Gamecocks Host Arkansas in Important SEC Home Series

April 9, 2015

South Carolina hosts Arkansas
Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field
Fri.-Sun., April 10-12 – 6, 5 and 1 PM

Sat. 2 PM – Resumption of Game 1

Sat. 5 PM – Julie Sarratt Senior Day
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Sun. 1 PM – Sunday Run Day (kids 12 and under run the bases + post-game autographs)
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15 SC Softball Notes – 4/9

15 SC Softball Bios – 4/9

15 SC Softball Stats – 4/7

Feature on Alaynie Page
Feature on Julie Sarratt
Feature on Nickie Blue
Feature on Kristen Struett

Gamecocks Host Arkansas in Important SEC Home Series

After Tuesday night’s shutout win over USC Upstate, South Carolina returns to SEC play by hosting Arkansas in a three-game series.
Game times are set at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday, with every game being shown on SEC Network + with Brad Muller and Megan Matthews Buning on the call.

Recently

South Carolina rebounded from a sweep at No. 23/23 Texas A&M with five non-conference wins.
Against the Aggies, two of the losses came in A&M’s last at-bat, once in extra innings and once in the seventh.
Four of the wins came at home, including a run-rule shutout of North Florida, a one-run win over Furman and a run-rule victory over College of Charleston.
Also in that stretch was a 15-10 slugfest at UNC Wilmington, a 3-hour, 5-minute affair.
In four of the innings at UNC Wilmington, South Carolina sent eight batters to the plate and scored three runs.
In this stretch, sophomores Victoria Williams and Kaylea Snaer had nine and seven RBI, respectively.
Both juniors Alaynie Page (.593) and Jordan Bizzell (.581) posted stellar on-base percentages, with the duo scoring 14 runs combined in the five games.
In the stretch, redshirt senior Julie Sarratt threw all but a third of an inning, posting a 2.43 ERA.
The Gamecocks fell in shortened games at No. 3/3 Florida despite scoring first in two of the games.
South Carolina responded to the tough go of things in Gainesville with a one-hit shutout of defending Atlantic Sun champ USC Upstate 3-0 on Tuesday, April 7.

Page Soaring in 2015

Junior left fielder Alaynie Page has propelled the Gamecock offense in the early part of 2015.
She leads the team in 12 offensive categories, including batting average (.424), slugging percentage (.827), runs (38), hits (59), doubles (8), triples (6), home runs (12) and RBI (39).
Only twice has she not reached base in a game (Western Carolina 2/26, No. 21/20 Missouri 3/9).
The Gamecocks’ leadoff hitter has reached base 57.4 percent of the time she’s led off an inning.
She’s moved runners up at a team-best 63.1 percentage in 65 opportunities.
Page tied the school’s single-season record held by Sarah Mooney (12, 2014) with her leadoff homer on the first pitch of the Friday game at No. 23/23 Texas A&M.
To see where she stands in other single-season lists, see the sidebar on page 9 of the notes.
She’s also moved much higher on some Gamecock career charts, which can be found on page 10.
Twice, she’s tied the school record for home runs in a game, most recently with two leadoff blasts vs. No. 9/15 Tennessee (3/13).
Twice, Page has posted five or more RBI, including a career-best six in the Delaware State win.
Page went 7-for-11 at No. 23/23 Texas A&M with a triple and a homer, the only Gamecock with multiple hits in two games during the weekend.
That includes her first career four-hit day on Friday, which included her record-tying 12th homer.
She had a double and a triple as part of a 4-for-4 outing in the first game against North Florida.

South Carolina Team Notes

South Carolina is 1-5 when not collecting an extra-base hit during a game.
In games when the team has 11 or less total bases, the Gamecocks are 5-13.
When the Gamecocks walk twice or less, they are 5-11.
It is also 0-6 when scoring one or no runs.
SC has lost two of four games when its batters strike out at least 10 times (L’s vs. UCF & South Alabama).
South Carolina is 10-0 when its foes don’t record an extra-base hit, five of those coming in shutouts.
South Carolina’s 45 home runs this season has already moved into third in program history. Two more move this year’s group into second.
The Gamecocks went 9-5 during 18-day, 14-game home stand, the longest stretch of home games this season.
Assistant coach Calvin Beamon and his family welcomed into the world a new son, Cash, on Thurs., March 5.

