March 14, 2005

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina softball returns to action Tuesday afternoon as they host No. 4/7 Tennessee in a 4 p.m. doubleheader. The series is scheduled to conclude on Wednesday. The Gamecocks enter the match up 20-10 and 5-1 in the SEC while the Lady Vols are 29-4 and 2-1 in the conference. Tuesday is “Senior Citizen Day” – All seniors get in for $1. Wednesday is “Family Day” – All kids get in free with paying adult.

This marks the 27th meeting between the Gamecocks and the Lady Vols. USC leads the series 15-12. In their last meeting, Tennessee swept the Garnet and Black 3-0 in Knoxville. USC will attempt to snap a five-game losing streak to the Lady Vols and win their first series against UT since 2002.

South Carolina is coming off of a 2-1 series win against No. 12 LSU while Tennessee went 2-1 against No. 7/9 Alabama. In their last 10 games, USC is 7-3.

Senior Meghan Cornett is hitting .410 and leads the Gamecocks. Last week, Cornett hit .476 with 10 hits in 21 at bats and five RBIs. McKenna Hughes and Lisa Longo are the team leaders in RBIs with 25 and 24 respectively. Both players also lead the team in doubles with seven.

In the circle, freshman Kate Pouliot (5-3) went 2-0 last week and has won her last five of six decisions. She recorded her first SEC career win with a 3-0 shut out over Arkansas and posted a 2-0 shut out over No. 12 LSU. Junior Melanie Henkes leads the team in wins with a 9-3 record and has a 1.57 ERA.

Sarah Fekete, who is hitting .467, and Lindsay Schutzler, who has a .455 average, lead the Lady Vols at the plate. UT has four batters that are hitting over .400 and Kristi Durant leads the team in RBIs with 37.

Tennessee’s dominating force comes from the circle with defending SEC Pitcher of the Year, Monica Abbott. Abbott, a sophomore, is 20-1 this year and has an ERA of 0.16 with 239 strikeouts in 134.2 innings pitched.

The games can be followed live via the Internet audio broadcast with Lane Wofford or Gametracker live stats at uscsports.com.