awesome that is.

4:30 p.m. -- 26th round. A kid from Nitro High School just went. That must be the coolest high school ever. Georgia's Alex McCree goes to the Dodgers.

4:40 p.m. -- 27th round. Dorman's Stefan Del Pino got picked by Cincinnati. Wofford's Mike Gilmartin goes to Oakland.

4:50 p.m. -- 28th round. Kyle Hooper and Kyle Hoppy go back-to-back. Toronto and Houston almost get in an over-the-phone fistfight when the Astros attempt to go out of turn.

5 p.m. -- 29th round. Clemson's Trey Delk goes to the White Sox.

5:10 p.m. -- 30th and final round of today. Georgia's Bryce Massanari goes to Colorado. Texas takes Erskine's Bryan Fogle. The Brewers take CofC's Brandon Sizemore.

Tomorrow begins at 11:30 a.m. and covers rounds 31-50. Nick Ebert, Blake Cooper, Bobby Haney and signees Ethan Carter and Christian Walker could all be called. Talk to you then.

Live Blog from the MLB Draft

posted by David Cloninger, 6/09/2009 05:55:00 PM

Greetings folks,
DC here to bring you every South Carolina draftee from the current team and the recruiting class. Stephen Strasburg is expected to go to the Nationals any minute now and I'll keep you updated throughout.

The schedule is the first three rounds beginning at 6 p.m. today. Rounds 4-30 are tomorrow, beginning at noon. Rounds 31-50 are on Thursday, beginning at 11:30 a.m. I'm going to be glued to my desk chair, so if I can move at the end of it, I'll post a complete wrapup, following my wrapups after each day of the draft.

Pencils ready ...

Geez, Bud Selig is a stiff. The guy's name sounds like some kind of a grouting material for cleaning septic tanks. He's yammering on about some kind of nonsense -- get to the picks, dummy.

Nationals on the clock -- they get four minutes to decide. Ben McDonald calls Strasburg the best overall talent in the draft. Harold Reynolds (wish he was back on ESPN) says there's no way Strasburg will go to the majors right away.

6:15 p.m. -- As expected, Washington takes Strasburg as the top overall pick, thereby loosening another Scott Boras spawn upon the earth. That'll be 50 million bucks, please. Wonder how long it will take the kid before he realizes, "I'm rich but I have to play in Washington."

I'm growing my goatee back out. So there that is.

6:20 p.m. -- Dustin Ackley from North Carolina goes to Seattle as the No. 2 pick. I don't see how the Holes got him for as long as they did.

6:30 p.m. -- High-schooler Donovan Tate, a football commitment to UNC, goes third to the Padres. Boston College catcher Tony Sanchez (goonie goo goo) goes fourth to the Pirates. A note about him -- he caught all 25 innings of that Texas-BC game during the regionals.

6:40 p.m. -- Matt Hobgood to the Orioles. I'm beginning to prepare for the Wil Myers watch. Zack Wheeler goes to the Giants. My beloved Braves are on the clock.

6:43 p.m. -- A note on the Wheeler kid -- he was committed to Kennesaw State. I hear they went ahead and retired the number he would have worn anyway. Atlanta takes ... MIKE MINOR from Vanderbilt!!! Heck yeah!!!!!

6:54 p.m. -- Not only is Minor a quality pitcher, it seemingly frees the Gamecocks from having to face him next year. Mike Leake goes from Arizona State to Cincinnati with the eighth pick. Detroit picks ninth and takes Jacob Turner.

7:04 p.m. -- Washington's back on the clock. The Nats take more pitching, getting Drew Storen from Stanford. The Rockies take Tyler Matzen.

7:15 p.m. -- Aaron Crow goes to Kansas City. Oakland takes Grant Green from Southern Cal.

7:22 p.m. -- The Rangers are on the clock and take Matt Purke. The Indians take Alex White out of UNC.

7:30 p.m. -- Arizona has back-to-back picks and takes Florida commitment Bobby Borchering with the first pick. The second is awarded to A.J. Pollock, from the University of Notre Dame, in Notre Dame, Ind., according to Selig. Guess geography, along with baseball, isn't his strong suit.

7:48 p.m. -- Florida takes Chad James. St. Louis takes Shelby Miller. Toronto takes Stephen Jenkins of Kennesaw State, the second KSU reference among the first 20 picks.

