Gamecocks Start SEC Play vs. No. 21/20 Missouri

March 6, 2015

South Carolina hosts No. 21/20 Missouri
Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field
Sat.-Mon., March 7-9, 12, 6 and 7 PM

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Sat. 12 PM – Olivia Lawrence Senior Day
SEC Network on Watch ESPN |

Sun. 6 PM – Sunday Run Day (kids 12 and under run the bases + post-game autographs)
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Mon. 7 PM
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15 SC Softball Notes – 3/6

15 SC Softball Bios – 3/6

15 SC Softball Stats – 3/5

Missouri’s Notes

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

Gamecocks Open SEC Slate at Home vs. No. 21/20 Missouri

South Carolina turns to the second half of its 14-game home stand and starts Southeastern Conference play on Saturday against No. 21/20 Missouri.
All three contests will be broadcast live on the SEC Network, with game times set for Sat. at 12 noon, Sun. at 6 PM and Mon. at 7 PM ET.
The Tigers come to Columbia for their first regular-season games in history.

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 this week, 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 State.
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 home runs in both contests as well as in the final game of the Carolina Classic, a three-game streak heading into Saturday’s outing against No. 21/20 Missouri.
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).

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 (.440), slugging percentage (.933), runs (23), hits (33), home runs (9) and RBI (28).
The Gamecocks’ leadoff hitter has reached base 54.1 percent of the time she’s led off an inning.
Page has surpassed her freshman-year output in home runs, with her nine tying for fifth on South Carolina’s single-season charts.
She’s also moved much higher on some Gamecock career charts, which can be found on page 8.
Twice, Page has posted five or more RBI, including a career-best six in the Delaware State win.
She’s hitting .545 (18-for-33) with runners on, .550 (11-for-20) with runners in scoring position and .545 (12-for-22) with two outs.
Of note, 17 of her 28 RBI have come with two outs.
She’s moved runners up at a team-best 72.2 percentage in 36 opportunities.

South Carolina Team Notes

South Carolina is 0-3 when not collecting an extra-base hit during a game.
In games when the team has 11 or less total bases, the Gamecocks are 3-5.
When the Gamecocks strike out at least 10 times, they lose (vs. UCF & South Alabama).
Julie Sarratt has a 7.58 ERA in the first inning and a 1.43 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.
Assistant coach Calvin Beamon and his family welcomed into the world a new son 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.

Scouting Missouri

The Tigers enter the weekend at 10-3 on the year, falling to currently-ranked teams UCF, UCLA and Notre Dame.
Eight starters return from last year’s squad that went 43-18 and finished third in the SEC.
The Tigers ran a lot last year, ranking 18th in the country in stolen bases, and so far Missouri has compiled 25 stolen bases in 27 tries.
Leading the way is Taylor Gadbois, who tops the team with a .459 batting average and 11 steals.
Also helping lead the theft squad is Sami Fagan and Emily Crane, who have six each.
Fagan also provides the power, with three doubles, four homers and 19 RBI.
Angela Randazzo returns after ranking second on the team with 11 doubles and 43 RBI and third with seven homers.
In the circle, ace Tori Finucane is back, fanning 30 in 36 innings with a 1.75 ERA so far in 2015.
Last season, Finucane led the Tigers with a 1.73 ERA in 190.1 innings, striking out 168 and walking 57.
Lefty Paige Lowary has tossed 33.2 innings in her rookie season, fanning 33 and walking 17 while going 6-0.

Ties Between South Carolina and Missouri

Both Mizzou’s Kelsea Roth and SC’s Hayley Copeland graduated from Esparanza HS in Yorba Linda, Calif.

Missouri and South Carolina Against Common Foes

Both teams played and lost to UCF. The Tigers took a 1-0 loss in Orlando, while the Gamecocks fell 4-1 in their home opener against the Knights.

Series History vs. the Tigers

The series is tied 3-3, with the Gamecocks taking the first three matchups prior to Missouri joining the SEC.
This will be Missouri’s second trip to Columbia, the first coming last May for the 2014 SEC Tournament when it fell to No. 25/23 LSU 6-0.

The Last Series – South Carolina at Missouri – March 29-30, 2013

The Tigers swept the three-game series over Easter weekend.
Missouri won all three games in shortened fashion, 10-2 (6), 12-3 (5) and 8-0 (5).

Gamecocks vs. Ranked Opponents

South Carolina is 101-241-1 (.296) against opponents ranked in the NFCA top 25 since 1995.
Broken down by site, the Gamecocks are 45-78 (.366) at home, 17-108 (.148) on the road and 39-55-1 (.416) in neutral-site outings.
This season, SC is 1-2 against foes ranked by the NFCA at game time.
In 2014, the Gamecocks went 6-13 against teams ranked in the NFCA poll at the time of the game, the best mark since Beverly Smith took over the reins at South Carolina.
Twice last year, the Gamecocks won an SEC home series against ranked teams, downing Texas A&M and Auburn, the first time in history that had happened in the same season.

Blue Bettering Herself in Sophomore Campaign

Some things Nickie Blue has continued to build upon from last year, as she still is producing ground outs at twice the rate of fly outs (102-51), comparable to her final 2014 tally (253-123).
She’s also striking out people at a much higher rate, fanning 73 in 78.1 innings after posting 118 K’s in 173.1 innings as a rookie. That includes a career-best 12 in the shutout of Marshall.
Blue has allowed a .126 batting average with two outs (11-of-87). Once she gets a batter to two strikes, she has given up a .077 batting average (11-of-143) with those 73 strikeouts.
Also, she’s allowed two runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh combined all season (33 2/3 innings).
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.

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.

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.

First Trip to Nutter 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.

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.

South Carolina Softball Historical Record

South Carolina has played 2,086 games in its softball history, going 1357-722-7 (.652) in its 41st season of sponsorship.
With the first game of 2015, Beverly Smith becomes the second person to serve as the Gamecocks’ coach for five seasons at South Carolina, joining NFCA Hall-of-Fame coach Joyce Compton.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

The Pitchers Reigned Supreme in 2014

Both Julie Sarratt and Nickie Blue won SEC weekly awards in 2014.
Blue had seven saves, tied for the most in 2014 in NCAA Division I and second in a single season at South Carolina, and Sarratt four, tied for fifth in Gamecock history.
Both were better in relief (Sarratt 1.12 ERA, Blue 2.01) than starting (Sarratt 3.08, Blue 3.68).
The group posted a 29-inning scoreless streak from the final game at Florida Atlantic till the final game of the Gamecock Invitational.
Longer than that stretch was the Gamecock pitchers’ no-homer stand, a 72-inning stretch from the 4th against Ohio through the end of the UNC Wilmington game.
As a team, the Gamecock pitchers allowed 0.53 homers, 0.08 triples and 0.73 doubles per game, which stood second, sixth and fourth in the league, respectively.
The 28 home runs allowed and 4.76 strikeouts per seven innings in 2014 were the Gamecocks’ best mark since 2009, and the 3.16 ERA was the best since 2008.
The staff gave up 123 runs in the first three innings of games (174 IP) and only 98 runs in the innings 4-7 this season (in 195.2 innings).

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.