Gamecocks Have Busy Week with Trips to No. 3/4 Florida, Kentucky

March 25, 2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. – After a rare weekend off, the Carolina Gamecocks face their third top-25 foe when they head south to face No. 3/4 Florida for the last of two mid-week Southeastern Conference doubleheaders scheduled for the Garnet and Black. The first game of the doubleheader in Gainesville, Fla., is slated to be shown live on Sun Sports TV. On Saturday, the Gamecocks hit the road again, this time to take on Kentucky in a three-game series in Lexington.

Carolina in the Month of March
In the Joyce Compton era, Carolina is 455-141 (.763) during the third month of the year. Last season, the Gamecocks went 10-10 in the month of March. On the 26th of March, Carolina has a 10-3 mark with Compton at the helm. The Gamecocks are 6-1 on March 29, including a pair of wins over Kentucky in the first year of SEC softball. South Carolina also owns two victories over UK on March 30, part of its 7-4 record on that date.

Gamecocks All-Time vs. Florida
Florida and South Carolina have met 41 times on the softball diamond, with the Gators owning a 22-19 (.537) edge in the contests. The Gamecocks have actually fared better in Gainesville, holding an 8-9 (.471) mark in the Sunshine State against the Gators, better than the 8-11 (.421) record in Columbia.

Gamecocks All-Time vs. Kentucky
The Gamecocks and Wildcats have met 37 times in history, with South Carolina owning a 29-8 (.784) record in the series. That’s Carolina’s highest winning percentage against another SEC school, just ahead of the 20-7 (.741) mark versus Mississippi. In Lexington, the Gamecocks are 11-5.

Payne Leading the Way at the Plate
Junior Ashton Payne has been the sparkplug for the Gamecock lineup this season. The Richmond, Va., native leads the squad in batting average (.364), runs scored (13), hits (32), triples (2) and total bases (40). She saw her hitting streak of 18 games snapped in the second game against No. 22/20 Georgia. That streak is the third-longest documented string in Gamecock history. The stretch was Carolina’s longest since 2003, when Jodi Fittro had an 11-game stretch. Of course, Payne is no stranger to hitting streaks. She owns the longest skein during both of her previous two seasons on campus, both 10 games.

Semento Stepping Up Early During Her Freshman Campaign
Rookie Jill Semento has been a big part of Carolina’s offense during the early part of 2008. The Umatilla, Fla., freshman leads the team with her .561 slugging percentage, .455 on-base percentage, two home runs and three HBP. She also is tied for the top spot in doubles (5) and batting average (.364) while standing second in triples (1). She has a team-best .359 average with runners on base and a .474 mark with runners in scoring position. She’s moved at least one runner up on 56 percent of her chances this season, tops on the squad.

Mendes Named SEC Freshman of the Week
Laura Mendes has been a force in Joyce Compton’s lineup so far in 2008. The rookie outfielder earned SEC Freshman of the Week accolades after her five-run, two-double outing in the series win over Arkansas. She hit .333 against the Lady’Backs, driving in the tying run in the seventh inning of the first game before scoring on Jessica Josker’s walk-off single.

The Loxahatchee, Fla., native is tied for the team lead with five doubles, while she stands fourth on the squad in batting average (.271) and third in on-base percentage (.370) and slugging percentage (.386). Her eight runs batted in also rank third on the squad, while her 12 runs scored stand second. Mendes saw her team-best 20-game on-base streak snapped against No. 22/20 Georgia in the second game of the doubleheader on March 15.

Seniors Finishing Careers Strong
After a rough start to the season, senior pitchers Melissa Hendon and Kate Pouliot have come around recently. Both finished in the SEC top 10 in earned run average last season, and now they are bidding to do that yet again. Hendon had won her last five starts, four of those in shutouts, before stumbling against No. 22/20 Georgia. During the winning streak, she fanned 46 in seven appearances (37.1 innings). She also collected a save during that stretch. She had a pair of 10-strikeout games against Arkansas, allowing only one earned run combined in the two contests.

Pouliot has also been stronger, especially during the Carolina Classic. She carried a perfect game into the sixth against Bucknell in her first game before allowing a run in the seventh, the only run to score against Carolina during the home tournament. Not satisfied with Saturday’s work, Pouliot came back on Sunday and was even better, throwing her first career no-hitter against the Bison. She matched her season best with seven K’s while allowing only one walk in the contest. She now has a 3-1 record with a team-best 1.43 ERA.

Robinson Looking Strong Returning from Elbow Surgery
Redshirt freshman Krystle Robinson had a rough go of things during her first year in Columbia. She pitched in just five games before a torn ligament in her throwing arm ended her season. Now after working her way back, she has become the force that Joyce Compton and staff thought she could be after recruiting her from Valdosta, Ga. Robinson threw two straight shutouts against Wisconsin and Gardner-Webb, mowing down a career-high 12 batters in the complete-game victory over the Runnin’ Bulldogs. For the season, Robinson is 5-5 with a 1.88 ERA and a save.