Watch Us Play on the SEC Network + (At Home and On The Road in SEC Play)

All 31 home games will be on either the SEC Network (five games) or on SEC Network + via the WatchESPN app and WatchESPN.com.
Also, four road SEC games will be on the SEC Network with the rest on the SEC Network +.
The last road non-conference game at Coastal Carolina will be streamed live via an audio broadcast for a $10 monthly fee as part of the Gamecocks All-Access page at GamecocksOnline.com.

Blue Bettering Herself in Sophomore Campaign

Sophomore Nickie Blue continues to be most successful when producing ground outs, as her 2015 rate of ground to fly outs (184-103) looks in line to her final 2014 tally (253-123).
Digging further into batted ball data, it shows that 48 of those fly outs are infield flys.
She’s added more strikeouts, fanning 125 in 141 innings after posting 118 K’s in 173.1 innings as a rookie. That includes a career-best 12 in the shutout of Marshall.
Once Blue gets a batter to two strikes, she has given up a .088 batting average (22-of-249) with those 122 strikeouts.
Also, she’s allowed two runs in the sixth and one in the seventh all season (31 2/3 innings).
The March 16 SEC Pitcher of the Week, Blue had two complete-game wins as part of a 3-1 week.
That included the March 13, four-hit shutout of No. 9/15 Tennessee, South Carolina’s first win over the Lady Vols since 2003, snapping a 28-game losing streak in the series.
Blue returned at No. 3/3 Florida after two weeks of rest.
She tossed her first career one-hitter in the USC Upstate shutout on April 7.
She’s already moved into the top 15 in South Carolina history in a number of categories found on page 10 of the notes.
In 2014, Blue garnered a spot on the inaugural NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year listing of the 25 finalists and earned SEC All-Freshman Team accolades.
Her seven saves stood atop the NCAA Division I stat rankings.
Her top wins of 2014 were complete-game victories at ranked opponents: a 3-2 victory at No. 3/3 Arizona State and a 1-0 triumph at No. 15/17 Georgia.
Against the Bulldogs, Blue struck out a then-career best seven and held UGA to its lowest hit total of the season to that date, allowing only three.
She also tossed a shutout in the 8-0 (5) win over No. –/24 LSU (4/20).
Blue earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors on Feb. 24 after picking up a win and two saves in relief as well as her first career shutout vs. Michigan State.

We Schedule Tough

The Gamecocks play 24 of their 56 regular-season games against teams who made the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
A total of 41 of the Gamecocks’ scheduled games come against teams that finished in the top 100 of the NCAA’s Ratings Percentage Index last year. Of those, 26 are against RPI top-50 teams.
Thirty-one games come at home, including non-conference foes UCF, South Alabama and USC Upstate, who all made the NCAA Tournament with RPI’s in the top 30.
UCF (American), Florida State (Atlantic Coast), USC Upstate (Atlantic Sun) and Coastal Carolina (Big South) won their leagues’ 2014 regular-season crowns.
The Gamecocks are 14-14 against teams with RPI marks in the top 100 as of April 5, including three wins over top-20 squads (Cal at 15, two vs. Tennessee at 13).

Ending Schedule Favorable to South Carolina

The SEC schedule-makers have the Gamecocks facing in its next three weekends No. 10, 11 and 13 in the league standings.
Arkansas is last at 0-12, while Kentucky (4-8) and Mississippi (5-10) are two games ahead of South Carolina as of April 8.
The final SEC series brings Mississippi State (8-7) to Columbia, who is tied for 7th currently.

Gamecocks Seemingly Swing Momentum with Series Win vs. Tennessee

South Carolina took two-of-three games from No. 9/15 Tennessee over March 13-15, the first series win over a top-10 SEC team for Gamecock head coach Beverly Smith.
Nickie Blue garnered SEC Pitcher of the Week accolades after her two wins over the Lady Vols, shutting out the high-powered UT offense in Friday’s triumph.
The Gamecocks run-ruled Tennessee on Friday night, the first time UT has lost a shortened game since the 2010 NCAA Women’s College World Series.
Alaynie Page homered twice in the game, both leadoff homers in the first and third, while Kaylea Snaer started the second with a leadoff homer.
Friday’s win ended South Carolina’s 28-game losing streak to Tennessee that dated back to 2003.
Snaer added the game-ending hit in the 7-6 (9) victory on Saturday night, the win that secured the series for the Gamecocks.