8 p.m. -- Jiovanni Mier goes to Houston. Minnesota takes Kyle Gibson. The White Sox take Jared Mitchell from LSU. That's interesting -- wonder if he'll turn it down and try to go pro in football.

8:15 p.m. -- The Angels take Randal Grichuk and Mike Trout with back-to-back picks. Milwaukee takes Eric Arnett from Indiana. Selig gets the town in Indiana right this time.

8:30 p.m. -- Seattle has another pick and takes Nick Franklin to join Ackley. The Red Sox are on the clock and this may be a Myers selection.

Nope -- the Sox take Reymond "Daisy" Fuentes. The Stankees are on the clock, putting Ray Tanner in a dilemma. He loves the Evil Empire but I doubt he loves them so much he'd want them to take one of his recruits.

The Bronx Roiders take Slade Heathcott to put the Rays on the clock. Tampa's an interesting team -- the Rays no doubt saw Christian Walker, another USC signee, in the home run showcase he won at their park.

The Rays take LeVon Washington. This is getting interesting.

8:40: At the risk of giving some of you minor heart flutters, Myers' signing demands might be a bit too steep if he falls out of the first round. The Cubs and the Rockies finish the first round.

If he can just slip into the same category as Drew Meyer, Reese Havens and Justin Smoak -- good, but not first-round good and therefore comes to school ... I'm getting ahead of myself.

The Cubs take Brett Jackson. The Rockies have the last pick of the first round.

Colorado takes Tim Wheeler from Sacramento State. Uh HUH. 15 minutes until the compensatory round begins.

9 p.m. -- Seattle takes Steven Baron, a Duke commitment, and for something other than basketball. Go figure.

Colorado takes Rex Brothers out of Lipscomb. Myers was rated a Top 40 prospect, so according to that, he shouldn't last past 40.

Arizona takes Matthew Davidson. (Breathe).

9:11 p.m. -- Kentucky's James Paxton went, to no surprise. Hopefully he'll go so the Gamecocks won't have to face him next year, either. Tennessee's Kentrail Davis also got picked. The 40th pick goes to ... Tyler Skaggs.

And there it is ... but it's not Myers. It's Chris Owings, who goes 41st to Arizona.

9:20 p.m. -- We're through the compensation round and still no Myers. The Gamecocks have one prospect drafted, but not the one everyone thought would go first.

9:30: -- Rich Poythress got picked 51st. We're up to the 58th pick and still no Myers.

9:45 p.m. -- Picks are going by the minute and Myers continues to fall. No word on Sam Dyson, either.

10 p.m. -- No Myers and no Dyson, but one of my former Winthrop boys, Alex Wilson, just went to the BoSox. Great kid. D.J. LeMahieu from LSU also got picked.

10:05 p.m. -- The second round is over and only Chris Owings is off the board. I like the Gamecocks' chances of landing Wil Myers.

10:15 p.m. -- Georgia's Trevor Holder just went. The more time that goes by, the more likely it is that Myers comes to school. And perhaps that Dyson comes back.

10:30 p.m. -- Braves had the 87th pick and took David Hale, from Princeton. Interesting.

Clemson's Ben Paulsen got taken 90th by the Rockies. And right after, goes Wil Myers, 91st overall, to Kansas City. We'll have to see if that's late enough to get him to come to school.

10:45 p.m. -- Tim Wallach's kid just got picked. I'm now officially old.

Dyson doesn't go to Florida, near his hometown of Tampa. I believe it would be getting close to the point where Dyson would return, because he has more leverage, considering he has two years of college left instead of one.

Tennessee's Bryan Morgado goes in the late third round.

Third round over, compensatory selection coming up -- it's nobody USC needs to worry about. Great first day for the Gamecocks -- only two recruits, and one much lower than expected.

Talk to you guys tomorrow.

Game over -- East Carolina wins 10-9

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 09:58:00 PM

Stephen Batts leads off against Curtis Johnson. Kyle Enders now catching.

Batts flares one that could be trouble but it's to right and Jackie Bradley Jr. is on the run. He catches it low, one down.

Kyle Roller up with one out. He smacks a long one to left-center, it's off the wall for a double.

Brandon Henderson is intentionally walked. Two on, one out.

Dustin Harrington up. A long fly ball wins the game. He flares to right and Bradley Jr. charges in, two outs, no advance.

