Feb. 20, 2014
The Dugout Club – Ansley Ard
South Carolina Hosts the 2014 Gamecock Invitational
Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field – Columbia, S.C.
Tournament Central
Boston University – Fri., Feb. 21, 5:30 PM
Live Video | | @GamecockSoftbll
Michigan State – Sat., Feb. 22, 3 PM
Live Video | | @GamecockSoftbll
Gardner-Webb – Sat., Feb. 22, 5:30 PM
Live Video | | @GamecockSoftbll
UNC Wilmington – Sun., Feb. 23, 5:30 PM
Live Video | | @GamecockSoftbll
South Carolina Team Notes
- The four double plays in the Florida Atlantic win (2/16) is believed to be a school record, as it matches what was once listed but could not be verified.
- The college veterans have come through with runners on third and less than two outs, as Dana Hathorn, Ashlyn Masters and Sarah Mooney have posted 10 RBI in 12 chances.
- Both of South Carolina’s losses have come when they’ve given up five earned runs.
History in the Making
- South Carolina has played 2,003 games in its softball history, going 1306-691-6 (.654) in its 41st season of sponsorship.
- With the season-opening 1-0 win over Iowa, the Gamecocks gained their 1,300th program victory.
- Gamecock head coach Beverly Smith needs 10 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.
- She is the third Gamecock head coach to coach a fourth season at South Carolina, joining Piel and NFCA Hall-of-Fame coach Joyce Compton.
Quick Starts
- This year’s 7-2 start is bettered only by a 12-1 mark by the 2009 team in the last five years of Gamecock Softball.
- After posting only eight hits combined in the first two games, South Carolina has tallied at least eight in each the next seven.
- Freshman Kaylea Snaer leads the Gamecocks in 11 offensive categories after two weeks of play.
- She already has four doubles and three homers, the latter almost halfway to the top-15 in a season at South Carolina.
- She’s also a quarter of the way to listings on the Gamecocks’ RBI (12) and walks (6) charts in a year.
- Snaer’s also posted two or more hits hits and multiple RBI (2 in 4, 3 in 1) in four of South Carolina’s seven games while reaching base in all nine contests.
- Five of Snaer’s 12 RBI have come with two outs.
- Freshman Nickie Blue has started six of the Gamecocks’ nine games in the circle, winning five of those outings. She also garnered the win in relief at Charlotte (2/19).
- Blue has produced more than double the ground-ball outs (43) than fly outs (19).
- Redshirt junior Julie Sarratt already owns three saves on the year, tying for ninth at South Carolina in a single season. Her next would move her into fourth with five others.
- Sarratt’s fanned 33 in 25 innings, a rate (9.24 K/7IP) more than double her career standard (4.56).
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.
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.
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).
- While both Williams, freshmen Taylor and Victoria are not sisters.
- Chelsea Hawkins is the niece of Tia Rogers (2002-04 letter-winner).
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.
The Last Meeting
| South Carolina | 5 |
| Gardner-Webb | 0 |
March 2, 2008
Columbia, S.C.
Columbia, S.C.
Krystle Robinson Fans 12 in Carolina’s Shutout of Gardner-Webb, 5-0
Redshirt freshman Krystle Robinson tossed her second career shutout, leading South Carolina to a 5-0 victory over Gardner-Webb on the final day of the Carolina Classic at Beckham Field. The Gamecocks move to 10-8 on the season, while the Runnin’ Bulldogs fall to 7-11. |
Scouting Gardner-Webb
- The Runnin’ Bulldogs are 1-7 in 2014 after finishing 13-31 a year ago.
- The top four hitters and five of six return from last year’s team and every inning pitched.
- Last year’s pitchers combined for a 5.84 ERA, one of the worst in NCAA Division I, and fanned 151 batters while walking 150 in 273.1 innings.
- Back is Samantha Meenaghan, who led the team with a .427 batting average and 30 runs scored.
- Kellie Beres and Taylar Pridgen posted 17 of the Runnin’ Bulldogs 27 stolen bases in 2013.
- Morgan Baker’s departure hurts the team’s power, as she posted 11 doubles and 8 homers, more than 25 percent of the former and over half of the latter.
- Freshman Megan Champion has tried to fill that gap with a double and homer in the first eight games.
- Two other freshmen are starting in Megan Gibbons and Mahaila Irvin.
Series History vs. the Runnin’ Bulldogs
- South Carolina owns a 3-0 advantage in the all-time meetings, the last two games coming in Columbia.
The Last Time – Gardner-Webb at South Carolina – March 2, 2008
- The Gamecocks, behind Krystle Robinson’s 12 strikeouts, shut down Gardner-Webb 5-0 in the final game of the 2008 Carolina Classic.
- Laura Mendes went 4-for-4 at the plate with a double and a run scored to lead the offense.
The Last Meeting
| South Carolina | 7 |
| Boston Univ. | 6 (9) |
March 5, 2005
Marietta, Ga.
Marietta, Ga.
Gamecocks Squeak Past Boston In Nine Innings The Gamecock softball team scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat Boston University 7-6 at the Buzz Classic in Marietta, Ga. Friday afternoon. |
Scouting Boston University
- The Terriers open their 2014 season after going 21-26-1 a year ago.
- BU must replace over 2/3 of their pitching from last year, including ace Whitney Tuthill.
- Back was No. 2 pitcher Lauren Hynes, who posted a 4.15 ERA in 92.2 innings as a freshman, fanning (59) almost as many as she walked (55).
