Garnet Report

When LB Dantzler lost his footing rounding second base in the sixth inning of last night’s game and dropped to his knees in pain, all of Gamecock Nation held its breath, hoping that the injury wouldn’t be severe enough to keep Dantzler off the field for long.

In this afternoon’s press conference in advance of a series against SEC East bottomdweller Georgia, head coach Chad Holbrook informed the fans that they could breathe a sigh of relief.

“I’m a little bit more optimistic about LB playing this weekend than I was last night sitting up here,” said Holbrook. “He didn’t practice today, but he’s been getting treatments throughout the day and will tomorrow as well. We’ll know more about his availability for the weekend tomorrow around 2:00 or 3:00, but the door is certainly not closed. I’m more optimistic today than I was yesterday.”

“I’m going to do everything I can to be there tomorrow,” said Dantzler. “I’m going to do rehab a couple more times today and tomorrow before the game. Even if it’s painful, if they give me the ‘OK’ I’m going to play.”

The Gamecocks caught a break with Dantzler injuring his left shoulder rather than his right. Holbrook commented multiple times that if he was to pick which shoulder Dantzler had injured, it would be his left. “If I played anywhere but first base or swung righty,” said Dantzler, “they said I would definitely be out this weekend.”

As a left-hander, swinging the bat also puts more strain on the right shoulder. “Most of the time, left handed hitters extend fully with their right arm. Hopefully it won’t be as painful as if he’d injured his right shoulder. But we won’t know that until he swings the bat tomorrow. Or tries to swing the bat tomorrow,” he said with a smile.

Even if the injury keeps Dantzler off the field for all or part of the weekend, he will be counted on to help the team win. “If he can’t go,” said Holbrook, “he’s still going to be on the dress list, and we’ll have him in the dugout. He’s a great teammate and he’s one of our captains, and he can help us win even if he’s not in the game. He can DH, play first, pinch hit, or just be a good teammate.”

Should Dantzler be unable to go on Friday, Kyle Martin would likely replace him in the field and bat in the fifth, sixth, or seventh spot in the batting order. “He’s a great first baseman. I’ve got all the confidence in the world in him,” said Dantzler.

This weekend is important for South Carolina because of SEC Tournament seeding. The top 12 teams in the conference advance to the tournament in Hoover, Ala., but the top four receive first round byes and are guaranteed to play at least two games while seeds 5-12 must play a single elimination round on the tournament’s first day. South Carolina holds the fourth seed in the conference by half a game over Mississippi State, who the Gamecocks will meet in Starkville next weekend, while five other teams are bunched within three-and-a-half games of the fourth spot.

“A top four seed is probably important for hosting a Regional and earning a national seed,” said Holbrook. “And for the SEC Tournament as well. You get to have an extra day’s rest and it’s not a lose-and-go-home type of situation. But if we don’t finish in the top four, we can still do some really good things. I think we’ve shown around here that you don’t necessarily have to play well in the SEC Tournament to have a good postseason run.”

Georgia comes in to this weekend’s contest with an 18-28 record, including 5-16 in SEC play, having already been eliminated from SEC Tournament contention. The Bulldogs are led by Dave Perno, who has led the team to three College World Series appearances, including a national championship series appearance in 2008, before falling on hard times in recent years.

Rumors have been swirling for weeks around the Georgia program about the future for Perno, whose 12 years at the helm make him the longest-tenured coach in the SEC. Holbrook contends that it speaks to the strength of the conference. “Georgia’s gone through some tough times. There’s not a team in this league that’s immune to a difficult stretch.”

While this season has not been as smooth as many fans would have hoped, the Gamecocks have a chance to reposition themselves squarely in the national seed conversation with a series win this weekend.

Photo Credits: Bobby Alexander (Garnet Report), NCAA, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The following game story is brought to you by the fine folks at Group Therapy Bar, located at 2107 Greene Street in Five Points.

South Carolina found itself in an uncomfortable position on Wednesday night–trailing by a run at home to Wofford after the seventh inning stretch.

But one swing of the bat was all the Gamecocks needed to turn a harrowing upset bid into a comfortable win. Joey Pankake smacked an opposite-field two-run home run to give the Gamecocks the lead and South Carolina never looked back, scoring six runs in the inning and cruising to a 9-3 win.

“Chase Vergason got on base with a one-out hit to start that inning, and then Joey had a great at-bat against their kid and hit a two-strike home run, and that kind of got a little momentum going,” said head coach Chad Holbrook. “We started to feel a little bit better about ourselves when we got ahead with that big swing of the bat… Some good things happened for us that inning, and it all started with Joey’s home run.”

