Steve Pearce (baseball)

Infobox MLB player


width = 150px
name=Steve Pearce
positionplain=Outfielder / First baseman
team=Pittsburgh Pirates
number=51
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1983|4|13
birthplace=city-state|Lakeland|Florida
debutdate=September 1
debutyear=2007
debutteam=Pittsburgh Pirates
statyear=September 1, 2008
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.262
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=0
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=13
teams=
*Pittsburgh Pirates (by|2007-present)

Steven Wayne Pearce (born April 13, 1983 in Lakeland, Florida) is a Major League Baseball player with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

High School and College Career

Pearce is a 2001 graduate of Lakeland High School (Fla.), where he was a four-year letterman in baseball and posted a career .400 batting average.

Pearce was selected twice in the MLB Draft, but did not sign; taken in the 45th round in the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft by Minnesota and in the 10th round in the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft by Boston. He played two seasons (2004-05) of NCAA baseball at the University of South Carolina and led the Gamecocks in batting average, home runs and RBI both years and hit 42 home runs in his two seasons with USC to become the first player in school history to reach the 40-homer plateau that quickly.

As a senior in 2005, he hit .358 with 21 home runs and 63 RBI and was a Second-Team All-SEC selection, a Baseball America Second-Team All-American and the NCBWA District IV Player of the Year. Pearce was named to the watch lists for both the Golden Spikes Award (USA Baseball's top amateur baseball player) and the Dick Howser Trophy (top collegiate baseball player) prior to the 2005 season. As a transfer junior in 2004, he hit .346 with 21 home runs and 70 RBI to lead the Gamecocks to their third consecutive appearance in the College World Series and was named USC's Rookie of the Year and was selected to both the NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team and the College World Series All-Tournament Team. He set a South Carolina school record with a 1.000 fielding percentage (416 PO, 22 A, 0 E) in 50 games at first base.

He played for the Cotuit Kettlers of the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2004 and hit .275 with one home run. Pearce transferred to South Carolina after playing two seasons (2002-03) at Indian River Community College (Fla.) leading Indian River in batting average both seasons and combined to hit 17 home runs.

Professional career

Pearce was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 8th round of the June 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.

2007

He began the 2007 season with the A Lynchburg Hillcats, then onto the AA Altoona Curve, AAA Indianapolis Indians. Pearce made his Major League debut for the Pirates on September 1 against the Milwaukee Brewers.

2008

In 2008, Pearce spent the majority of the year in Indianapolis, but made several appearances for the Pirates. On September 2, he was recalled again when the rosters expanded.

External links