Schoonmaker Back And Ready to Contribute After Life-Threatening Injury
What a difference a year makes. At this time last year, senior Chrissy Schoonmaker had a halo on her upper body to support a neck that had been broken in three places. On Feb. 8, Schoonmaker finally took the field to start her senior season. The Sebastian, Fla., native has made an amazing recovery from the injury suffered in an accident during her trip back to Columbia, S.C., from Thanksgiving break in 2006. The redshirt senior co-captain, who has started at numerous positions for the Gamecocks during her career, has been penciled into the line-up for 17 games while playing in five others so far in 2008. She has shown her versatility as well, starting games at all four infield positions this season.

Gamecocks Very Experienced Going Into 2008
Eight position players and the entire pitching staff from a year ago are back for head coach Joyce Compton’s NCAA Super Regional club. In terms of the offense back, Carolina returned 81 percent of its hits, 76 percent of its runs, 72 percent of its doubles, 71 percent of its runs batted in, 81 percent of its stolen bases and 69 percent of its walks. The only category that the Garnet and Black have a hole to make up is home runs, where only 48 percent are back. The 11 long balls hit last year by McKenna Hughes was a single-season record.

South Carolina Picked to Finish Fourth in SEC East
Despite returning nearly every starter from last season’s NCAA Regional championship squad, the Southeastern Conference coaches picked the Gamecocks to finish fourth in the five-team SEC East in their preseason poll. Florida was chosen to win the East, while Tennessee was picked second. Georgia was selected third, while Kentucky came in fifth. Alabama was the coaches’ choice to win the SEC West and the overall crown.

Scouting the Florida Gators
Florida comes into the games with a 35-2 mark overall and a 7-1 record in the SEC. The Gators have a No. 3 ranking in the latest NFCA/USA Today Top 25 coaches’ poll and a No. 4 rating in the USA Softball/ESPN.com national listings. The squad stands third in the SEC in both batting average (.312) and on-base percentage (.401), while they are second in slugging percentage (.464). Opponents hit a league-low .170 against Florida’s pitchers. The Gators are also good defensively, standing second in the league with their .976 fielding percentage. The opposition has just 12 steals against UF, tied for second lowest in the league. The defense has allowed no triples this season, a mark only fellow top-10 team Tennessee can boast of in the SEC.

Kim Waleszonia has been a leader for the Gators at the plate, hitting .393 with 34 runs scored, second best in the league. She also has five triples, best in the SEC. Tiffany DeFelice has a .649 slugging percentage, ranked eighth in the conference, while she stands third on the squad with six home runs. Mary Ratliff and Francesca Enea lead Florida with seven homers on the year, while Ratliff leads the team with 31 runs batted in.

Pitching is the major force behind Florida’s rise in the national polls. Stacey Nelson has a 21-2 record with a 0.97 ERA, second best in the SEC. She has struck out 188 batters in 151.1 innings pitched and thrown seven shutouts. Stephanie Brombacher has a perfect 12-0 mark with a 1.51 ERA in 14 starts.

The Last Time – South Carolina vs. Florida – April 24, 2007
South Carolina’s bats were silenced by the 22nd-ranked Florida Gators as the Gamecocks were held to just one hit in game two of the doubleheader. The Gamecocks were scoreless for 14 total innings after falling in game two 10-0 to hand the Gators the sweep.

Scouting the Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky holds a 13-13 record entering the week with the team playing one game at Louisville on Wednesday. They stand at 1-5 in the league. The Wildcats are middle-of-the-pack in the league’s hitting statistics, standing sixth in batting average (.283) and slugging percentage (.404). They have scored 116 runs, 10th in the SEC. The squad is last in the statistics in earned run average (3.83), almost a run and a half worse than Arkansas in 10th. Opponents hit .284 against the Wildcat pitchers, whle they have struck out just 100 batters in 175.1 innings pitched. The Wildcat defense has made 40 errors, third most in the league.

Molly Johnson leads the squad in hitting, compiling a .410 batting average, a .483 on-base percentage and a .667 slugging percentage. Johnson has 12 of the team’s 52 extra-base hits and has driven in a team-best 18 RBI. She also leads the Wildcats with eight stolen bases in 10 attempts. Natalie Smith has a .372 batting average and has scored 18 times, tops on the squad.

Amber Matousek has pitched the most for the Wildcats, making 16 appearances while throwing 105.1 innings. She holds a 7-8 record with a 3.79 ERA and 77 strikeouts. Three other pitchers have thrown a combined 15 games and 70 innings. Megan Jolly leads this group with a 2.86 ERA in 22 innings.

The Last Time – South Carolina vs. Kentucky – April 21, 2007
Becky Martinez hit her first homerun of the season and Tori Martin scored the winning run on an error as South Carolina clinched the series against Kentucky with a 2-1 victory in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday. Kate Pouliot recorded the win for the Gamecocks to improve to 14-4, and Melissa Hendon registered her second save of the season.