Gamecocks Take on No. 23/23 Texas A&M in SEC Road Opener

March 19, 2015

South Carolina at No. 23/23 Texas A&M
Aggie Softball Complex – College Station, Texas
Fri.-Sun., March 20-22 – 2, 6:30 & 1 PM EDT

Fri. 2 PM
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Sat. 6:30 PM
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Sun. 1 PM
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15 SC Softball Notes – 3/17

15 SC Softball Bios – 3/17

15 SC Softball Stats – 3/18

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

Gamecocks Take on No. 23/23 Texas A&M in SEC Road Opener

Looking to build on Wednesday night’s 3-2 win at Winthrop, South Carolina heads to the Lone Star State to face No. 23/23 Texas A&M for the Gamecocks’ first SEC road weekend of 2015.
Friday night’s game, set for 7:30 p.m. EDT, will be carried on SEC Network +, while Saturday’s and Sunday’s contests will be on the cable SEC Network, with Trey Bender and Michele Smith on the call.

Gamecocks 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 win in the 7-6 (9) victory on Saturday night, the win that secured the series for the Gamecocks.
The 2014 Gamecocks won two series from ranked SEC opponents for the first time in program history, taking two games from both Texas A&M and Auburn at the league’s newest stadium.
The 2014 Texas A&M series victory marked the first over a ranked SEC opponent since 2009 for the Gamecocks, and it was the first SEC series win in Carolina Softball Stadium.

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 (.412), slugging percentage (.873), runs (29), hits (42), doubles (6), triples (4), home runs (11) and RBI (34).
Page is one home run shy of tying the school’s single-season record held by Sarah Mooney with 12 last year.
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 54 percent of the time she’s led off an inning.
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).
She’s also moved much higher on some Gamecock career charts, which can be found on page 10.
Twice, Page has posted five or more RBI, including a career-best six in the Delaware State win.
She’s hitting .500 (22-for-44) with runners on, .500 (13-for-26) with runners in scoring position and .469 (15-for-32) with two outs.
Of note, 19 of her 34 RBI have come with two outs.
She’s moved runners up at a team-best 66 percentage in 47 opportunities.

South Carolina Team Notes

South Carolina is 9-0 when its foes don’t record an extra-base hit, four of those coming in shutouts.
In games when the team has 11 or less total bases, the Gamecocks are 4-9.
South Carolina is 0-4 when not collecting an extra-base hit during a game.
It is also 0-5 when scoring one or no runs.
When the Gamecocks walk twice or less, they are 4-6.
SC has lost two of four games when its batters strike out at least 10 times (L’s vs. UCF & South Alabama).
Julie Sarratt has a 10.50 ERA in the first inning and a 2.39 ERA in the rest of the contest.
In addition to Alaynie Page already qualifying for SC’s top 15 for single-season home runs, senior Kristen Struett’s three sacrifice flies ties with 13 others for 13th on that listing.
South Carolina’s 36 home runs this season has already moved into fifth in program history. Two more move this year’s group into a tie for fourth with 2003.
The Gamecocks went 9-5 during 18-day, 14-game home stand, the longest stretch of home games this season from Feb. 26-March 15.
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 three remaining road non-conference games 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 (155-80) looks in line to her final 2014 tally (253-123).
She’s added more strikeouts, fanning 108 in 118 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 .084 batting average (18-of-215) with those 108 strikeouts.
Also, she’s allowed two runs in the sixth and seventh combined all season (29 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.
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.

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.

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.
Both of Alaynie Page’s hits went for two bases, one of three Gamecocks with multiple hits on the weekend.
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.

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).

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.

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.

Scouting Texas A&M

The Aggies are 21-7 on the season and 3-3 in SEC play, winning their opening series at home against Kentucky.
Texas A&M ranks 42nd in the country with a .970 fielding percentage.
The Aggies hold a .412 on-base percentage this season, led by Tori Vidales’s .486 mark.
Vidales leads A&M with five doubles, six homers, 23 RBI and 23 walks.
Cali Lanphear also has walked 23 times and ranks third on the squad with 20 RBI. Seven of her 18 hits have gone for extra bases (3 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR).
Kristen Cuyos has five home runs, while April Ryan has 21 RBI, both standing second on the team with those marks. Ryan also leads the team with 26 runs.
Brittany Clopton has eight steals in nine tries and four sacrifice hits, both tops for Texas A&M.
Rachel Fox does most of the work in the circle for the Aggies, tossing 108.1 innings. She’s struck out 92 and walked 38, going 12-4 with a 2.39 ERA.
Fox has allowed 20 doubles and six home runs among her 100 hits.
Katie Marks has 32 K’s and 14 BB’s in 56.1 innings, boasting a 2.24 ERA and a 7-1 record. She’s allowed seven home runs.

Ties Between South Carolina and Texas A&M

Aggie junior pitcher Katie Marks spent her freshman year at South Carolina before transferring to be closer to her family in Katy, Texas.

Texas A&M and South Carolina Against Common Foes

Both teams defeated Stanford in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, SC with a 6-2 win and A&M with a 4-0 victory.

Series History vs. the Aggies

The Aggies own a 16-13 advantage in a series that dates back to 1981, when the teams met in the AIAW World Series.
The Gamecocks own a 2-3 mark in the meetings in College Station, last visiting on March 7, 1992.

The Last Series – Texas A&M at South Carolina – March 14-15, 2014

South Carolina won the series versus No. 13/15 Texas A&M with a doubleheader sweep on Saturday.
The Aggies won Friday night’s contest 5-2 despite Kaylea Snaer’s two-run homer.
Ashlyn Masters hit a two-run, walk-off homer in Saturday’s first game to propel SC to the 2-1 win.
A 4-3 win in game two on Saturday gave South Carolina the series win, the first for the Gamecocks over a ranked SEC foe in Beverly Smith’s tenure.
Julie Sarratt claimed SEC Pitcher of the Week honors after her efforts against the Aggies, tossing a complete-game win in game two, allowing an unearned run, and picking up the save with four outs in the final game.

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.

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.

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.

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. South Carolina Softball Historical Record
South Carolina has played 2,094 games in its softball history, going 1361-726-7 (.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.

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.