- The top three hitters return for the Terriers, including Jayme Mask, who stole 37 bases in 40 tries and reached base at a .464 clip.
- Amy Ekart led the team a year ago with five homers and 22 RBI.
- Brittany Clendenny tied for the team lead with nine doubles and posted 20 RBI.
Ties between South Carolina and Boston University
- BU senior Amy Ekart and SC freshman Nickie Blue both played for the Triple Crown Stars travel-ball group in Colorado.
- Former Gamecock Kelly Plescow now plays at Boston University.
The Last Time – Boston University vs. South Carolina – March 4, 2005
- In the Buzz Classic at Georgia Tech, the Gamecocks scored four runs in the ninth to beat the Terriers, 7-6.
- Chrissy Schoonmaker drove in two runs in the ninth and score another in the win.
- Jessica Josker and Lisa Longo both had three hits in the win.
The Last Meeting
| South Carolina | 12 |
| Michigan State | 5 |
February 10, 2013
DeLand, Fla.
DeLand, Fla.
Gamecocks Get Fourth Win of Weekend, Beating Michigan State 12-5 South Carolina (4-0) completed an opening-weekend sweep, besting Michigan State (1-3) 12-5 on Sunday afternoon at Patricia Wilson Field to close the 2013 Stetson Lead-Off Classic. |
Scouting Michigan State
- Under head coach Jacquie Joseph, Michigan State is 2-5 this year after trips to Stetson and Arizona State.
- Last year, the Spartans went 24-25, including 9-10 in the Big Ten.
- On a four-game losing streak the Spartans fell in the last two games to Washington and Oklahoma.
- The top two hitters for MSU left in Kylene Hopkins and Jayme O’Bryant, taking 54 runs, 18 doubles, 7 homers and 52 RBI with them.
- Alyssa McBride leads the returners with a .304 batting average, while Sarah Bowling brings back six homers and 34 runs batted in.
- Freshmen Kassidy Kujawa and Sarah Gutknecht have led the offense in the early going, both with two homers.
- Kelly Smith returns in the circle after tossing 205 innings, striking out 222 and walking 79 with a 2.97 ERA.
- Smith’s replicated the strikeout rate in 2014 with 18 K’s vs. 6 BB’s in 22 innings, but her ERA is 4.45.
- Vying to replace the lost innings behind Smith are freshmen Kristina Zalewski and Valerie Kaff.
- Kaff is leading that competition in innings (17.1-4.1) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (9:4-2:3).
Ties between South Carolina and Michigan State
- The Spartans’ Jacquie Reiser and SC’s Olivia Lawrence both played for the NJ Mystics travel team.
Series History vs. the Spartans
- South Carolina owns a 4-2 mark all-time against Michigan State, with all the previous meetings coming on neutral sites.
- The Gamecocks are 3-1 against the Spartans since Beverly Smith came to South Carolina.
The Last Time – South Carolina vs. Michigan State – Feb. 10, 2013
- South Carolina took a 12-5 win over Michigan State to complete their sweep of the Stetson Lead-Off Classic.
- Chelsea Hawkins had a homer among her two hits and two runs scored, while Ashlyn Masters and Kristen Struett also had two hits and two runs scored in the game.
Scouting UNC Wilmington
- The Seahawks are 4-3 on the year, one season after going 16-37 with only three wins in the Colonial Athletic Association.
- Three of the top four hitters departed for UNC Wilmington, including 10 of the team’s 15 homers.
- Casey Shue leads the returners after leading the team with four homers and 32 RBI last year.
- Erin Brown’s also back after posting a .342 on-base percentage and six doubles.
- Freshmen Nella Chamblee, Lauren Moore and Merritt Wilkinson as well as transfer Morgan Ayers have assumed starting roles so far this season.
- Three of UNCW’s pitchers are back from last year, led by ace Casey Rowland.
- She fanned 114 batters against 48 walks in 158 innings last year, posting a 3.06 ERA, all tops on the team.
- Freshman Peyton Jordan looks to help her, tallying a 1.52 ERA in 23 innings thus far, striking out 17 batters while walking only three.
Ties between South Carolina and UNC Wilmington
- Both Gamecock Brooke Barnhill and Seahawk Casey Shue graduated from Spartanburg Methodist College in 2012.
Series History vs. the Seahawks
- The Gamecocks are 4-0 all-time against the UNC Wilmington Seahawks, going 2-0 at home against them in 1990.
The Last Time – South Carolina vs. UNC Wilmington – March 15, 1994
- In the Winthrop Invitational, the Gamecocks downed UNC Wilmington 8-1.
Where They Go Next on Career Charts
- Hathorn’s next run ties her with Dawn Lantiere (1990-93) for 20th, and two more runs ties her with Marianne DiRupo (1986-89) in 19th.
- Chelsea Hawkins’ next homer would tie her with Evan Childs and Ashley Smith in sixth all-time with 17.
- Two more homers ties Hawkins for fourth with Megan Cornett and Dana Fulmer.
- Dana Hathorn needs one RBI to tie for 16th (88) all-time with Amber Curtis (2001-04), while two more move her into a tie for 14th with Laura Mendes (2008-11) and Shani Cannon (1992-95).
- The next sacrifice fly for Ashlyn Masters or Dana Hathorn would tie either for 9th with Laura Mendes’ 6 SF.
- Alaynie Page needs to be hit by one more pitch to tie for 14th with four other players.
- Julie Sarratt’s next save ties her with Melissa Hendon in third at South Carolina.
- One more outfield assist for Kristen Struett would tie her for ninth all-time with three other student-athletes.
