TheState.com: GoGamecocks: Baseball

Recruiting: USC issues concern Clowney

Mon, 02 May 2011 01:45 EDT

THE COUNTRY’S top-ranked recruit, defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (6-6, 247) of South Pointe, told reporters after Saturday’s ESPNU game against Northwestern he still has USC and Alabama as his top two schools.

Clowney said he has no favorite, but did indicate concern about the off-field issues at USC.

“You’ve seen the Roll Tide,” Clowney said. “They just play hard. South Carolina is in a little bit of trouble right now, so I don’t know right now. I’m still thinking about where I’m going to go to. I haven’t decided yet. It will be a big decision, though.”

Clowney is still considering Clemson, LSU, Florida State and Miami. He plans to be at the Alabama-USC game in October.

Quarterback Tanner McEvoy (6-6, 205) of Oradell, N.J., has cut down his list and says USC will be one of his official visits. McEvoy will not take any official visits until his season is finished because all but one of his games are on Saturdays.

Gamecocks pick up outfield commitment

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:14 EDT

Outfielder Reid Moman of J.L. Mann committed Wednesday to the USC baseball team for the 2011 class.

Moman is a left-handed hitter who batted .412 and scored a team high 8 runs in the recently completed Big League World Series.

The Gamecocks on Sunday added a commitment for its 2012 class: P/3B Jamie Callahan (6-3 180) of Dillon. Callahan is rated among the top players in the state for his class one of the top prospects in the Southeast.

Dyson, USC signee ink MLB deals

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 01:04 EDT

Sam Dyson’s career at the University of South Carolina is officially over.

The hard-throwing right-hander for the national championship baseball program signed late Monday night with the Toronto Blue Jays for a reported $600,000, according to Baseball America. Dyson, a redshirt junior last season who compiled a 23-9 career record for the Gamecocks, was selected in the fourth round of June’s major league baseball draft.

USC coach Ray Tanner did not expect Dyson, 22, to return for his final season of eligibility.

Originally drafted out of a Tampa, Fla., high school in 2006 by the Washington Nationals in the 19th round, Dyson opted to play for the Gamecocks, although he had to take a medical redshirt his freshman season. Last year the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Dyson was projected to be picked in the first couple of rounds, but he slipped to the Oakland A’s in the 10th round in part due to several arm surgeries and his asking price.

So he decided to return to the USC program, where he went 6-5 with a 4.28 ERA and pitched strong games against Arizona State and Clemson in the College World Series on the way to the title.

Lefty joins Gamecocks' commitments

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 19:32 EDT

Left-handed pitcher Jack Wynkoop (6-5 190) of Virginia Beach, Va., committed to South Carolina on Friday for the 2012 class.

He picked the Gamecocks over Clemson, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Virginia.

Wynkoop earned first-team all-state honors last season as a sophomore. His fastball has been clocked in the upper 80s. He also throws a slider and changeup.

Wynkoop is considered a strikeout pitcher and a definite pro prospect.

He's the fourth commitment for USC's 2012 class.

USC rewards Holbrook with new deal, raise

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 22:21 EDT

The South Carolina baseball team’s national championship has paid off for associate head coach Chad Holbrook.

The USC board of trustees executive committee approved a multi-year deal for Holbrook on Friday that includes a $30,000 raise as well as incentive-based bonuses. Holbrook, who recently completed his second season on coach Ray Tanner’s staff, received a three-year deal with an annual base salary of $160,000.

The incentives are one month’s salary — approximately $13,000 — if the Gamecocks reach the NCAA tournament, $5,000 if the team makes it to the College World Series and one more month’s salary if USC captures the national title.

Holbrook was thankful for the show of faith from Tanner, athletics director Eric Hyman and USC president Harris Pastides.

“We will continue to do all we can to ensure that our program competes at the highest level,” Holbrook said. “It is my goal to be a coach at South Carolina a very long time. My family loves Columbia, and we love calling South Carolina home.”

Bradley, USA Baseball continue to win in Tokyo

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 11:37 EDT

USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team, featuring 2010 College World Series champion USC outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr., continued its winning ways at the V FISU World University Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

The Red, White & Blue defeated China 11-1 in seven innings earlier this morning. Bradley contributed a 1-for-1 performance with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI in the victory.

A rising junior, Bradley was the 2010 College World Series Most Outstanding Player and the Gamecocks' leading hitter this past season with a .368 batting average (89-for-242) with 13 HR and 60 RBI. He also had a .473 on-base percentage and a .587 slugging percentage for the season.

Bradley has had a stellar summer for Team USA with a .345 batting average (20-for-58) in 16 games with 11 RBI and 12 runs scored. He owns a .426 on-base percentage and a .431 slugging percentage.

The U.S. owns a 15-2 record heading into the semifinals. The team faces the winner of Chinese Taipei/Japan on Thursday with a start time to be determined.