Gamecocks Have a Rich History in NCAA Tournament

South Carolina earned its 17th bid in the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and its second straight.
The Gamecocks are 32-31 in those trips, making three Women’s College World Series in their history (1983, 1989 and 1997).
The program has five AIAW World Series trips in its history as well prior to 1982.

Rough Start to SEC Play for the Gamecocks vs. Missouri

The Gamecocks took three tough losses to No. 21/20 Missouri to start SEC play.
The Tigers hit five home runs in the series, one-third of the number the Gamecock pitching staff had allowed to that point.
South Carolina went homerless in the stretch.
While six of the 11 Gamecock hits went for doubles, SC managed five run on the weekend.
Alaynie Page tallied two of those doubles, one of three Gamecocks with multiple hits in the series.
Freshman Tiara Duffy, in her first SEC start, scratched out two hits on Monday night, the first of the SEC Network’s weekly coverage of the sport.

Long Ball City vs. Charlotte and Liberty in Final Tune-Ups for SEC Play

South Carolina hit eight home runs in its two midweek games on March 3 and 5, including six in Thursday’s 12-3 (5) win over Liberty
The six homers tied a school record set on the same March 5 date in 2005 against South Dakota St.
The HRs against Liberty also tie for the most by a 2015 SEC team with Florida (vs. Mercer, 2/22).
Senior Olivia Lawrence tied both the school and individual mark with her fourth-inning grand slam, as she tallied her second round-tripper of the night and the team’s sixth.
Junior Alaynie Page had blasts in both contests as well as in the final game of the Carolina Classic.
Sophomore Kaylea Snaer’s home run vs. the Flames marks her first extra-base hit of the year, one year after ranking second on the team with eight homers, five of which came in SEC play.

South Carolina Staff Has Top Credentials

Gamecock head coach Beverly Smith has now been a part of 10 NCAA Tournament teams as a coach (eight at UNC, two at South Carolina).
Associate head coach Lisa Navas has been to four NCAA Tournaments as an assistant coach (two at SC, one each at UNC and Missouri) and eight as a head coach (six Division II at Barry, two at NC State). Her 1998 Barry squad played in the national championship game.
Assistant coach Calvin Beamon has three titles to his credit as a player, the biggest a College World Series title at Texas during 2005.
He also won the NJCAA Division I title in 2003 at the College of Southern Nevada and a high school state championship at Smoky Hill High School in Cherry Creek, Colo.

Carolina Classic Catch-Up

The Gamecocks went 3-1 in the Carolina Classic, their final non-conference weekend of 2015.
In the 10-3 win over Charleston Southern, senior Kristen Struett posted her first four-hit game, going 4-for-4 with a double and three runs scored.
The 2-0 shutout of Marshall by sophomore Nickie Blue was quite impressive, as Blue faced one hitter over the minimum, striking out 12.
On the weekend, Blue fanned 21 batters and walked one in 16 innings.
South Carolina run-ruled Tennessee State 8-0 (5), with seven of the eight runs coming via the long ball (3-run HR by Jordan Bizzell, 2-run HRs by Victoria Williams and Alaynie Page).
The only setback came against No. 24/24 South Alabama, 4-1, where the Jags fanned 12 Gamecock hitters.
South Carolina’s only run in the USA game came after Page tripled and Struett drove her in.
Struett (1 hit, 1 walk, 1 HBP) and Page (2 hits) accounting for five of the six SC base runners.
The Gamecocks lost to the Jaguars despite turning two double plays in the game.
With the contest against South Alabama, the Gamecocks have hosted non-conference games in consecutive years against ranked foes (No. 16 Minnesota on March 19, 2014).

