Feb. 18, 2009

Gamecock Invitational Central

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Game Notes

COLUMBIA, S.C. – After a postponement of the Gamecocks’ date against Charlotte, South Carolina returns to action on Friday in the Gamecock Invitational at Beckham Field. The squad is one of eight in the 16-game event, set for Friday thru Sunday in Columbia.

The Garnet and Black open up the weekend with a 5 p.m. rematch against North Florida. On Saturday, the Gamecocks face Eastern Illinois and Chattanooga in back-to-back games slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch. Sunday’s contest against Troy is also scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Gametracker will be provided for all games of the 2009 Gamecock Invitational.

Spreading Around the Love in Orlando
The Gamecocks went 5-0 at last weekend’s UCF Early Bird Tournament, and they did it with a team approach. Only two starters on the weekend did not contribute a run, either by scoring or driving one in, during the event. Freshman Evan Childs scored three runs to lead the team, while another rookie, Lauren Lackey, had the most RBI on the team while in the land of Mickey Mouse.

Returners Reasserting Place on Top, At Least on a Few Lists
After letting the freshmen get all the publicity during the first weekend, the returning Gamecocks came back to put themselves on top of the statistical lists through two weekends of play. Sophomore Jill Semento leads the team in batting average at .389, and senior Ashton Payne has a team-best three doubles. But the freshmen still hold leads in numerous categories. Lauren Lackey tops the squad with a .474 on-base percentage, while Evan Childs holds down the top spot in runs, home runs, RBI and slugging percentage. On the pitching side, freshmen Kierstyn White and Audrey Broyles dominate the lists.

What a Debut!
Freshman Audrey Broyles had a day for the ages in her first game donning the Garnet and Black. The Pembroke Pines, Fla., freshman tossed a complete game, allowing just one earned run while fanning 14 Cougars. That is currently the highest number of K’s recorded by a Gamecock in their debut, with the current records going back to 1996. What made Broyles’ first game even better was her day at the plate. She went 1-for-3 with a two-RBI single in the first to help put the Gamecocks on top, 4-0.

Broyles continued her good work in the circle, going 3-0 during the UCF Early Bird Tournament. She tossed her first complete-game shutout while compiling 10 K’s in the win over Bowling Green. Broyles also got wins in relief against Bradley and Texas-Arlington.

Is the Second Game of the Year Still a Debut if It’s on the First Day?
Evan Childs came through with a big contest in just her second in a South Carolina jersey. The Conway, S.C., product hit two game-tying home runs in the Gamecocks’ 6-4 win in the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday against the College of Charleston. The first was a solo shot in the third to answer the Cougars run in the top half of the frame. The last one was a three-run blast that knotted the contest at four apiece in the fifth. That set the stage for Laura Mendes’ go-ahead sacrifice fly in the sixth that was the difference in the contest.

The Gamecocks Have Lots of Youth . . .
Head coach Joyce Compton has never had 10 newcomers to her program in one year until this year. Nine freshman (matching a record from 2005) and one transfer make up one of the youngest teams Compton has ever fielded. The most inexperience will be in the circle, as redshirt sophomore Krystle Robinson is the only pitcher back. She made 16 starts and 24 appearances overall. Three true freshmen and one transfer will vie to fill those over 220 innings or nearly 70 percent of the innings lost from last season.

. . . But They Also Bring Back Lots of Experience
But this is no green group as a whole. Out of 423 starts in the nine batting spots, over 67 percent of those starts return. The returning catchers started all but two games last season, most of any spot. Three returners started all but four games in left field, which stands second. At shortstop, junior Lindsay Walker started 41 of the 47 games, the third-highest percentage on the team. The position losing the most starts are right field (32), third base (30) and first base (24).

