May 2, 2013

COLUMBIA, S.C. –

Gamecocks vs. No. 2/3 Florida – May 3-5
Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field

Fri., May 3, 6 PM | Live Video | | @GamecockSoftbll
Sat., May 4, 2 PM | Live Video | | @GamecockSoftbll
Sun., May 5, 1 PM | Live Video | | @GamecockSoftbll

Promotions
Sat. – Alumni Recognition pregame; Joyce Compton first pitch
Gamecock sunglasses giveaway while supplies last
Sun. – Senior Day pregame; President Dr. Harris Pastidies first pitch
Carolina Softball Stadium Inaugural Season keychain giveaway while supplies last

2013 SC SB Notes (5/2)

2013 SC SB Stats (as of 4/28)

South Carolina Team Notes

• South Carolina swept its first SEC series of the year at Mississippi State, marking the first road three-game SEC sweep for the Gamecocks since doing it at Kentucky over March 29-30, 2008.
• It’s the first three-game sweep in Starkville in history for South Carolina.
• The Gamecocks won their first SEC series of 2013 at Auburn, the first winning weekend in any SEC road series since the 2011 Arkansas win (4/16-17).
• South Carolina’s leadoff batter has reached 46.2 percent of the time so far in 2013, second in the SEC.
• Gamecock pinch hitters are 13-for-37 (.351) at the plate and reach base at a .467 clip, drawing seven walks and taking one hit by pitch.
• Sophomore Olivia Lawrence ended a 14-AB hitless skid for pinch hitters on 4/19 at Auburn with her two-RBI pinch-hit single.
• The April 10, game-one win over Coastal Carolina stands as the 10th run-rule win for the Gamecocks this year and the first since March 8 (vs. UMass).
• This year’s team has matched the 1997 group that posted 11 shortened wins and is one shy of the 1996 squad’s 12, the most in recorded history.
• 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.
• The Gamecocks won their first 13 games by scoring seven or more runs.
• 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).

Samie Garcia: Setting New Standards

• Senior shortstop Samie Garcia became the first Gamecock under Beverly Smith to be selected in the NPF Draft, going with the 14th overall selection (second of the fourth round) to the NY/NJ Comets in the April 1 event.
• Garcia leads the Gamecocks in 11 offensive categories entering the weekend, and she stands in the top 15 in numerous career listings.
• She’s second in batting average (.371), second in on-base percentage (.438) and fourth in slugging percentage (.544).
• With seven triples on the year, Garcia is tied for fifth with 12 in her career.
• Garcia is also fifth in hit-by-pitches (16), 10th in total bases (287) and hits (196), 11th in runs (119), tied for 12th in homers (12) and 17th in doubles (31).
• Currently, Garcia ranks as the 17th toughest Gamecock in recorded history to strike out, going 13.89 at bats per strikeout.
• In the per-game categories, she’s second in hits (1.22), third in runs (0.74), fifth in triples (0.07), seventh in doubles (0.19), 11th in home runs (0.07), 11th in walks (0.29) and 17th in RBI per game (0.43).
• She stole four bases in the Stetson Lead-Off Classic to move into the top 10 in that category. Now with 17 on the year, she’s fifth in career stolen bases (44) and fourth in stolen bases per game (0.27).

Schedule Has Not Been Kind to Gamecocks

• South Carolina opened the 2013 season with 22 road games (five weekends + one midweek DH) and 29 of 32 outside Columbia due to ongoing construction at 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 eight SEC foes made last year’s NCAA tourney.
• Out of 50 games, South Carolina has played 33 against top-100 RPI opponents, going 16-17 in those contests.
• The first 12 SEC games came against top-15 RPI teams in this week’s report, and the final foe, Florida, stands third.
• The Gamecocks lost their four TV contests, three to top-15 foes.

Some Single-Game Marks Rewritten in 2013

• South Carolina beat Alabama State 29-0 (5) on March 2, setting a new NCAA-era record for runs in a game and tying the program record for margin of victory.
• The Gamecocks tied their high of 25 RBI in that Alabama State contest.
• Olivia Lawrence broke the runs-scored record against the Hornets, crossing home five times.
• Chelsea Hawkins tied the single-game homer record with two blasts against Kennesaw State, also on March 2.

Single-Season Record Already Fallen; Others to Watch

• Junior second baseman Dana Hathorn has already broken the single-season hit-by-pitch mark, getting plunked 22 times this year through 50 games.
• Senior shortstop Samie Garcia has seven triples on the year, tying for 11th in Gamecock history. One more sees her join Tina Plew in 10th with eight in a single season.
• Garcia is also tied for 12th in runs, needing three to tie for 11th with Dana Fulmer’s 50 in 1994, and tied for 14th in hits. Her next hit ties her for 12th with Tina Plew and Dana Fulmer.
• Garcia’s 15 doubles are tied for 11th in a single season, and her next would join her with five others in sixth.
• Junior right fielder Chelsea Hawkins made it a six-way tie for 10th place with seven homers already this season. Her next ties her with four others for sixth.
• Sophomore centerfielder Kristen Struett is tied for eighth with 40 RBI in a season. Her next ties her with Carrie Lyons and Shannon Gregg with 41 in a year.
• Freshman left fielder Alaynie Page’s next walk would put her into a three-way tie for 14th with 24, joining Meagan Donohoo and Tricia Popowski.
• Redshirt senior Kelley Dillon has been hit seven times this year, tying for third on the single-season listing behind her teammate Hathorn and Kristin Hall (8, 2005).
• Juniors Chelsea Hawkns and Ashlyn Masters have three sacrifice flies each, good to tie for 12th on the single-season list. Another would tie either for seventh with six others.
• Garcia’s 18 stolen bases is 10th in a single season, one shy of tying Tina Plew and Christie Dammer in eighth.