Scouting Arkansas

The Razorbacks are 14-25 on the season, going 0-12 during the first half of their SEC slate.
After the visit to the southern Columbia of the SEC, the Hogs host Missouri and Alabama and go to Auburn in between the two home series.
Opponents have 66 doubles, 10 triples and 32 home runs against Arkansas this season.
Senior Devon Wallace continues to lead the offense, topping the team in nine categories.
She leads the SEC with 37 walks and has five homers, 24 RBI and a .541 on-base percentage.
Stephanie Canfield tops Wallace in stolen bases, 10 to 8.
Nicole Schroeder has four home runs and two doubles among her eight hits, posting a team-low .127 batting average.
Canfield and Kasey Fagan have 18 RBI a piece, wtih Fagan knocking seven doubles and two triples, compared to Canfield’s five doubles and four triples.
Fourteen Razorbacks have started 10 or more games.
Sydney Wright has led Arkansas’ pitching, posting a 9-9 mark with 65 K’s and 44 walks in 121.2 innings.
The other four pitchers have combined to walk 90 batters and fan 71 in 132.1 innings.

Ties Between South Carolina and Arkansas

Arkansas’ Schroeder and SC’s Hayley Copeland both played prep ball at Esperanza High School in Yorba Linda, Calif.

Arkansas and South Carolina Against Common Foes

Both teams own wins over LIU Brooklyn and losses to UCF.

The Gamecocks downed Liberty 12-3 (5), while the Razorbacks fell 5-2 to the Flames.

The Last Meeting

South Carolina	6

Arkansas	4

April 13, 2014
Fayetteville, Ark.

Gamecocks Claim Series at Arkansas with Sunday’s 6-4 Win

Behind a 2-for-2 day from senior shortstop Codee Yeske and three home runs total, South Carolina (28-15, 8-10 SEC) gained a 6-4 win at Arkansas (25-20, 3-12 SEC) on Sunday to take the series.

Recap | Box Score

SC Series History vs. the Razorbacks

South Carolina has a 29-17 overall record against Arkansas, including a 12-8 mark in Columbia.
The Gamecocks have won the last three series, two games to one, under Beverly Smith, including a 2012 home series.

The Last Series – South Carolina at Arkansas – April 11-13, 2014

South Carolina won the final two games of the weekend at Bogle Park to take the series.
The Gamecocks came back from an eight-run deficit, tying the game in the top of the seventh, but Arkansas finished the game with one final strike in the bottom of the seventh to claim a 11-10 win on Friday night.
Gamecock Kaylea Snaer hit two home runs in the loss, including a grand slam, while Kristen Struett went 3-for-3 with a double and three RBI.
South Carolina scored the final five runs to take down Arkansas 7-5 in Saturday’s game.
Struett went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the win, while Lauren Masters had a hit, a run and an RBI.
With three home runs from Gamecock seniors, South Carolina gained a 6-4 win at Arkansas on Sunday to take the series.

South Carolina Softball Historical Record

South Carolina has played 2,106 games in its softball history, going 1367-732-7 (.651) in its 41st season of sponsorship.
With the first game of 2015, Beverly Smith became the second person to serve as the Gamecocks’ coach for five seasons at South Carolina, joining NFCA Hall-of-Fame coach Joyce Compton.

Alum Codee Yeske Trying to Make USWNT in Baseball

Former Gamecock infielder Codee Yeske (2012-14) is among 36 invitees to the 2015 USA Baseball Women’s National Team Trials, set for May 22-24, 2015.
Also on the invitee list is former volunteer assistant Laura Trout.

First Trip to the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic for South Carolina A Success