More Parts Mean More Lineups? Stay Tuned
Last season, the Gamecocks seemingly never ran out the same nine in the same order. Reality was not far from the truth, as head coach Joyce Compton used the same defensive alignment in back-to-back games just three times all season. In all, South Carolina utilized 38 different units around the pitcher. Lineup order was a different matter entirely, as 43 different orders were trotted out in the 47-game season. But even with the larger roster (by three), there is only one more position player on the roster compared to 2008. Four of the additions will take the place of two pitchers, while six freshman position players take over for five departed seniors who played the field last year.

Through the first eight games, South Carolina has utilized six different defensive alignments and seven different batting orders.

South Carolina Picked to Finish Fourth in SEC East
In what should be familiar to Gamecock fans, the Southeastern Conference coaches selected the squad to finish fourth in the SEC Eastern Division. This is the sixth-consecutive year that South Carolina has ranked fourth in the preseason polling of the league’s managers. Florida was chosen to win the East and the overall title, while Tennessee was picked second. Georgia was selected third, while Kentucky came in fifth. Alabama was the coaches’ choice to win the SEC West this season.

Carolina in the Month of February Under Joyce Compton
In the 20-plus years of starting the season in the second month of the year, Carolina is 124-57-1 (.684) during February. Last year, the Gamecocks went 7-8 during the opening month of the year.

Early Look at Career List Possibilities in 2009
A few Gamecocks are looking to move onto or move up on some career charts as we start 2009. Senior Ashton Payne has already got spots in the top 10 in stolen bases and triples, and she’s close to adding hits and batting average to her list. She needs 25 hits in 2009 to tie for 10th all time with Debralee Troesh, while eight batting average points would push her ahead of Toinette Reed into 10th there. She needs one steal to tie for eighth with Dana Fulmer, and another triple puts her into fourth place alone. Payne would have to break the NCAA single-season record for triples to move any higher on the list, however.

A couple of others are already eyeing positions in different charts. Senior Jacqueline Wetherbee needs three round-trippers to tie Jana Zimmerman and current assistant coach Adrianna Baggetta for ninth all-time on the home-run charts. And sophomore Jill Semento is close to landing on a painful list, as three more hit-by-pitches will put her in a tie for eighth with 10 in her short career.

Now There’s Some Competition
The Gamecocks are facing some teams in the Gamecock Invitational that are picked to do well in their conferences. Chattanooga was voted the Southern Conference preseason favorite by the league’s coaches. Troy was slotted in third in the predictions in the Sun Belt, while Eastern Illinois was picked fifth in the nine-team Ohio Valley Conference. North Florida was selected to finish eighth in the Atlantic Sun.

Gamecocks All-Time vs. North Florida
The Garnet and Black hold a 3-1 mark against the Ospreys in history. Last season, the squads split in the FAU Kick-Off Classic, taking the season opener, 3-1, before falling in eight innings to North Florida, 3-2. The Gamecocks got a 2-1 win last weekend in Orlando over UNF.

Scouting the North Florida Ospreys
North Florida went 1-4 last weekend in the UCF Early Bird Tournament, moving its record to 3-9 on the year. Run production has been the problem for the Ospreys, as they have scored 22 runs in 12 games and hit .223 as a team. Caroline Torre leads the team with a .297 batting average and has one home run on the year. Rookie Allyson Bailey enters the weekend with a .289 average. Junior Devyn Findley is the pitching workhorse, striking out 62 batters in 44.2 innings, but she has no wins (0-6) to show for it. Shaina Dent is 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA. Also of note, UNF freshman Britanie Block was a high school teammate of Audrey Broyles and Kandyce Redondo

The Last Time – South Carolina vs. North Florida – Feb. 14, 2009
Sophomore Laura Mendes got a walk-off single to lead the Gamecocks to a 2-1 victory over North Florida on Saturday morning in the UCF Early Bird Tournament. Mendes came up with two down in the bottom of the seventh and put the 3-2 pitch through the right side to bring in junior Adele Voigt, who walked to lead off the inning and moved into scoring position on freshman Lauren Lackey’s sacrifice.

Gamecocks All-Time vs. Eastern Illinois
South Carolina has taken two of the previous three meetings against Eastern Illinois, but all three meetings came prior to Joyce Compton’s taking the reins of the program. All three games came in Columbia from 1985-86.

