Inside South Carolina outfielder Gene Cone's school record hitting streak

Gene Cone has been hitting the cover off the ball for the past few weeks. Today, not only did he record a hit for the 27th straight game - a South Carolina record - but he did it in style: going 5-5 with a pair of doubles, a triple, and 4 RBI. Not bad.

That got us thinking: what are the numbers behind the numbers of this impressive run by the Gamecocks' outfielder? Our crack GABA research staff (OK, just me) did some digging and took a look at how impressive this streak has been.

--Cone's hitting streak actually started a little more than 27 games ago. On March 6 in a 4-1 loss to Clemson at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, he went 1-3 with an RBI. He has missed a few games since then, but in the last 27 games he's played, he's gotten a hit. He's batting .411 (44-107) in that time span, and despite just 16 RBI, nine of those have come in the last six games.

--Cone has had multiple hits twelve times during the streak. However, he's had two or more in five of his last seven games. The most hits in a game during the streak? Today's five-hit effort.

--If Cone has his eye on the longest streak in Division 1 history, he's still got a ways to go. Former MLB third baseman and current White Sox manager Robin Ventura hit in 58 straight in 1987 with Oklahoma State. The longest streak in SEC history is a little more manageable: 36, set by Alabama's Andy Phillips in 1999.