No. 9 South Carolina Travels to Top-Ranked Auburn

COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 9 South Carolina (0-4, 0-1 SEC) hits the road for another SEC matchup against No. 1 Auburn (3-1, 1-0 SEC) on Friday. This will be both teams’ second SEC meet of the season.
 
“Auburn is always a formidable opponent. We have been practicing hard and are improving in many ways,” said head coach Boo Major. “We have to work on eliminating mistakes to come out with a win. We are so close. I’m looking forward to seeing the improvements and corrections we make this week for our first SEC competition on the road.”
 
Gamecock Notables

• The Gamecocks swept western M.O.P. honors in the loss against No. 5 Texas A&M with two career-high scores. Senior Sloane Vogt took horsemanship honors with her score of 77.5 and Emma Lane took reining honors for her score of 73.5. 
• In the last two meets, the Gamecocks have scored six points in fences combined. Both Nina Columbia and Alexa Aureliano have earned a combined four of those points.
• South Carolina scored a season high of 396.5 on the flat against Texas A&M.
• The Gamecocks also had their best showing in reining against Texas A&M when they scored a 356.0 and earned three points.
• Senior Trinity Hammerschmidt has earned a point for the Gamecocks on the flat in three out of the four meets this season.

Scouting the Tigers

• Auburn is 3-1 after losing in a 10-9 decision to No. 4 Oklahoma State, who are last season’s Big 12 champions.
• The Tigers most recently defeated Fresno State at home 13-5.
• Auburn is 2-0 at home, also defeating No. 2 Georgia 13-7 in the season opener.
• In its single discipline meet against Lynchburg, Auburn only gave up one point to take the meet 9-1.
• The 36-member Auburn squad is led by head coach Greg Williams who is in his 27th season.

 
The Auburn Series

• South Carolina is 19-29 all time against Auburn in full competitions, including a 7-14 away record.
• In the last regular season meeting, the Tigers topped the Gamecocks 13-5 at Auburn.
• The Gamecocks last defeated the Tigers in February of 2015 in an 11-7 decision.