Meyers feels right at home … again

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:17 EDT

USC baseball coach Ray Tanner wanted to find a comfort level with his new pitching coach as he sorted through an “onslaught” of applicants.

In convincing Jerry Meyers to return to his former position, where the Old Dominion coach served from 1997-2004 alongside Tanner, it’s safe to say the USC coach looked comfortable as he sat next to Meyers Monday at Carolina Stadium.

“It’s always been important for me to have some type of relationship with the people I’m going to be around,” Tanner said. “Sometimes that may be a little unfair, but I’m not resume-driven. Resumes are important, but I want to be around people (that are like) a family. It really is a family. You’re together 24-7 and becoming great friends is probably as important as how much (pitching) mechanics Coach Meyers can deal with the pitchers.”

Meyers, 45, did not say yes initially to Tanner’s entreaties, but he did not say no either. As the search went on for three weeks, Tanner did not give up as he went through the interview process with other candidates. And as Meyers considered the possibility of leaving ODU after six seasons, he thought about other factors as well.

“A lot of it goes back to the eight best years, in a lot of ways, not just in my coaching career, but in our lives,” said Meyers, who went 167-158 with the Monarchs.

Meyers agrees to Round 2 with Gamecocks

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:36 EDT

South Carolina’s search for a new pitching coach for its national championship baseball program has landed on an old name.

Sources said Saturday that Old Dominion coach Jerry Meyers will return to take the job he held at USC from 1997 to 2004. Meyers will replace the man who replaced him — Mark Calvi, who took the South Alabama head-coach-in-waiting job after the Gamecocks won the College World Series a month ago.

Meyers, 45, compiled a 167-158 record at Old Dominsion, with two winning seasons and no NCAA tournament appearances in six seasons. Meyers’ pitching staffs helped USC make six NCAA appearances in eight years, including trips to the College World Series from 2002-04.

He could not be reached for comment.

Meyers, who was the 2006 Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year, served as the pitching coach with the 2008 USA National team. Before joining USC, the former Iowa State pitcher had stints as an assistant at UNC Wilmington and Old Dominion.

In search, USC baseball reaches to past

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:55 EDT

The search for the South Carolina baseball team’s new pitching coach isn’t finished, but it appears to involve a pair of names familiar to USC fans.

Sources say former USC pitching coach Jerry Meyers, Old Dominion’s head coach the past six seasons, and former USC pitching great Kip Bouknight are in the mix to replace Mark Calvi, who took the South Alabama head-coach-in-waiting job a week ago.

Bouknight, the Golden Spikes winner as the nation’s top collegiate player in 2000, confirmed he had an interview with USC coach Ray Tanner on Wednesday.

“I would say I’ve still got a chance,” Bouknight said. “Coach Tanner has not made a decision yet, and I’m very honored to be in this situation.”

Tanner had hoped to finish the search by the end of this week, but those plans were dashed when leading candidate Roger Williams, the Louisville pitching coach, decided to remain with the Cardinals after spending a pair of days interviewing in Columbia. Williams, one of the nation’s top pitching coaches after stints at East Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Louisville, was believed to be the top choice due in part to his ties to USC associate head coach Chad Holbrook.

U.S. House congratulates Gamecocks

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:50 EDT

The U.S. House on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a measure congratulating the University of South Carolina for winning the 2010 national collegiate baseball title.

The resolution, which said the Gamecocks had brought “great pride and honor to the fans and residents of South Carolina,” was crafted by Rep. Joe Wilson and co-sponsored by the state’s other five House members.

Wilson, a Lexington Republican, said USC’s Division I College World Series triumph holds special meaning for him because the university is his alma mater.

“I am extremely proud of the way these student athletes represented our university and our great state,” Wilson said.

The resolution states that the Gamecocks “showed great skill, patience and will by withstanding a first-round loss and then winning six consecutive games for the national title.”

Video: Sarge Frye demolition

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:07 EDT

Scenes of destruction at the University of South Carolina's former baseball stadium, Sarge Frye.

Columbia post office to honor Gamecocks

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:48 EDT

Columbia Postmaster Jim Antill has designated Monday as “Gamecock College World Series Champions Day” for Columbia post offices.

Available on Monday will be a special pictorial postmark and a colorful, collectible envelope in honor of the USC Gamecocks’ baseball victory at the 2010 College World Series.

Both items will be available at Columbia’s Main Post Office. The envelope costs $5, but the pictorial postmark is free on items bearing first-class postage.

On the back side of the envelope is a description of the team’s road to the win and a listing of the scores from series games.

The envelope also may be ordered by mail: Send to Gamecock Envelope, P.O. Box 69 Assembly St. Columbia, SC 29201-0069. Checks or money orders should be made out to “Postmaster.”

Success breeds opportunity for Calvi

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:05 EDT

South Carolina pitching coach Mark Calvi knows how important it was that the Gamecocks took advantage of their opportunities on the way to winning their first College World Series title.

