Feb. 13, 2014

Gamecocks at the 2014 Florida Atlantic Strike Out Cancer Tourney
FAU Softball Stadium – Boca Raton, Fla.
Tournament Central

LIU Brooklyn – Fri., Feb. 14, 12:30 PM
Live Audio | | @GamecockSoftbll

Maryland – Fri., Feb. 14, 5:30 PM
| | @GamecockSoftbll

Maryland – Sat., Feb. 15, 12:30 PM
Live Audio | | @GamecockSoftbll

Florida Atlantic – Sun., Feb. 16, 11 PM
Live Audio | | @GamecockSoftbll

2014 SC Softball Notes – 2/13

2014 SC Softball Stats – 2/9

South Carolina Team Notes

• The FAU Strike Out Cancer Tournament schedule changed due to travel cancellations for Providence and UMass, moving the Gamecocks’ games on Friday to 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
• Now the Gamecocks face Maryland twice instead of Providence.
• The second game in Boca Raton, Fla., will mark the 2,000th game in South Carolina Softball history.
• With the season-opening 1-0 win over Iowa, the Gamecocks gained their 1,300th program victory in the 41st season of intercollegiate action.
• Gamecock head coach Beverly Smith needs 14 more triumphs to crack the century mark, and her 18th victory this year would put her in second in program history past Lou Piel.
• Smith became the third-winningest coach in program history with the 13-0 (5) victory over UNC Greensboro.
• Smith is the third Gamecock head coach to coach a fourth season at South Carolina, joining Piel and NFCA Hall-of-Fame coach Joyce Compton.

Opening Weekend Notes

• South Carolina spent the opening weekend at home at the newly-finished Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field, a year after spending the first five weeks on the road waiting for construction to finish.
• The Gamecocks went 3-1 in the Carolina Classic, posting three shutouts on the weekend.
• South Carolina last recorded three shutouts in its first four games in 2003. The team had two shutouts in its first four games from 2004-07.
• Freshman Kaylea Snaer hit two homers in her first weekend in the Garnet and Black, while rookie Nickie Blue went 3-0, pitching in all four games.
• Sarah Mooney and Taylor Williams both had home runs in their first weekend as a Gamecock as well.
• Over 1,000 fans paid to see the weekend’s action, the largest paid crowds for regular-season softball at South Carolina in history.

Roster Notes

• South Carolina returns six position starters from last year’s team, including at second base (Dana Hathorn), in left (Alaynie Page) and in right field (Chelsea Hawkins). All 59 starts in center field and at designated player return as well as the majority of starts at first and third bases.
• In the loss of Samie Garcia, the Gamecocks lose their leader in batting average, runs, hits, doubles, triples, total bases, slugging percentage, sacrifice hits and stolen bases and the only person who started at shortstop.
• The greatest losses come in triples (7 of 10) and sacrifice hits (9 of 19).
• In the rest of the offensive categories, the Gamecocks bring back from 70.7 percent (doubles) to 80 percent (home runs) of their production from 2013, a season where the Gamecocks set six team offensive records.
• Back is the 2013 team leader in on-base percentage (Dana Hathorn, .463), home runs (Chelsea Hawkins, 8), walks (Alaynie Page, 26) and hit by pitches (Dana Hathorn, 25).
• In the circle, the team loses almost 60 percent of the innings and strikeouts from a year ago but returns team ERA, IP, K and win leader Julie Sarratt.
• Nine newcomers join the roster, including eight freshmen and the transferring Sarah Mooney, who earned Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year honors at James Madison.
• The team is again dominated by South Carolina natives, with 36.4 percent of the roster (eight players) hailing from the Palmetto State. Georgia is second with three players.
• The Gamecocks hail from 10 states this year, adding players from North Carolina, Colorado, Illinois, California, Texas and Virginia.

More on the Newest Gamecocks

• With nine new student-athletes, South Carolina retooled after losing seven players, four to graduation and three to transfers.
• Three of the incoming eight freshmen have been honored by MaxPreps.com on their High School All-America teams, including two on its small school listings.
• Kaylea Snaer earned second-team accolades in the country, while, on the small school lists were Taylor Williams (first team) and Victoria Williams (second team).
• The Williams and Snaer join Alaynie Page as Gamecocks who earned those honors. Page made the Junior All-America list earlier at Boiling Springs High School.
• The eight freshmen all represent different states: California (Snaer), Colorado (Nickie Blue), Georgia (Effie Manahan), Illinois (Kate Shereyk), North Carolina (Macey Webb), South Carolina (V. Williams), Texas (T. Williams), and Virginia (Mackenzie Moler).
• Nickie Blue is the first Gamecock to be listed over 6-0 since Melanie Henkes (6-3) in 2006.
• The lone transfer this year, Sarah Mooney, earned 2013 Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year accolades.
• Leading the Dukes in eight offensive categories, Mooney won the CAA triple crown and set new program records with 17 homers and 67 RBI in 59 games.
• Mooney moves closer to home in two aspects, hailing from the greater Charlotte area and also likely to serve as the Gamecocks’ starting catcher.

Family Ties

• The Masters sisters Ashlyn and Lauren are the first siblings to play on the same Gamecock team and the second set ever in the program’s recorded history, after the Troesh sisters, Leanna (1997-99) and Debralee (2000-03).
• Chelsea Hawkins is the niece of Tia Rogers (2002-04 letter-winner).
• While both Williams, freshmen Taylor and Victoria are not sisters.

