March 20, 2007

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina softball will try to snap a four-game losing streak as they prepare to take on the top-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols in a Wednesday doubleheader in Knoxville, Tenn. First pitch is set for 4:30 ET at Tyson Park. The Gamecocks are 24-7, 3-3 in the SEC, while the Lady Vols are 28-2 and 6-2 in the conference.

The Garnet and Black is hoping to add to the win column of its .500 conference record and would like to notch their first win against Tennessee in eight games. The Gamecocks have a 15-17 all-time record against the Lady Vols and have not won since 2003.

South Carolina will face All-American, SEC and National Player of the Year candidate, Monica Abbott. Abbott is 22-1 on the season with a 0.34 ERA and enters the contest with 319 strikeouts this season. She has given up eight runs this season and has allowed only 31 hits. At the plate, the Tennessee is led by India Chiles, who is hitting .440, and has scored 28 runs, in addition to Lindsay Schutzler, who is hitting .432 with 41 hits and 24 RBI. Tennessee’s two losses were to Florida and Ole Miss.

This will mark the third ranked team the Gamecocks will have faced this season and South Carolina is 0-4 against Top 25 teams. South Carolina enters the doubleheader third in the SEC East and Tennessee is first.

Ashton Payne leads the Gamecocks at the plate with a .362 average and 34 hits and has recorded hit in all but three games this season. McKenna Hughes leads the team in home runs with eight, runs scored with 17 and RBI with 22. Hughes is two home runs shy of tying South Carolina’s all-time single season home run record. In the circle, Melissa Hendon has led the way for the Gamecocks and constructed a nine-game win streak before suffering three straight losses to Alabama. Despite the losses, Hendon pitched a perfect game for 6.2 innings in game one against the Crimson Tide and kept the Gamecocks in the game the entire series.

The Gamecocks are one win away from career No. 1,000 for head coach Joyce Compton. Compton will become only the sixth coach in Division I history to reach this milestone, and the ninth coach in NCAA history. Compton will also become only the second coach in the SEC to have this many victories.

Both games can be followed live via audio broadcast or Gametracker online at www.uscsports.com.