THURSDAY SPORTS: Gamecocks release 2014 schedule; Heyward breaks jaw; Suzuki gets 4,000th hit

*Just one week from the start of the 2013 season, the South Carolina Gamecocks have released their 2014 football schedule. The Gamecocks and Texas A&M Aggies will open the 2014 season with a special Thursday night contest at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. The Gamecocks and Aggies will meet on the gridiron for the first time ever on August 28, 2014. The Gamecocks will also face South Alabama and Furman in 2014. The full schedule can be viewed at gamecocksonline.com. The Georgia Bulldogs schedule shows a home opener against Clemson, followed by an off week before facing South Carolina in Columbia, something the Dawgs don’t have the benefit of this season.

*Atlanta Braves outfielder Jason Heyward suffered two fractures in his jaw Wednesday when he was hit by a pitch and will undergo surgery Thursday. Heyward was hit in the face by a fastball thrown by New York Mets pitcher Jonathon Niese in the sixth inning of the Braves’ 4-1 win in New York.

*Ichiro Suzuki got his 4,000th hit Wednesday night in a professional career that’s been split between the U.S major leagues and Japan. The 39-year-old outfielder reached the milestone with a single in the first inning of his New York Yankees’ 4-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, collecting it off of pitcher R.A. Dickey. The only two players to have reached the 4,000 hits milestone only in the major leagues are all-time hits leader Pete Rose, with 4,256, and Ty Cobb with 4,191.