Schmidt Silences South Carolina in a 9-1 Arkan

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Left-handed pitcher Nick Schmidt turned in the best performance of his young Arkansas career, silencing the potent South Carolina bats over a career-high seven innings as the Razorbacks knocked off the second-ranked Gamecocks 9-1 Friday night at Sarge Frye Field.
A crowd of 4,312 turned out to see Arkansas improve to 17-1 on the season, and win its SEC opener for the first time since the 2000 season. The loss dropped South Carolina to 16-2 on the year.
"It really all started with Nick Schmidt coming out and not being intimidated," Arkansas Head Coach Dave Van Horn said. "He got himself ready mentally all week, and he has done that on Friday night all season. This was by far his best game. He was working both sides of the plate, throwing his curve ball over now and then and using his change up."
Schmidt, a freshman from High Ridge, Mo., allowed one run on two hits and struck out a career-high 11. He became the first Arkansas pitcher to strikeout 10 or more batters since David Walling struck out 10 against Delaware on May 28, 1999.
"The first thing we do is come out and go right after people, and that is what I did tonight," Schmidt said. "I knew they (South Carolina) could hit, and I knew they were the No. 2 team in the country."
The Hogs blew the game open in the fifth inning with six runs on four hits. Jake Dugger delivered a three-RBI double and Blake Parker blasted a three-run home run to left field to extend the UA lead to 7-0. The home run was Parker's third of the season.
Casey Rowlett quickly extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a two-out double down the left-field line in the first inning. Following a walk to Jake Dugger, South Carolina shortstop Steven Tolleson let Danny Hamblin's ground ball scoot under his glove and Rowlett came around to score and give the Hogs an early 1-0 lead.
Rowlett led the Razorbacks' 11-hit attack with three hits to raise his average to .514. Dugger went 2 for 4 with three RBI to give him 25 runs batted in this season. Scott Hode also added two hits.
Schmidt allowed his first hit to the Gamecocks with one out in the sixth inning. USC leadoff hitter Chris Brown singled down the right-field line to break up the no-hitter.
Jon Willard broke up the shutout one inning later with a solo home run to left field.
Brian Walker quickly got the run back for his battery mate with a solo home run to right-center field.
Lee Land pitched the final two innings for the Hogs, surrendering just one hit and striking out one.
Aaron Rawl pitched five innings for USC and allowed seven runs - only three earned - on seven hits and struck out six. Rawl was victimized by two Steve Tolleson errors at shortstop that led to four unearned runs by the Razorbacks.
The Hogs and Gamecocks will play the second of a three-game series at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
 Arkansas Razorbacks #7 Arkansas at #2 South Carolina Mar 18, 2005 at Columbia, S.C. (Sarge Frye Field) Arkansas 9 (17-1,1-0 SEC) Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Clint Arnold lf.......... 5 1 1 0 0 2 4 0 0 Scott Bridges 2b......... 4 1 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 Casey Rowlett cf......... 5 2 3 0 0 2 2 0 0 Jake Dugger rf........... 4 1 2 3 1 1 2 0 2 Danny Hamblin dh......... 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Clay Goodwin 3b/1b....... 5 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 2 Blake Parker 1b.......... 3 1 1 3 0 0 1 0 0 John Marquardt 3b....... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brian Walker c........... 4 1 1 1 0 3 12 1 2 Scott Hode ss............ 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 Nick Schmidt p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Lee Land p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 39 9 11 8 1 11 27 5 6 South Carolina 1 (16-2,0-1 SEC) Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Brown, C. 2b............. 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 3 0 Campbell, M. cf.......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 Tolleson, S. ss.......... 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 Pearce, S. 1b............ 4 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 1 Willard, J. dh........... 4 1 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 Winn, B. rf.............. 3 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 Friddle, J. 3b........... 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 King, T. 3b............. 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Paxton, I. c............. 2 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 Giesler, N. ph.......... 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mahoney, R. c........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Gregg, D. lf............. 2 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 Rawl, A. p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jeffords, J. p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Donald, C. p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 29 1 3 1 3 12 27 6 4 Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Arkansas............ 100 060 011 - 9 11 0 South Carolina...... 000 000 100 - 1 3 2 ------------------------------------------- E - Tolleson, S. 2(5). DP - SC 1. LOB - ARKANSAS 6; SC 4. 2B - Rowlett 2(5); Dugger(4); Hamblin(6). HR - Parker(3); Walker(3); Willard, J.(4). HBP - Hamblin. SH - Bridges(1). CS - Tolleson, S.(1). Arkansas IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Nick Schmidt........ 7.0 2 1 1 3 11 22 25 104 Lee Land............ 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 7 7 26 South Carolina IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Rawl, A............. 5.0 7 7 3 1 7 24 26 93 Jeffords, J......... 1.0 2 0 0 0 3 5 5 23 Donald, C........... 3.0 2 2 2 0 1 10 11 32 Win - Schmidt (4-0). Loss - Rawl, A. (4-2). Save - None. HBP - by Donald, C. (Hamblin). Inherited runners/scored: None. Pitches/strikes: Schmidt 104/65; Land 26/18; Rawl, A. 93/59; Jeffords, J. 23/16; Donald, C. 32/22. Umpires - HP: Tony Walsh 1B: Danny Everett 3B: Bryan Donnelly Start: 7:00 pm Time: 2:18 Attendance: 4312