March 18, 2013

Gamecocks at Campbell – March 19, 6 p.m.

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2013 SC SB Notes (3/18)

South Carolina Team Notes

• Junior second baseman Dana Hathorn has already broken the single-season hit-by-pitch mark, getting plunked 10 times this year through 25 games.
• The Gamecocks won its first 13 games by scoring seven or more runs.
• Winning five-consecutive games (2/24-3/3) by the run rule is the best as far as those records go (since 1995). The previous best stretch of run-rule wins came in 1995.
• South Carolina’s leadoff batter has reached 53.5 percent of the time so far in 2013, tops in the SEC.
• The Gamecock pitchers have walked 2.09 batters per seven innings, which ranks fourth in the SEC.
• In three of the nine losses, the Gamecocks drew one or no walks. Only once in a win (0 vs. Villanova) did South Carolina walk less than two times.
• In the win over Radford (2/24), redshirt senior Audrey Broyles tossed her first shutout since Feb. 26, 2011, against Elon. This was a three-hitter to defeat the defending Big South regular-season champs.
• Also recording their first shutouts as Gamecocks this year were sophomore Katelynn Howser (vs. Buffalo) and freshman Katie Marks (vs. Florida International).
• Gamecock pinch hitters are 9-for-22 (.409) at the plate and reach base at a .519 clip, drawing four walks and taking one hit by pitch.

Schedule Notes

• South Carolina opens the 2013 season with 22 road games (five weekends + one midweek DH) and 29 of 32 due to ongoing construction at the new Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field.
• The 1997 team spent 23 of its first 26 games away from home in the most similar stretch in the Gamecocks’ SEC-era history.
• The 1988 squad played its first 31 games away from Columbia (six weeks on the road), while the 1987 team spent its first 20 games traveling (10 days).
• The Gamecocks have 31 of their 53 scheduled games against teams who made the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
• All 24 SEC games are against NCAA tourney participants.
• Four of South Carolina’s SEC games will be on television, including one on national outlet ESPNU.
• The Gamecocks lost their first TV contest to No. 4/6 Alabama 5-3 on Sat., March 16. The Sat., March 23 game at LSU and the Fri., March 29 game at Missouri are also being televised.

Tracking Garcia

• Samie Garcia entered 2013 on many top 15 career lists at South Carolina, and her performance so far in 2013 has helped her leap up the charts.
• She’s second in batting average (.372), second in on-base percentage (.443) and fourth in slugging percentage (.545).
• After triples in the last four games of the UCF Holiday Inn Select Tournament, Garcia is tied for seventh in that career category with 10.
• Garcia is also fifth in hit-by-pitches (14), tied for 14th in homers (11), 14th in runs (106) and tied for 16th in total bases (242).
• Currently, Garcia ranks as the 17th toughest Gamecock in recorded history to strike out, going 13.88 at bats per strikeout.
• In the per-game categories, she’s second in hits (1.21), third in runs (0.78), fifth in triples (0.07), seventh in walks (0.32), eighth in home runs (0.08) and ninth in doubles (0.18).
• She stole four bases in the Stetson Lead-Off Classic to move into the top 10 in that category. Now with 15 on the year, she’s tied for sixth in career stolen bases (41) and second in stolen bases per game (0.30).

Scouting Campbell

• The Camels enter Tuesday’s contest at 17-8 on the year, sweeping its first Big South series of the year over Gardner-Webb.
• Campbell and the Gamecocks both lost to Northwestern this spring, the Camels by a 6-2 score in a tournament at Georgia.
• A strong offensive team, the Camels are especially strong on the bases, stealing 50 bases and only being caught 11 times.
• Sophomore Ericka Nesbitt leads the team with a .482/.538/.556 line, stealing 12 bases in 13 tries.
• Junior Raven Lee ranks as the top Camel run producer, leading the squad with eight homers and 29 RBI.
• Freshman Courtney Klingler tops Campbell in slugging percentage (.726), while she’s second in homers (7) and RBI (23).
• Senior Sarah Forgacs has swiped 10 bases in 13 tries and gotten on base at a .475 clip.
• Sophomore Stephanie Jones ranks second on teh team with a .477 on-base and a .697 slugging percentage.
• Opponents hit .277 against the Camels’ pitching staff with 28 homers, averaging around four runs a game.
• Freshman Courtney Roberts has tossed 57 innings, striking out 40 and walking 18 en route to a 7-3 record and a 3.56 ERA.
• Senior Brittany Arnn has a staff-best 1.35 ERA in 36.1 innings. She’s struck out 29 and walked nine.

Ties Between South Carolina & Campbell

• Freshman Courtney Roberts, from Simpsonville, S.C., played on the Carolina Elite travel-ball team that produced Gamecock rookies Jordan Bizzell and Alaynie Page.
• The field at Campbell is named for Amanda Littlejohn, a former high school teammate of Gamecock All-SEC outfielder Lauren Lackey. Littlejohn still owns the Camels’ single-season RBI record from her last year of playing. Littlejohn coached at the same high school where Lackey coaches today.