The big swing from Pankake turned a 3-2 deficit to a 4-3 advantage for the Gamecocks, who are now 34-14 on the season. Pinch hitter Kyle Martin walked and recorded his first second base of the year before being driven in on a screaming Grayson Greiner double to left field. Two wild pitches allowed Greiner to touch home, and a two-RBI single by Tanner English rounded out the scoring in an inning that saw three different Terriers on the mound.

“Coach gave us a pretty good pump-up speech before that inning,” said Greiner. “We got our best swings of the night in that inning, and it kind of changed the game for us.”

“There was definitely a little urgency in the dugout,” added Pankake. “We were down, it was getting late in the game, and we knew we needed to push some runs across. After a big hit, the momentum really shifts, and we just started to hit the ball a lot better after that point.”

The elation over the win, however, was tempered by a strange injury to LB Dantzler. The burly first baseman reached base in the sixth inning after a walk, snapping a string of 16 of 19 Gamecock hitters set down by Wofford pitching. As he rounded second on a Greiner double, Dantlzer lost his footing and fell awkwardly and dislocated his shoulder. “[Trainer] Brainard [Cooper] popped that thing right back in there,” said Holbrook, “but it’s pretty sore, and I’m sure it’s going to be a lot more sore tomorrow.”

Holbrook says he isn’t sure how he’ll structure the lineup if Dantzler isn’t able to play in this weekend’s series at home against Georgia, but would most likely play left-hander Kyle Martin at first base in Dantzler’s absence. “I like the way Kyle’s swinging the bat right now. I think 50/50 is optimistic for this weekend. I’d be shocked if LB is able to go.”

The Gamecocks would miss Dantzler, who has started all 117 games in his two seasons at Carolina, if he is unable to play this weekend. He saw a ten-game hitting streak come to an end Wednesday, leads the team with a .343 batting average, and ranks twelfth nationally with 12 home runs on the season.

Bobby Alexander / Garnet Report

Lost in Wednesday’s larger storylines was a career day at the plate for right fielder Sean Sullivan. The senior, in his sixth year of eligibility, raised his batting average from .294 to .350 with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate. He scored a run in the six-run seventh inning and recorded a pair of singles and an RBI after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. He also stole his first base of the season. Max Schrock was 2-for-5 with a home run and two runs scored, Greiner went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a run scored, and an RBI, and Chase Vergason chipped in three singles, a run, and an RBI in five trips to the plate.

The game began auspiciously for the visiting Terriers, who took advantage of three consecutive hard-hit singles and a deep sacrifice fly to center field to take a 2-0 first inning lead. Schrock lead off the home half of the first inning with a home run that just cleared the railing in right field that extended his season-high hitting streak to five games.

Gamecock batters were stymied by Wofford starter Matthew Millburn, who was making just his third start on the season. He allowed the Schrock home run and a Vergason single on back-to-back pitches, but then calmed to allow just two walks and no hits during the remainder of his four innings.

Adam Westmoreland earned the win in relief for the Gamecocks, needing 24 pitches to go 1.2 innings, giving up just one hit.

South Carolina returns to action against Georgia on Friday night in a crucial conference series for the Gamecocks.

What a way to make a splashy entrance.

On the same day that he was called up from Double-A Arkansas after two players were placed on the Disabled List, Michael Roth earned his first career win in his first trip to the mound for Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Roth pitched the eighth and ninth innings for the Angels in Saturday night’s game against the Houston Astros, entering with the Angels down 4-1. He got right-hander Justin Maxwell to ground out to the shortstop before striking out lefty Jason Castro and right-hander Chris Carter to end the inning. Left-hander Carlos Pena and right-hander J.D. Martinez would meet the same fate, and a Brett Wallace pop up on the infield sent the game to the bottom of the ninth.

The Angels had scored two runs in the eighth inning to make it a 4-3 game heading to the ninth. With two on and two out, Albert Pujols doubled down the left field line, giving the Angels a 5-4 walk-off victory and making Roth the winning pitcher in his Major League debut.

You can read the Angels’ official game recap here, and this link will take you to a video recap of Roth’s performance.

Photo Credit: GoGamecocks.com

It’s tough to keep up with all of the great baseball players that have come through USC. From guys like Landon Powell and Steven Tolleson that were so instrumental in South Carolina’s CWS runs last decade to big boppers like Justin Smoak, James Darnell, and Reese Havens to the heroes of the 2010-2012 teams, there’s some real talent that’s come through Columbia. So much talent that it’s almost impossible to keep track of who’s playing where in their quest for Major League stardom.

Allow Garnet Report to help.

We’ve compiled a table of every former Gamecock baseball player that’s currently playing in professional baseball, from rookie leagues all the way up to the MLB. You can see who they’re playing for and what level they’ve reached, find links to their statistics, and see brief notes on each player. You can access it by clicking this link or on the “Gamecocks in the Pros” tab at the top of your screen.

Photo Credit: ESPN