Devin Harris up. I think I heard his name before.

Sam Dyson coming in to pitch.

Dyson works a 1-1 on Harris. No room for error here.

Harris drives it through the box ...

See ya next year.

Middle 10 -- Tied, 9-9

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 09:51:00 PM

Justin Dalles leads off against Mike Wright and scalds one through third. It takes a hard bounce and is into left -- tough error on Drew Schieber. Leadoff man aboard.

Steven Neff pinch-runs for Dalles. Interesting.

Brady Thomas lays down a very nice bunt and Neff runs to second. Thomas out by a step at first, one down.

Andrew Crisp up. First-pitch swing, popped to short. Let the critics sound ...

Bobby Haney up with two outs and one on. He grounds to second, inning over.

Game tied, 9-9

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 09:33:00 PM

Gamecocks need three outs and have a three-run lead. Alex Farotto is back out there while Curtis Johnson and Michael Roth resume warming up.

Brandon Henderson leads off. One out at a time.

Farotto starts Henderson with two balls. I believe ECU is under orders not to swing unless he throws it down the middle.

2-1, then 3-1. Farotto throws ball four and the leadoff man is aboard. Mark Calvi out to talk with Farotto and they're not taking any chances -- Farotto gone, Cujo in.

Cujo warms up and will face Dustin Harrington to start. He gets a 1-2, then gets a full count.

Ball four. First two batters walk, tying run comes to the plate in the form of Devin Harris. Gamecocks just don't want to do things the easy way.

OH BOY. Harris swings on the 0-1 and CRUSHES one to left. DeAngelo Mack will turn and watch it go, TIE BALLGAME.

Drew Schieber gets up and bounces to first. There's the first out, too freaking late.

Jared Avchen up. Cujo gets two strikes, then Avchen blasts up the box. Single.

Trent Whitehead up and Sam Dyson is warming up.

Cujo goes full to Whitehead and the crowd is jumping. Whitehead swings and pops up to center, two down.

Ryan Wood up. Cujo goes 3-1 on him, then gets the second strike. Wood pops up, free baseball.

Middle 9 -- 9-6 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 09:17:00 PM

Gamecocks have a three-run lead but insurance runs won't hurt. This ballpark is a house of horrors and the Gamecocks haven't had an easy out from the bottom of the order all night.

Bobby Haney leads off against Seth Simmons. He works a full count, then takes that same inside pitch for a hat trick. Haney has struck out three straight times after having two singles in his first two at-bats.

Scott Wingo up. He works a 2-2, surviving what should have been strike three. There's the K, swinging. Two down.

Whit Merrifield up. He dumps one opposite-field and is aboard with a single. That's his fourth hit of the game.

Jackie Bradley Jr. stands in. Wild pitch gets past Jared Avchen and Merrifield takes second.

Bradley Jr. walks and the Gamecocks have two on with two outs and DeAngelo Mack at the plate. He's singled twice and reached on an error.

Mack takes ball one and ECU has seen enough. Mike Wright relieves for Simmons, who struck out six in three innings.

Wright issues three straight balls and finishes the walk. Bases loaded for Nick Ebert.

Ebert goes 1-2 and Ray Tanner is out to talk with him. Foul, then dirt ball and Ebert doesn't touch it. Inning over.

End 8 -- 9-6 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 09:09:00 PM

Alex Farotto back out there. Just got to get quick outs. Michael Roth and Adam Westmoreland throwing in the bullpen.

Trent Whitehead leads it off. Farotto starts him with two balls, then gets two strikes. Outside corner, no gift, full count. Ball four is nowhere near the zone and Whitehead has a leadoff walk.

Ryan Wood up. Farotto far ahead 0-2, then bounces one up to the plate that eludes Justin Dalles. Wild pitch, ball one, Whitehead runs to second.

Farotto gets away with another one, an inside curve that Wood turns on and yanks foul. Still 1-2. Another foul ball to third as Andrew Crisp tries to stop it.

Wood blasts one a mile high over the plate and it looks like it may drift out of play, but Dalles sticks with it and catches it, one down. Five to go.

Stephen Batts up. He chops to third, Crisp charges, has, throws to first, two down. They'll let Whitehead run to third to get the out. Four to go.

Kyle Roller up. Said your prayers lately?