Gamecocks Added to Their Rich History in NCAA Tournament

• South Carolina made its 16th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the first since 2007.
• The Gamecocks are 31-29 in those trips, making three Women’s College World Series in their history (1983, 1989 and 1997).
• Four times, South Carolina has won a regional.
• The Gamecocks made their seventh regional final (in multi-team regionals) in 14 appearances. The regionals in 1982-83 were best-of-three series against one opponent.

Scouting LIU Brooklyn

• The Blackbirds went 1-3 in their opening weekend trip to UCF and went 19-38 last year.
• Long Island went 13-7 in the Northeast Conference and return two second-team all-league members in Whitney West and Lauren Morizi.
• Morizi, a Capital One Academic All-American, led the Blackbirds in the slash stats (.397/.460/.525) with 18 doubles.
• A shortstop, she committed 19 errors a season ago. West provides speed (14-17 SB) while ranking second on the team with a .339 batting average.
• Kayla Gloady, a freshman, had the best opening weekend in Orlando, hitting .545.
• Last year’s ace, Cassie Vondrak, had a rough opening weekend, but she fanned 102 batters and walked 71 in 233 innings (4.00 ERA, 14-22 record).
• Freshman Shelley Procter led the way the opening weekend but walked more batters than she struck out (13 K – 15 BB).

Scouting Maryland

• The Terrapins come into the tournament looking for their first win of the season after going 0-5 in an event at Florida International on opening weekend.
• Back is Lindsey Schmeiser, who led the Terps in seven offensive categories, including a .347 batting average, 12 homers and 59 RBI.
• Top base-stealer Amanda McCann (16-18 SB) also returns.
• The team lost Nikki Maier, who stood second in batting average and homers.
• Kaitlyn Schmeiser returns in the circle after posting a 3.83 ERA in 160.2 innings. She struck out 125 and walked 47.
• Maddie Martin also remains after tossing 127.1 innings in 2013, posting 86 strikeouts against 65 walks with a 4.07 ERA.

Series History vs. the Terrapins

• South Carolina owns a narrow 3-2 advantage in the all-time meetings, with all coming at neutral sites.

The Last Time – Maryland vs. South Carolina – Feb. 17, 2001

• South Carolina lost a 4-3 (8) contest to Maryland as part of a tournament at USF in Tampa, Fla.

Scouting Florida Atlantic

• The Owls are 3-2 on the season, one year after going 28-29 under longtime head coach Joan Joyce.
• The top three hitters return for Joyce, including junior Lindsey Shell, sophomore Carnesha Thompson and sophomore Christina Martinez.
• All three hit over .300 and had nine or more steals.
• Thompson hit five homers and drove in 23 runs, second and third on the team, respectively. She also led the way with a .423 on-base percentage.
• The Owls lost their top two starters who posted 285.1 innings last season.
• Juniors Samantha Messer and Paige Pender are back, with Messer pitching better on the opening weekend.
• Freshman Amanda Wilson pitched well during the opening weekend, not giving up a run in her eight-inning shutout of Tulsa.

Ties between South Carolina and Florida Atlantic

• Former Mauldin High School teammates Brooke Barnhill and Jordan Stovall will reunite during Sunday’s game.
• Shelby Knox and Ashlyn Masters both played at Northwest Florida State College before proceeding to their current schools.

Series History vs. the Owls

• South Carolina owns a 6-3 mark all-time against Florida Atlantic, including going 3-2 at the FAU Softball Stadium
• The Owls have taken the last two meetings, however, in 2008 and 2010.

The Last Time – South Carolina at Florida Atlantic – Feb. 28, 2010

• Florida Atlantic claimed a 1-0 (9) win in controversial fashion, as the Gamecocks thought they had blocked the plate on the game’s final play.
• Audrey Broyles tossed a complete game in the setback, facing her sister’s team that day.

2013 Stands Alone in Offensive Records

• South Carolina set six cumulative team offensive records in 2013 and five in the per-game categories.
• Overall, the 338 runs, 45 homers, 295 RBI, 60 hit by pitches, .384 on-base percentage and .450 slugging percentage all topped previous marks.
• In per-game comparisons, the 5.73 runs, 5.00 RBI, 12.17 total bases, 2.78 walks and 1.02 hit by pitches broke records.
• Dana Hathorn got hit 25 times, more than tripling the previous season record.

The Joys of Playing at Home and Other Schedule Notes

• After playing only 17 games at its home facility last season, tying the second-lowest mark in the SEC era (since 1997), South Carolina has scheduled 34 games for Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field before hosting the 2014 SEC Softball Tournament.
• It would take no rainouts and two postseason games at home to tie the 2002 team’s record with 36 home games in a year.
• The Gamecocks have scheduled 24 of their 55 regular-season games against teams who made the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
• A total of 35 of the Gamecocks’ scheduled games come against teams that finished in the top 100 of the NCAA’s Ratings Percentage Index last year. Twenty-one of those are against RPI top-50 teams.
• After facing nothing but NCAA Tournament participants in conference play last year, South Carolina has two conference weekends against non-tourney teams this year (home vs. Mississippi & Auburn).
• Two of the Gamecocks’ SEC contests will be on television, including the opening game to ESPN’s national coverage (March 22 at Tennessee on ESPNU).
• The Gamecocks’ April 19 game against LSU will also be on ESPNU, while all nine games of the SEC Softball Tournament will be on the ESPN family of networks.