Gamecocks Take on Aggies in SEC Tournament

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The South Carolina softball team kicks off its SEC Tournament when the 10th seeded Gamecocks face 7th seeded Texas A&M Wednesday, May 10. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT, but will start 35 minutes after the previous game, Ole Miss and LSU, ends. Arkansas plays host to the 2023 SEC Softball Tournament, with every game being broadcast on the SEC Network, with the semi-final and championship games on ESPN2.

GAMEDAY INFORMATION – SEC Tournament
Series History: Texas A&M leads 27-18
Last Meeting: South Carolina 8, Texas A&M 0 (6) | April 16, 2023 | Columbia, S.C.

South Carolina Gamecocks 34-19, 9-15 SEC
Coach: Beverly Smith | 13th Season
AVG Leader: .325 | Brooke Blankenship
RBI Leader: 38 | Riley Blampied
Home Run Leader: 9 | Jordan Fabian
ERA Leader: 2.49 | Donnie Gobourne
Strikeout Leader: 165 | Donnie Gobourne
Wins Leader: 10 | Donnie Gobourne

Texas A&M Aggies 33-18, 12-12 SEC
Coach: Trisha Ford | 1st Season
AVG Leader: .362 | Julia Cottrill
RBI Leader: 43 | Julia Cottrill
Home Run Leader: 10 | Julia Cottrill
ERA Leader: 2.32 | Shaylee Ackerman
Strikeout Leader: 97 | Emily Leavitt
Wins Leader: 11 | Emiley Kennedy

LEADING OFF

• The 2023 season will be the 50th season of Carolina Softball.
• The Gamecocks remained 37th in the most recent RPI.
• Carolina received votes in the ESPN/USA Softball poll for the third straight week.
• The Gamecocks have nine wins over teams currently in the RPI top-26 (all of which were ranked in the top-25 of the NFCA coaches poll at the time), LSU, Florida (twice), Alabama, Texas A&M (three), Auburn, and Tennessee.
  • The 20 games again top-25 RPI teams are the eighth most.
• Carolina leads the SEC in stolen bases per game (2.06) and total stolen bases (109).
• The Gamecocks rank 15th in stolen bases, 16th in the country in fielding (.978), and 19th in stolen bases per game.
  • The 109 stolen bases shatters the program record of 87 from 1995. The 133 attempts also shattered the old record of 99 from 2011.
• Head coach Bev Smith earned her 400th career win against UNC on March 1.
  • She became the 29th active head coach in Division I to amass 400 career victories while only coaching at one school.
• Against #23 Texas A&M, the Gamecocks shut out the Aggies in back-to-back games for only the second time this season, the other came against No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 UCLA, which they combined for 10 hits in those two games. The Gamecocks allowed only 10 hits in the three-game series.
  • It was the first time in program history the Gamecocks swept a ranked SEC opponent while being unranked.
  • It was the first SEC series win for Carolina while being unranked since sweeping Ole Miss April 29-30, 2014.
• The series win over the Gators is the first for the Gamecocks since sweeping them during the 2003 season.
• It’s the first SEC series win, and first SEC series win over a ranked opponent, since defeating Auburn in 2019.
• Against Mercer (Feb. 24), the Gamecocks hit back-to-back-to-back home runs for the first time under Bev Smith.
• South Carolina batters were hit five times against Florida (3/31), the sixth most in a game this season in Division I.
• The Gamecocks played five consecutive days (Feb. 15-19) for only the second time in program history. They played six straight days in 1987 (March 10-15; 14 games).

OUCH…THAT HURT!

• The Gamecocks have three players listed among the current active NCAA leaders in hit by pitches entering the week.
• Jordan Fabian ranks 15th in DI and 34th among all Divisions with 38.
• Natalie Morgan ranks 22nd in DI and 42nd overall with 34.
• Jen Cummings ranks 22nd in DI and 42nd overall with 34.

JUST WALK ON BY…

• Jordan Fabian ranks 40th among active career leaders in Division I for walks with 92.

#FearTheLashes

• Donnie Gobourne picked up the win over #4 Tennessee on Sunday. In three innings of relief, she allowed one hit and struck out four.
• In a loss to #4 Tennessee on Saturday, she allowed three hits, the third fewest by the Lady Vols in an SEC game this season.
• Gobourne threw her first career no-hitter against #17 Auburn on Saturday.
• It was the first no-hitter for Carolina since Jessica Elliot vs Winthrop (2/28/2017)
• It’s the 53rd overall in recorded program history.
• It’s the first no-hitter for Carolina in SEC play since Megan Matthews against Florida on April 21, 2002, and the fifth in SEC play all-time.
• She was selected 17th overall (5th round, 1st pick), in the Women’s Professional Fastpitch Draft Monday night by the Oklahoma City Spark.
• She became the first Gamecock drafted professionally since Samie Garcia in 2013 by the NY/NJ Comets of the former National Pro Fastpitch league.
• She carried a no-hit bid down to the last strike in the top of the seventh in against #11 Florida (4/2) before surrendering a hit.
• She became the first Gamecock to throw a one-hitter since Kelsey Oh against Charleston Southern on April 7, 2021.
• She finished with 15 strikeouts to become the first Carolina pitcher to record 15 in a game since Melissa Hendon against the College of Charleston (2/22/07).
• For seven straight weeks she led Division I in strikeouts per 7 innings. She currently ranks 5th (11.1) and ranks 41st in total strikeouts with 165. She also ranks 15th in saves (5) and 22nd in hits per 7 innings (4.17).

For the latest on South Carolina Softball, visit GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team’s social media accounts on Twitter @GamecockSoftbll, Facebook /GamecockSoftball, and Instagram @GamecockSoftball.