Roller bounces and almost takes Farotto's head with it, but Bobby Haney has it unbothered and throws to first. Shift worked that time, inning over. Three to go.

Middle 8 -- 9-6 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 08:47:00 PM

Gamecocks need some runs. Period. They have to make it so the bottom of the ninth doesn't matter.

Top of the order coming up against Seth Simmons, who has been very effective. The Gamecocks hammered him last night -- don't see what the problem is tonight.

Whit Merrifield leads off and slashes to deep short. Dustin Harrington stops it but can't make the throw. Gamecocks have the leadoff man on.

Jackie Bradley Jr. up. He takes a pitch as Merrifield runs to second, throw is high and late, Merrifield in there.

Bradley Jr. just needs to poke one through the right side ... OR SMASH THE SEAMS OFF IT AND SEND IT OUTTA HERE. That sucker is NUKED to right and that's a two-run home run. ECU's last inning negated, but there's still a long way to go. 9-6 Gamecocks.

DeAngelo Mack up and keeps it going with a single to left. He's aboard for Nick Ebert, still nobody out.

Ebert works a 2-2. He's having a good night tonight, with three walks and a single.

Ebert flares to short and Dustin Harrington runs back and catches it. Could be a double play, but the throw is high and the catcher is backing it up. Mack forced to stay at first.

Justin Dalles up. He works a full count, then takes ball four low and walks. Two on, one out.

Brady Thomas up. He works a 2-2 and fouls one off the hands. He takes ball three low and the count is full. STRIKE THREE, Thomas swings at one on his belt and misses. Two down.

Andrew Crisp at the plate with two outs and two on. He's quickly down 0-2, then just gets a piece of a terrible pitch to stay alive. It was almost out of the batter's box ... on the other side of the plate.

Crisp bounces to short, bang-bang play but he's out at first. Gamecocks get two back for a three-run lead but the Pirates have six outs to work with.

End 7 -- 7-6 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 08:30:00 PM

Stephen Batts leads off against Parker Bangs, who had a rough sixth. Batts takes a ball, then rips one right up the box and into center. Whatever was working for Bangs in the last three weeks is not working tonight -- Mark Calvi has seen enough.

Alex Farotto coming in. He'll face Kyle Roller to start (inhale).

First pitch. FIRST PITCH. It hits Roller in the back and the Pirates have the tying run at the plate in the form of Brandon Henderson, with nobody out.

Curtis Johnson and Michael Roth warming up.

Farotto gets off with a bad curve when Henderson turns on one and yanks it foul. 1-2 count.

Henderson drives one but gets under it -- it dies to DeAngelo Mack for the first out. Shallow enough so nobody advances.

One out, two on for Dustin Harrington. Farotto goes 3-1 on him with curves that aren't finding anything but too high or too low.

Farotto hangs it right back in there and Harrington knocks it right into center on a full count. Run scores, 7-5, and the Pirates still have two on and one out.

Devin Harris up. He turns on an inside "heater" and drives it into left. Another run scores, 7-6 Gamecocks, and the Pirates still have two on and one out.

Sam Dyson has gone to the bullpen, this time with his glove.

Farotto faces Drew Schieber and goes 2-2, then gets the called strike on a curve. Two down.

Jared Avchen, who has two hits tonight, at the plate with two men on. He grounds to short, Bobby Haney is there for the flip and force at second. Inning over but Pirates are right behind.

Middle 7 -- 7-4 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 08:25:00 PM

Andrew Crisp leads off against Seth Simmons. Crisp gets a good swing but drives it right to the left fielder.

Bobby Haney stands in with one out, bases empty. He takes two strikes, then Ks on a nasty outside heater. Two down.

Scott Wingo up with two outs. Simmons takes his time, whiffs him with offspeed.

End 6 -- 7-4 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 08:13:00 PM

Dustin Harrington leads off, one pitch, one out as he flies out to left.

Devin Harris up and drives a single through the box that has Parker Bangs dancing to avoid it.

Bangs walks Drew Schieber on five pitches -- the bottom of the order is giving USC fits.

Bangs goes 3-1 on Jared Avchen and nobody is working in the pen. He throws down the middle and Avchen drives it into the gap, it falls for an RBI double. 7-3 Gamecocks and the crowd is back into it.