Scouting the Eastern Illinois Panthers
The Panthers enter the weekend at 5-0 after sweeping through the New Mexico State Troy Cox Classic. Amber May went 4-0 in the tourney, tossing two complete games, one of those a shutout while throwing in all five games. The Panthers averages just over a strikeout an inning as a staff. Senior infielder Sarah Coppert hit .500 in the tourney, scorig four runs while driving in five. Junior outfielder Denee’ Menzione hit .438 with a homer and five RBI in the tourney. Sophomore Kiley Holtz had a team-best six RBI on the weekend, while junior Megan Nelson had a team-best five runs scored. Eastern Illinois put pressure on the defense with their speed, swiping 12 bags in 14 attempts as the opponents committed 13 errors on the weekend.

The Last Time – South Carolina vs. Eastern Illinois – March 23, 1986
It took nine innings, but the Panthers of Eastern Illinois picked up a 1-0 win over the Gamecocks in Columbia, S.C. Eastern Illinois pitching limited the Gamecocks’ chances, allowing just three baserunners in the final six innings of action. Two errors in the ninth did in South Carolina, as Terri Huggins went the distance in the tough-luck loss. Sophomore catcher Karen Sanchelli reached base three times while going 2-for-3 at the plate.

Gamecocks All-Time vs. Chattanooga
Despite playing nine times in Chattanooga, the Gamecocks have only faced the Mocs twice, and none of those meetings happened at either team’s home site. South Carolina won both matchups, first in Tampa, Fla., in 1997 and later in Tempe, Ariz., in 2000.

Scouting the Chattanooga Mocs
The preseason favorite to win the Southern Conference brings a 5-7 record to Columbia this weekend. The Mocs have had issues in the circle, as the all-sophomore staff has allowed 57 earned runs through 77 innings (5.18 ERA). The team has been led by Michelle Fuzzard at the plate, as the sophomore has a .387 batting average with eight RBI. She has reached base at an outstanding .513 clip. Toni Hutchison and Jenni Martin join Fuzzard with a slugging percentage north of .500, with Hutchison blasting three homers to go with seven RBI. Chattanooga has yet to be thrown out trying to steal in 10 attempts.

The Last Time – South Carolina vs. Chattanooga – Feb 13, 2000
The Gamecocks took home a 3-1 win in eight innings in the final game of the Fiesta Bowl Tournament in Tempe, Ariz. Junior centerfielder Megan Donohoo hit a three-run blast with two outs in the eighth to propel the Gamecocks to the win. The teams battled for seven innings with neither team giving up a run. The Mocs scored in the top half of the frame thanks to an error and a double. Megan Matthews went the distance, allowing just two hits while fanning 10.

Gamecocks All-Time vs. Troy
South Carolina won the only prior meeting against Troy in Plant City, Fla., 13-0, in 2003.

Scouting the Troy Trojans
The Trojans are 7-3 on the season, dropping their last two games to Mercer and Auburn. Kala Moore leads the team with a .385 batting average, while Heidi Johnson has a squad-best .436 on-base percentage. Tasha Elmore has joined with Johnson to provide thump in the lineup, as both have slugging percentages over .575 on the year. Elmore has two home runs and a team-best 13 RBI. In the circle, Troy is led by Ashlyn Williams’ 0.85 ERA and 6-2 mark. She has struck out 71 batters in 49.2 innings pitched. Moore and Johnson are the only base-stealing threats according to the stats, as they have accounted for 10 of the 11 steals and 13 of the 15 attempts.

The Last Time – South Carolina vs. Troy – March 1, 2003
The South Carolina Gamecocks shut out Troy State, 13-0, at the Strawberry Fest Tournament in Plant City, Fla. Against the Trojans, Debralee Troesh went 3-for-5 with three RBI while Jodi Fittro topped her with a 3-for-5 day and four RBI. Stacey Johnson pitched four innings and gave up one hit.