The Gamecocks went 3-2 in the trip to the Palm Springs area, picking up two wins over Pac-12 foes in consecutive games.
South Carolina downed Stanford 6-2 and No. 21/20 California 3-1 in the event, marking the first time the Gamecocks had two wins over a Pac-12 team in the same season since 2007 (W’s over Oregon in 2007 Columbia Regional).
When was the last time SC beat two different members of the current Pac-12 in a year? 1996 (W 2-1 vs. Utah, W 1-0 vs. No. 1 Arizona).
Never had South Carolina beaten two different Pac-12 teams in the same weekend before.
Redshirt senior Julie Sarratt returned to form during the event, picking up two wins, including the complete-game victory over the Bears.
Sarratt also homered in that win, capping a streak of four-consecutive hits over three games, driving in runs with three of those.
Overall, Sarratt and Blue combined for a 2.06 ERA, the sixth-best mark in the 35-team event.
Junior left fielder Alaynie Page kept up her strong play, pushing her hitting streak to 14 games before drawing two walks in an 0-for-2 outing vs. Northwestern to snap the skein.
Page hit .375 in the event and walked four times, most on the squad.
Senior centerfielder Kristen Struett matched Page in hits (6) and runs (4) in her native California.
Struett went 3-for-3 while hitting her first homer of the year against Northwestern.
Other notable performances include Taylor Williams’ 3-for-4 day vs. LIU Brooklyn and Sarah Mooney and Victoria Williams’ two-hit days with a double each vs. Stanford
For the second-straight year, Gamecock head coach Beverly Smith challenged her team with a trip over the continental divide that included games against two ranked foes.
This year, as part of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif., the Gamecocks took on No. 9/8 Florida State and No. 21/20 California.
Last season, South Carolina faced No. 3 Arizona State and No. 19 Minnesota in Tempe, Ariz.

South Carolina Sweeps Through Gamecock Invitational

The Gamecocks picked up four wins over Carolina rivals in the Gamecock Invitational.
Twice, the Gamecocks came from behind to win, both coming in the nightcaps on Friday (9-6 vs. Presbyterian) and Saturday (5-4 vs. College of Charleston).
Junior left fielder Alaynie Page led the Gamecock offense, hitting two doubles and four round-trippers in the event.
She helped the Presbyterian comeback with a program-tying two home runs and five RBI in the game, while she started the effort against the Cougars with an inside-the-park homer.
Page also had 10 RBI and two stolen bases in the event and tied for the team lead with six runs scored alongside junior right fielder Ansley Ard.
Of those who started three games or more, only one didn’t hold a .400 on-base percentage on the week.
Sophomore Nickie Blue allowed one earned run in the four games, going 3-0. She pitched six innings in the one-hitter against Appalachian State.
Also against the Mountaineers, freshman Tiara Duffy picked up her first collegiate hit.

Offense Struggled in Two Straight Losses

In the second East Carolina game and the home opener vs. UCF, the Gamecocks did not have a single extra-base hit after posting at least two and as many as seven in the first four games, all wins.
Another common stat in the losses, the AAC foes hit a triple to start the first in each.

Opening Weekend Notes

South Carolina went 4-1 in the Pirate Classic, posting 10 runs or more in three of its first four games for the second time in three years (2013 Stetson Lead-Off Classic).
Both Nickie Blue and Julie Sarratt posted two wins and one shutout in the tourney, with Blue adding a save.
Blue joined Alaynie Page and Taylor Williams on the Pirate Classic All-Tournament Team.
The junior Page hit a team-best .500 while also leading the squad with seven runs and eight RBI out of the leadoff spot, four coming on a grand slam vs. Delaware State.
Williams hit two home runs in the 11-2 win over East Carolina on Saturday night, matching a program record.
Gamecocks Effie Manahan, Kate Shereyk and Kamryn Watts all posted their first career hits on RBI singles in the tourney, while Caroline Cash also tallied her first hit.
Junior Jordan Bizzell was never retired while at bat in the event, scoring five runs while walking five times and going 3-for-3 with a double and a home run.

Roster Notes

Seven position player starters return for the Gamecocks from last year’s squad.
In the circle, only 28 innings depart, while the duo of Nickie Blue and Julie Sarratt return after going 35-22 with 11 saves last year.
Back from 2014 are team leaders in home runs (Sarah Mooney, 12), runs batted in (Kaylea Snaer, 35), walks (Snaer, 31) and stolen bases (Ansley Ard, 9).
SC lost four seniors who combined to start 157 games, including every start at second base and shortstop as well as 54 of 58 starts in right field.
The top offensive loss is Ashlyn Masters, who started a team-high 56 games and led the way in 10 categories: at bats (174), batting average (.362), on-base percentage (.447), runs (47), hits (63), doubles (19), triples (3), total bases (112), slugging percentage (.644) and sacrifice flies (3).
South Carolina looks to replace highs of 53 percent of its sacrifice hits and sacrifice flies (8 of 15 in both) as well as 51 percent of doubles (42 of 82).
In the rest of the offensive categories, the Gamecocks bring back from 53.8 percent (at bats and triples) to 70.7 percent (home runs) of their production from 2014, a season where the Gamecocks set four team offensive records.
Seven freshmen join the squad to put the roster at 22 for the second-straight year.
The team is dominated by South Carolina natives, with 36.4 percent of the roster (eight players) hailing from the Palmetto State. California is second with four players.
The Gamecocks hail from 10 states this year, with the freshmen coming from California, Delaware, Pennsylvania and the Palmetto State.
Nickie Blue and Hayley Copeland are the first Gamecock duo who are both over six-feet tall.
While both Williams’ and sophomores by class, Taylor and Victoria are not sisters.