Trent Whitehead up with two men in scoring position and one out. Bangs floundering out there bu tnobody in the pen. Whitehead lifts a long fly to center, deep enough to score another run. 7-4 Gamecocks as Avchen runs to third.

Two down, one on for Ryan Wood. Alex Farotto throwing in the bullpen.

Wood bounces to third. Andrew Crisp is there, long throw, got him. Inning over but USC again has to equal some runs to keep this thing out of reach of one swing.

Middle 6 -- 7-2 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 07:54:00 PM

Bailey Daniels faces the top of the order. Gamecocks need to get those runs back and it sure wouldn't hurt to add some more.

Whit Merrifield starts it with a single down the line. It could have been two bases but I think he's still kind of lame from that first-inning hit. We got a photo of it up here and he, um, fouled a pitch right into the magic spot, youknowwhattamean?

Jackie Bradley Jr. up. Daniels goes 3-1 on him and with DeAngelo Mack up next, I'd green-light the rookie.

Full count on Bradley Jr. He swings on the payoff and pops it up to short.

Mack coming up with two outs and one on. He flares one over second, running dive but no, Merrifield runs to third and the Gamecocks have runners at the corners with two outs for Nick Ebert, who singled the last time up.

That's going to be it for Daniels. Seth Simmons, last night's closer, coming in.

Gamecocks hit him for four hits and two runs last night, so they're familiar with him. Ebert has a chance to get some runs back.

Simmons goes 3-0 on Ebert. With Justin Dalles up next, do not swing.

Ball four across as Mack breaks for second. No throw because Ebert was walking anyway. Bases loaded for Dalles.

Simmons goes 3-0 to Dalles, then gets the automatic strike. I don't know what I'd tell the guy to do here.

Dalles swings and fouls it off. Full count.

Payoff pitch -- Dalles rips it to left. It's off the wall and a run scores. What the heck -- Ebert is hung up between second and third but no one's covering the bag, so he actually gets back despite having to run half the distance. But Dalles, who was thinking he could get to second, has gotten caught halfway between first and second and is tagged out. For some reason, Mack wasn't sent from third and I think that caused the confusion. Dalles is credited with an RBI single and being picked off.

Two outs, two on, 7-2 Gamecocks, Brady Thomas in to pinch-hit for Parker Bangs. DH now gone, Bangs can still pitch.

Some boos after Thomas goes 1-1 and the umpire warns the ECU dugout. Simmons works it full on Thomas.

Payoff -- Thomas looks at strike three. Gamecocks waste an opportunity for another run but do get another.

End 5 -- 6-2 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 07:38:00 PM

Jay Brown back out, sitting on 68 pitches. He got bailed out last inning as he struggled with control but there's no reason to panic -- yet. Parker Bangs going back out to the pen, just in case.

Gamecocks have got to get some more runs, as well. They're allowing Bailey Daniels to settle in. There's still a lot of game left and ECU has last raps.

Jared Avchen leads off. Brown gets him 1-2, then throws ball two. Avchen grounds to short on the eighth pitch of the at-bat and Bobby Haney has it, one down.

Trent Whitehead back up -- 0-for-2 today. Brown works a full, then issues his third walk of the evening.

Ryan Wood up, also 0-for-2. Brown goes 1-2, tries to get him to chase, then messes up. He throws right down Broadway, Wood swings and puts it in The Jungle for a two-run shot. Bangs gets up to throw -- why he wasn't before now, I'll never know. 6-2 Gamecocks.

Stephen Batts stands in. He rips one to left as well but it's a low screamer and DeAngelo Mack is in front of it. Two down.

Kyle Roller up. He takes a pitch, then flares over first for a single. Forget the out totals, Brown needs to come out.

Brandon Henderson up with a man on and two outs. Mark Calvi making the walk to the mound and this could be it. There's the call -- Brown did what he was asked to do, but he won't be eligible for the win.

Bangs relieves. Let's see if he's as nasty as he has been the past three weeks.

Bangs faces Henderson, who's struck out and flown out. Henderson takes a strike, then hits a pitch that dies past the mound. It bounces to Bobby Haney, short flip to Scott Wingo, inning over.

Middle 5 -- 6-0 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 07:32:00 PM

Andrew Crisp leads off. He could make up for that error by getting on base.

He grounds to third on the second pitch and is thrown out by a long throw. One down.