In Wins and Losses, Who Stands Out?

• As a team, the Gamecocks slug .561 in wins and .323 in losses and reach base at a .448 clip in wins and just .307 in losses.
• The Gamecocks have struck out 115 times in the 20 losses and just 91 in the 30 wins.
• If Kristen Struett gets on base, South Carolina is successful. She holds a .453 on-base percentage in wins and a .219 mark in losses. The same could be said for Alaynie Page (.457 to .257) and Chelsea Hawkins (.409 to .273).
• Audrey Broyles is 4.67 earned runs better (1.79 to 6.46) in wins than losses, while Katie Marks is 2.92 earned runs better in the same formula (2.29 to 5.21).
• Julie Sarratt has a 47/27 K/BB ratio in 62.2 innings in wins, and a 18/21 mark in 39 innings in losses.

Diving Deeper into Gamecock Pitchers

• The Gamecocks have their most trouble in the fourth inning, with opponents scoring 43 runs and the staff tallying a 5.18 ERA in the middle frame.
• The sixth isn’t much better, with a 4.65 ERA and 34 runs scored in 40.2 innings.
• Audrey Broyles has her highest strikeout rate (5.2 per 7 IP) with the bases loaded, while it’s 4.3 with runners in scoring position.
• With two strikes, opponents are 25-of-159 (.157) against Broyles.
• Freshman Katie Marks has a strikeout rate of 12.0 with the bases loaded and 7.2 with both runners on and two outs and with runners in scoring position and two outs.
• Marks likes a clean slate, with foes batting .246 against her in leadoff situations and .219 when the bases are empty.
• When Marks gets batters to two strikes, they are 24-of-154 (.156) at the plate.
• Marks polishes off hitters at 1-2 best, with 23 of her K’s coming in that count.
• Redshirt sophomore Julie Sarratt also does well with runners on and two outs, with the opposition hitting .198 in those situations. They also hit .143 in bases-loaded spots against Sarratt.
• Sarratt has escaped others’ jams as well, only allowing two of the 13 runners she’s inherited to score.

Important Series for Both Florida and South Carolina

• Both teams are playing for something this weekend: Florida, an SEC title chance, and South Carolina, an SEC Tournament berth.
• It’s the first time South Carolina has a bit of control on its destiny since 2008, when LSU eliminated the Gamecocks on the last day of the year.
• The Gamecocks are tied for 10th with Auburn and Mississippi State but holds the tiebreaker over both in a three-way scenario.
• Auburn closes the season at Arkansas, while Mississippi State wraps up play at Texas A&M.
• If South Carolina matches any Auburn or Mississippi State wins in the final weekend of play, the Gamecocks would make the SEC Tournament for the first time under head coach Beverly Smith.
• If the Gamecocks swept Florida, Auburn swept Arkansas and Mississippi State swept Texas A&M, the Gamecocks would move to the eighth seed, while Auburn and MSU would make the field.
• Florida needs one more win than Tennessee, LSU to lose the same number as the Gators and Missouri to not sweep this weekend to claim the top seed at the SEC Tournament.
• The Lady Vols are at Missouri, and LSU is at Georgia.

Scouting Florida

The Last Series: Friday

South Carolina	1
Florida	9 (5)

March 16, 2012
Gainesville, Fla.

South Carolina Drops Friday Night Contest at No. 4 Florida, 9-1 (5) A six-run second propelled No. 4 Florida (24-2, 5-1 SEC) to a 9-1 victory in five innings over South Carolina (19-10, 2-4 SEC) on Friday night at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

Recap | Box Score

• The Gators, ranked second in the NFCA/USA Today poll, bring a 47-6 overall record to Columbia, which includes their 16-5 SEC mark.
• Florida is strong in all facets of the game, as they are, according to the latest NCAA Division I stat report, 10th in scoring, seventh in ERA and fourth in fielding percentage.
• Junior Hannah Rogers leads the team in the circle, fanning 193 batters in 197.1 innings while walking 67. She brings a 1.38 ERA into the weekend, 17th in the country.
• Sophomore Lauren Haeger is the second starter, posting 106 K’s in 105 innings. She boasts a 2.27 ERA.
• Offensively, the Gators rely on patience more than anything, with seven players posting on-base percentages north of .400. Every batter with more than 60 at bats has double-digit walks.
• Haeger ranks as the second-best hitter by average for the Gators with her .322/.450/.705 line, leading the team with 16 homers and 55 RBI.

• Freshman Kelsey Stewart is tied with Samie Garcia for the SEC lead with seven triples, posting a .397/.467/.571 line.
• Stewart and fellow freshman Kirsti Merritt provides the speed for Florida, with Stewart tallying 30 stolen bases in 32 tries, while Merritt has 15 in 18 attempts.
• Merritt actually trumps Stewart and the team with a .477 on-base percentage.
• Sophomore Briana Little helps Haeger with the power, posting 10 homers. Senior Kelsey Horton has eight homers, five in SEC play.
• Junior Stephanie Tofft has 15 doubles and 44 RBI, the former the tops with the latter second on the team.

Some of the Gamecocks’ Numbers vs. the Gators

• Audrey Broyles tossed her best game ever against the Gators last year in Gainesville, giving up one earned run in a complete-game loss in the Saturday game.
• Samie Garcia went 3-for-9 in last year’s series versus Florida, and she has the only extra-base hit among current Gamecocks against the Gators in history, a double in 2011.
• Kelley Dillon, Julie Sarratt, Kristen Struett and Codee Yeske, at least three of which will start in the lineup, all have no at bats against Florida.