April 16, 2004

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The 24th-ranked South Carolina softball team will play their final SEC road series of the season as they travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to take on the No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide. A doubleheader is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. (ET). Sunday’s game three is scheduled for a 2 p.m. (ET) start as well and will be televised live on Fox Sports Net South.

USC is 21-16 and 10-14 in the SEC and they enter the weekend with a three-game losing streak after getting swept by the Florida Gators last weekend. The Gamecocks have six more SEC games left to play and need to win five of those games to come out with a .500 conference record.

For the series, South Carolina leads 13-8, but last year Alabama won the series 2-1 in Columbia. The last time USC won the regular season series against the Tide was in 2001. Neither teams have ever swept each other in a three-game series.

Out of the current pitching staff, only sophomore Melanie Henkes has won against Alabama. Senior pitcher Stacey Johnson is 0-4 and is looking for her first win against the Tide while Henkes is 1-1.

Alabama is 33-12 and 13-8 in the SEC. The Tide is currently second in the SEC West and fifth overall in the conference.