Bobby Haney stands in. He gets caught looking and is outta there.

Two down for Scott "Ocho" Wingo, the man of the hour after that two-run home run. He gets a good swing and drives to center, but Trent Whitehead runs it down. Inning over.

End 4 -- 6-0 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 07:21:00 PM

Jay Brown back to work. He's given up three hits and struck out three on 46 pitches.

Kyle Roller leads off. Nothing comes easy. Brown behind 3-1, then gets a full count on a swinging strike. Ball four is high and Roller is aboard.

Brandon Henderson up. Two low strikes and Brown is way ahead. After arguing with the ump last time, if it's remotely close, I have a feeling Henderson will be gone.

Brown works a 2-2, then gets a high fly to center. Whit Merrifield under it, one down.

Dustin Harrington up with a man on, one out. He grounds to third, going to be close, Andrew Crisp fires, HIGH, and it's over Nick Ebert's head. Roller takes third and Harrington gets an extra base. Crisp erased that running snafu with an RBI but now has another mistake to atone for.

Devin Harris up with two on and one out. Brown behind 2-0, then 3-0. He gets strike one as Parker Bangs runs to the bullpen.

Strike two swinging and Harris has a full count. Ball four almost creeps inside Harris' jersey and the bases are loaded for Drew Schieber.

2-0 on Schieber. Cannot let that error turn into something.

There it is -- 2-0 pitch grounded to Brown. The tall righty slightly leaps, catches, throws home for the force. Justin Dalles throws to first, DOUBLE PLAY. Threat over.

Middle 4 -- 6-0 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 07:12:00 PM

Jackie Bradley Jr. leads off the fourth. Gamecocks need to keep stepping on the gas -- no lead is safe.

Bradley Jr. gives it a ride toward right center but it's not quite deep enough. Devin Harris stretches and brings it on the track, one down.

DeAngelo Mack up after going 0-for-2 previously. He swings on the second pitch and Ryan Wood loses it for an error. Mack on first.

Nick Ebert stands in. He's walked twice. Down 0-2, he takes a ball, then rips one into left. Ebert with a rare hit this weekend and the Gamecocks have two on, one out for Justin Dalles.

All of USC's hitters except for Mack has a hit by the fourth inning. I'm impressed.

Dalles chops down the line and Drew Schieber runs over to step on third. His throw to first is in time but offline and Dalles reaches. Two outs and the Gamecocks have two on for Parker Bangs.

Daniels goes 1-2 on Bangs, then gets Bangs fishing on a down-and-out heater. First strikeout of the game for the Gamecocks, inning over.

End 3 -- 6-0 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 07:02:00 PM

Jay Brown up and this game is far from over. A six-run lead just means he can relax a tad.

Drew Schieber leads off. First-pitch swing and it's deep to short. Bobby Haney has to stretch, throw is there but it bounces and the runner is ruled safe. Looks like Haney had him by a step but oh well.

Jared Avchen up with a man on and nobody out. Brown behind 2-1, then 3-1. Not the way to start off. Got to make him hit this next pitch, no matter what.

Avchen bounces the next pitch through third and no one will touch it. Singles to the bottom two hitters in the order and that will bring up Trent Whitehead. Mark Calvi runs out to talk to Brown.

Whitehead drives the first pitch into the gap but Whit Merrifield's going to run it down. Schieber tags and runs to third but there's one out.

Ryan Wood up. Brown quickly ahead 0-2. He struck him out last time with outside black heat.

Tried the off-speed there, crept too far out, 1-2. Same pitch, 2-2. Ball three almost clips Wood's shin, full count.

Wood fouls down the line -- the Pirates love that location. Keep it here. Payoff, swing and popped up. Scott Wingo settles under it, caught, hustles in to keep the runner at third. Two down.

Stephen Batts up with two on, two outs. He hits one that could be trouble to right, what am I thinking? Jackie Bradley Jr. makes another routine play, inning over.

Middle 3 -- 6-0 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 06:42:00 PM

DeAngelo Mack leads off, Patrick Somers still out there. He goes 2-1, then pops up in the infield. Easy out, one down.

Nick Ebert up. He walked last time up. He works a 3-1, fouls off ball four, then takes the same pitch and walks for the second time. One on, one out.