Smith Has Former Staff Members and Gamecock Players Coaching

Gamecock head coach Beverly Smith has a growing collegiate coaching tree from her short time at South Carolina.
Two former student-athletes (Ashley Chastain and Kelley Dillon) are on the College of Charleston staff.
Her first two volunteer assistants serve as full-time assistants at Connecticut (Chrissy Schoonmaker) and at George Washington (Laura Trout).
Former top assistant Janelle Breneman took over at UNC Greensboro as the head coach after two years with the Gamecocks and Smith in Columbia.

Gamecocks Picked to Finish 10th in SEC Coaches Preseason Poll

In a poll of the SEC coaches, South Carolina was picked to finish 10th in 2015.
Last season, the Gamecocks finished in a tie for eighth, three spots better than what the league’s coaches predicted in the preseason.
Of note, all nine teams picked ahead of SC appeared in both preseason national rankings.
Defending national champion Florida was the coaches’ selection to take the 2015 league crown.
The past two years, the SEC has sent 11 teams into the NCAA Tournament, with two of the last three NCAA champions hailing from the league.

Offensive Records Falling Regularly for Gamecocks under Smith

South Carolina set six team offensive records in 2014, four cumulative and two per-game.
The 53 homers, 210 walks, .385 on-base percentage and .464 slugging percentage all topped previous marks.
Per-game marks broken include home runs (0.91) and walks (3.62), both set the previous year.
Sixteen team single-season records have been set in Smith’s first four years, eight each in both cumulative and per-game stats.
Smith’s teams have set the home run and slugging percentage records now in three-straight seasons.
The 210 walks snapped a mark (173) set in 1992.

This Is How Tough 2014 Was (Especially in the SEC)

When looking at last year’s RPI, the Gamecocks went 13-19 against top-100 RPI teams during regular-season play, with the only loss outside of the top 100 coming to Maryland (147).
South Carolina rebounded to beat Maryland the next day.
Overall, South Carolina was 7-17 against RPI top-50 squads.
South Carolina played 11 of the 63 other teams in the NCAA Tournament in the regular season, going 9-16 against those squads.
Six of those 11 were SEC foes, teams that the Gamecocks went 6-12 against during the year.
Five opponents earned national seeds, with the Gamecocks posting a 2-10 mark against them (No. 2 Alabama, No. 4 Georgia, No. 9 Arizona State, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 16 Minnesota).

Awards Poured in for 2014 Gamecocks

Gamecocks Nickie Blue and Kaylea Snaer both garnered spots on the SEC All-Freshman Team as voted on by the league’s coaches.
It’s the first time since 2008 for South Carolina to received multiple people on any combination of the SEC’s postseason awards.
Snaer (3rd team 1B) was joined by Ashlyn Masters (2nd team DP/U/Non-P) on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Southeast Region squads.
Chelsea Hawkins gained a spot on the 2014 SEC Softball Community Service Team, while Julie Sarratt made it the year before.
Both Masters and Kristen Struett claimed spots on the 2014 Tallahassee All-Regional Team.
Blue started the team’s weekly recognition haul with her Feb. 24 SEC Freshman of the Week win.
Sarratt garnered SEC Pitcher of the Week honors on March 17 after helping the Gamecocks take the series from nationally-ranked Texas A&M.
Masters (March 31) and Codee Yeske (May 5) both won SEC Player of the Week awards, the first time since 2005 the team had won two in a year.
Blue also earned a spot on the first listing of 25 for the NFCA’s inaugural National Freshman of the Year award.