A little more than two weeks later, Calvi is taking advantage of his own after accepting the head-coach-in-waiting position at the University of South Alabama.

“You don’t get these opportunities every day,” Calvi said Thursday. “Life is about getting opportunities and making the most of them.”

Calvi, who finished his sixth season as USC’s pitching coach and 17th in the collegiate coaching ranks, guided a staff that keyed the Gamecocks’ postseason run, which included a CWS-low 2.15 ERA in seven games. In four of the past six seasons, the Gamecocks have ranked among the top five in the SEC in ERA, finishing first this season with a 3.45 mark.

South Alabama athletics director Joel Erdmann told Calvi that his track record had put him on the school’s watch list before the championship run.

Sumter pitcher picks USC

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:56 EDT

Sumter left-handed pitcher Jordan Montgomery (6-3 180) committed to the USC baseball team Tuesday for the 2011 class.

Montgomery is the 13th commitment for the Gamecocks' class.

Last season Montgomery won eight games and had an ERA of 1.20. He struck out 93 batters in 54 innings.

He was named to the 4A all state team.

Bradley part of USA team

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:19 EDT

USC outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. has been named to USA Baseball's 2010 Collegiate National Team.

The squad was selected after seven days of trials that included six intra-squad games and practices at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. Team USA is comprised of the top non-draft eligible college players in the United States.

Bradley, the 2010 College World Series Most Outstanding Player, was the Gamecocks' leading hitter this past season with a .368 batting average (89-for-242) with 13 HR and 60 RBI. He also had a .473 on-base percentage and a .587 slugging percentage for the season.

He is one of five players from the Southeastern Conference along with Nolan Fontana (INF, Florida), Sonny Gray (RHP, Vanderbilt), Brian Johnson (LHP, Florida and Mikie Mahtook (OF, LSU).

The Collegiate National Team opens the summer season on Monday, July 12 vs. the Gastonia Grizzlies of the Coastal Plain League in Gastonia, N.C.

'Storybook ending'

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 22:02 EDT

Several hours after the South Carolina baseball team took its triumphant ride down Main Street during the city’s victory parade to celebrate the program’s first national championship, coach Ray Tanner sat down in his Carolina Stadium office with The State and talked about the season, which concluded with an amazing 11-1 run in NCAA postseason play.

Q: What is this national title going to mean for South Carolina’s program?

A: I’ve felt for a pretty good while that we’ve been nationally competitive. Being the last team playing and winning the last game in the national championship puts us in a special category. We’ve recruited well, but it certainly elevates our recruiting. It’s a very special time for us, but we have been a nationally prominent program, so we’re not a program that’s going from obscurity all of a sudden to the top. We’ve been a consistent program that has now reached the pinnacle. It’s going to have a tremendous influence for years to come in so many ways. Everything is positive.

Q: Now that you have this stamp of credibility, along with this new ballpark, how does it help you sell your program to players?

A: Sometimes in recruiting, you talk about potential and you talk about possibilities, but you can also now talk about how these things can become reality because they have become reality. Hopefully, it can happen again. Now, we’re very realistic, but it is possible.

Photo gallery: Ray Tanner Baseball Camp

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 00:15 EDT

Tanner seeking new deal

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 00:15 EDT

South Carolina baseball coach Ray Tanner has cashed in on the Gamecocks' first national championship with a series of bonuses from the school and the team's bat supplier.

Now Tanner wants a new contract.

Tanner, who is recruiting this week at a national wood-bat tournament in the Atlanta area, is expected to have his annual year-end meeting with USC athletics director Eric Hyman in the coming weeks.

Tanner, who has three years remaining on his current deal, hopes the meeting will include a discussion about a contract extension.

"I'm hoping that will be in the works," Tanner said Thursday in a phone interview. "I have one of the best jobs in the country. I'd like to keep it."

Baseball: Merrifield agrees to terms with Royals

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:35 EDT

USC outfielder Whit Merrifield has agreed to terms with the Kansas City Royals.

Merrifield, a ninth-round selection in this year's MLB draft, has been a staple the past three seasons in the Gamecocks lineup, culminating in this year's season that saw Merrifield tally the game-winning RBI single in the 2-1 victory over UCLA in 11 innings that helped lift the Gamecocks to a national championship.

Merrifield finished the year with a .321 batting average (95-for-296) with 13 HR and 42 RBI. Earlier this past year, Merrifield received 2009-10 Earnest Brooks Co-Male Student-Athlete of the Year honors at South Carolina along with men's golfer George Bryan IV.

Merrifield set the school record for consecutive games with a hit as well this past season. He hit safely in 26 straight games, 14 at the end of 2009 and the first 12 games of 2010. His 263 career hits put him sixth in school history. He also played in 195 games in three seasons with 194 starts.

View our USC baseball keepsake section

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:00 EDT

Fullscreen view recommended