Justin Dalles back up after grounding into an inning-ending out in the first. He works a 1-1 (those inside pitches are murder) but smokes the next pitch into the gap. It's shallow enough to keep each runner to one base but Dalles has another hit. Ebert reaches second and cuts the bag hard, realizes he has no chance for third, falls down and half-crawls, half-drags himself back to the bag. That was rather ugly.

Parker Bangs up and that's going to be it for Somers. Chris Heston, who started on Saturday and threw 78 pitches, relieves.

Heston threw a lot of pitches but was mauled for 10 hits and six runs by Binghamton. He has started 15 games this year, though, and was 7-0.

Heston throws a ball to Bangs, then a strike that is MASHED into the gap. That's going to be two bases and Ebert crosses the plate, 2-0 Gamecocks.

Andrew Crisp up with two in scoring position and one out. First-pitch swing and lined to left. Stephen Batts makes a nice running play to track it down in the corner but Dalles will have way too much room to score, 3-0 Gamecocks.

Man on second and two outs for Bobby Haney, who singled his first time up. He's down 1-2, fouls one off, then flares one over short. Haney continues his hot hitting and another run is in, 4-0 Gamecocks.

Scott Wingo stands in with Haney on first and two outs. OH MY GOD. Wingo swings and belts it to right. No one's going to catch it and IT IS GONE!!!!!!!! I know one message-board poster who's going to be mad. 6-0 Gamecocks.

That's it for Heston. Bailey Daniels relieving. He relieved on Saturday and won the Binghamton game.

Whit Merrifield flies out but Jay Brown has a comfortable lead.

End 2 -- 1-0 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 06:32:00 PM

Kyle Roller leads off. You don't want to know what his stats are this weekend.

Jay Brown fires it in and Roller takes, strike one. Two straight balls follow. Roller gets the next one but taps it to Scott Wingo, grab and throw, one down.

Brandon Henderson up. He goes 1-1, the last nearly screwing himself into the dirt. Hit the ball off his leg and went down hard but appears to be OK. He's back in and Henderson looks at two straight outside, both of which are called strikes. Two Ks for Brown, two outs in the inning.

Henderson didn't like that one and he's letting the umpire know about it -- he does have a legitimate gripe. Billy Godwin has to walk halfway home telling Henderson to keep a lid on it while he walks back to the dugout.

Dustin Harrington up and knocks the first pitch he sees to deep short. Bobby Haney goes extremely right to get it and does but it's too far for the throw, although he tries. Pirates have their first baserunner.

Devin Harris up. He works a 2-1, then slashes down the line. Andrew Crisp stabs and throws, in time, but the third-base ump ruled it foul. It was fair until it bounced just outside of the bag. Harris has a 2-2.

Ball three is low and the count is full. He knocks another clearly-foul ball to third and the count remains. Harris fouls another one to the right. Brown dials it up, BLOWS it past him and has his third K, inning over.

Brown good through two.

Middle 2 -- 1-0 Gamecocks

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 06:20:00 PM

Parker Bangs stands in as designated hitter. Don't know if that would affect his possible pitching, but he deserves a shot after getting three hits on Friday.

Patrick Somers tries inside on two straight and it's two straight balls. Next one is down the middle and Bangs takes a mighty cut but fouls it down and off the plate. 2-1.

3-1 pitch and Bangs stings the next one down the line. Drew Schieber is again there, long throw across the diamond but Bangs ain't the quickest guy in the world. One away.

Andrew Crisp up. He takes two balls, then lines a shot past third and into left for a single. Yet another base knock for the fifth-year senior and the Gamecocks have one on, one out.

Bobby Haney, hitting .583 in the regional and with his season average up to .290, stands in. He's not a home run guy but he can drive it to all fields.

Something weird there -- second baseman Ryan Wood broke for the bag on perhaps an attempted steal although Crisp wasn't going. Haney one-handed the ball right where Wood was originally and it's through for a hit. Kind of an afflicted hit-and-run but it works -- Crisp is on third and Haney is on first.

Scott Wingo up. First-pitch swing and he knocks it right to first. Could have been two but the first baseman sees Crisp halfway down the line (why?) and throws home. They've got him pickled and although Wingo reaches first, Crisp is out at home 3-2-5-2. Since this might be the last time I get to say it, I'll say it -- that was stupid.

Whit Merrifield up with two on and two outs. He's quickly down 0-2, then 1-2, but takes the next pitch and dumps it inside the line. That's going to score Haney and the Gamecocks take a 1-0 lead. Wingo stops at second.

Conference on the mound as Jackie Bradley Jr. prepares to hit with two on and two outs. He hits a 1-2 dribbler that could be trouble but first baseman Brandon Henderson is quickly on it, flipping to the covering Somers a step ahead of Bradley Jr. Inning over.

End 1 -- scoreless

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 06:13:00 PM

Jay Brown takes his warmup pitches and prepares. The lanky right-hander is going to have to be spot-on today.

Trent Whitehead steps in to begin the Pirates' first. First pitch is swung on and fouled back to the screen.

Low curve for strike two, swinging. 0-2 on Whitehead, Brown looks in, bounces his next pitch up there. 1-2.

Brown throws outside corner, Whitehead just gets a piece of it. Ball two next. Next pitch swung on and streaked down the line but Nick Ebert has it and outruns Whitehead to the bag. One down.

Brown got the out but those pitches, to put it kindly, would have a hard time being called strikes by a blind man. Ryan Wood steps in and let's hope that's just first-batter jitters.

2-2 on Wood after a swing and a miss on that looping curve. Brown goes outside heat, gets the corner, Wood is outta there on a caught-looking K. Two down.

Stephen Batts up. He gives it a ride but it's going to die on the track as DeAngelo Mack takes a few steps and catches it. Brown out of the inning 1-2-3 on 13 pitches, but is going to have to hit the zone a little better to get out of this game unscathed.

Middle 1 -- scoreless

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 05:56:00 PM

Patrick Somers toes the rubber and prepares to fire to Whit Merrifield. The Gamecocks' mission is simple -- whoever the Pirates put out there, hit him and hit him hard and often. Got to give Jay Brown enough to work with so he doesn't have to be perfect.

He's a lefty and the Gamecocks have seen him before, with a great deal of success against him. Somers did throw against North Carolina and did well in the regular season, but that was then and not two nights ago, when USC pounded him for four runs in one inning.

First pitch, wheels, deals, fires -- ball one, outside.

Merrifield down 1-2 and fouls one off himself. He's taking a minute -- I think it might have hit him in the shin and coaches Ray Tanner and Chad Holbrook are out looking at him. Merrifield walking around trying to loosen it up but re-takes his place in the box. That'd be a great start -- losing your leadoff man on the first at-bat.

Merrifield swings and flies high and deep to right. It's close, but Devin Harris has no trouble tracking it down just shy of the track. One down.

Jackie Bradley Jr. up, elevated to the two-hole. He takes two balls, then an inside strike which will be a killer if it's allowed all day. Somers fools Bradley Jr. on a slow curve but then throws ball three for a full count.

Payoff comes in and Bradley Jr. pokes it right over short for a single. Nice piece of hitting there.

One on, one out for DeAngelo Mack. Somers throws two balls low, then tries to get Bradley Jr. at first. No dice.

2-0 to Mack, pitch comes in and Mack hits it off the end of the bat. High but not deep and caught in left, two down.

Nick Ebert up. He's 2-of-13 this weekend (.154). I think I know a way to make people forget it ...

Somers goes 3-0 on Ebert. He keeps it outside and walks him on four straight, bringing up the hot-hitting Justin Dalles. Bradley Jr. goes to second base.

Two on, two outs for the catcher, who has blasted three homers in the past two games. Catcher Jared Avchen out for a word with Somers -- probably "careful."

Changeup in and Dalles swings for the fences, killing a few gnats. Strike one.

2-1 count on Dalles after Somers issues outside. Next pitch is grounded sharply to third but Drew Schieber was playing the line. He has it, steps on third for the force, inning over. Gamecocks leave two.

About to begin

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 05:36:00 PM

Coaches exchange lineup cards and first pitch is coming up.

20 minutes to first pitch

posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 05:02:00 PM

USC wearing garnet jerseys with gray pants, gray caps with garnet brims. ECU in its home white with purple sleeves and trim, purple caps.

Crowd starting to fill in -- wonder how many people begged off early from work to get over to the stadium? This is the earliest starting game of the six across the country. The others start at 7 p.m., except for Ole Miss-Western Kentucky, which begins at 8 p.m.

20 minutes to go.