Softball Hosts Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday Evening

March 10, 2014

South Carolina Hosts Eastern Kentucky
Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field – Columbia, S.C.
Tues., March 11, 6 PM
Live Video | | @GamecockSoftbll

2014 SC Softball Stats – 3/8

South Carolina Team Notes

• The Gamecocks’ 3-2 win at No. 3/3 Arizona State marked the first win at a top-five team’s park since March 13, 2004, a 6-4 win in nine innings at LSU.
• This year’s 14-2 start is bettered only by a 12-1 mark by the 2009 team in the last six years of Gamecock Softball. The 2007 Gamecocks went 24-3, the best start since the first year of SEC play.
• 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.
• After posting only eight hits combined in the first two games, South Carolina tallied at least eight in each the next seven. Overall, the Gamecocks have five or more hits in 19 games.
• In the Ball State loss, South Carolina snapped a streak of 11 games with one or no errors, a stretch that included a 10-game winning streak.
• The Gamecock leadoff hitters have reached base at a .455 clip, sixth best in the SEC.
• While no Gamecocks rank in the SEC standings in stolen bases, seven different student-athletes have three or more on the year, helping the team stand seventh overall in the league.
• The Gamecocks’ win in game one against Western Carolina came when they were down after five innings, the first South Carolina triumph coming back that late in a game this season.
• All of South Carolina’s losses have come when they’ve given up four or more earned runs. In fact, of the 58 team earned runs allowed, 48 have come in the seven losses.

Roller Coaster Ride in Tempe

• South Carolina picked up its second win in history in the home park of a top-five team when it downed No. 3/3 Arizona State 3-2 to open its stay in the ASU Louisville Slugger Invitational.
• Senior Chelsea Hawkins accounted for every Gamecock run, hitting a two-run homer for the initial lead and scoring the insurance run in the seventh after leading off the inning with a double.
• Hawkins went 3-for-3 in the win with a homer, double, two RBI and two runs scored. The seven total bases is the most for a Gamecock this year.
• Freshman Nickie Blue tossed 101 pitches, the most in her budding college career, in the complete-game win. It’s her second complete game as a Gamecock.
• Blue matched her career high by striking out five Sun Devils in the win.
• Over night, however, the team was swept by a virus that kept two players from the field on Friday and weakened many others. Ten student-athletes were treated for similar symptons during the trip.
• It still took allowing 11 and 10 runs to fall to No. 19/20 Minnesota and Ball State, respectively.
• The Gamecocks, after falling down 7-0 to Minnesota, cut the lead to 7-4 after five innings.
• In the Ball State contest, South Carolina scored seven in the sixth before succumbing to the Cardinals, who scored three in the bottom half of the sixth and two more in the final frame.
• Three Gamecocks homered in the contest: junior Sarah Mooney, sophomore Jordan Bizzell and redshirt freshman Lauren Masters.
• In the two losses, South Carolina allowed seven earned runs in each. The team had been charged with 19 in the previous 16 games combined.
• At Arizona State, senior Chelsea Hawkins, sophomore Jordan Bizzell and redshirt freshman Lauren Masters all hit their first homers of the year. It was the first career homer for Bizzell and Masters.

Individual Notables

• Nickie Blue earned her first SEC Freshman of the Week honor on Feb. 24 after picking up a win and two saves in relief as well as her first career shutout during the prior week.
• Junior Sarah Mooney, a transfer from James Madison, has a team-best six homers on the year, one away from tying for a spot in the single-season charts at South Carolina just 21 games into the year.
• The college veterans have come through with runners on third and less than two outs, as Dana Hathorn, Chelsea Hawkins, Ashlyn Masters and Sarah Mooney have posted 17 RBI in 22 chances.
• To add to that, sophomore Ansley Ard is 2-for-2 and sophomore Jordan Bizzell is 2-for-3 bringing in runners from third with less than two outs. The rest of the team is 9-for-28.

The Pitchers Reign Supreme

• The group posted a 29-inning scoreless streak from the final game at Florida Atlantic through the final game of the Gamecock Invitational, with the UNC Wilmington posting an unearned run in the first inning.
• Freshman Nickie Blue is 9-3 on the season, starting 10 of her 19 appearances.
• When Blue pitches, she’s produced over double the ground-ball outs (94) versus fly outs (46).
• 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 63 batters in 55.2 innings, a rate (7.92 K/7IP) over three K’s better her career standard (4.56) entering the year.
• Sarratt struck out a career-high 10 in the win over Maryland.
• She is at her best with two strikes against right-handed hitters, holding them to a .075 batting average (5-of-67) with 41 of her K’s in those counts.

The Road Gets Tougher

• The Gamecocks have scheduled 24 of their 55 regular-season games against teams who made the 2013 NCAA Tournament. Next up is Alabama, who earned an at-large bid.
• South Carolina downed No. 3/3 Arizona State before falling to No. 19/20 Minnesota in its first two encounters against 2013 NCAA Tournament teams.
• 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.

Scouting Eastern Kentucky

• A year after posting a 36-20 mark and finishing third in the Ohio Valley regular season, the Colonels are 9-9 in 2014.
• The top hitter departed, but back is sophomore ace Leanna Pittsenbarger, who has struck out 108 batters and only walked 20 in 68.2 innings.
• Foes are hitting .121 against Pittsbarger, and she’s tallied a 1.22 ERA with four shutouts in nine starts.
• Leading the offense is Katie Tackett, who tops the team in seven categories including the “slash” stats (.315/.403/.630).
• Four other Colonels have two or more homers, but only one other person besides Tackett has an on-base percentage over .350.
• Krislyn Campos has a .375 OBP and has four stolen bases, most among the starters, and five doubles, tops on the team.
• Eastern Kentucky has only committed 12 errors in 18 games, compiling a .975 fielding percentage.

Series History vs. the Colonels

The Last Meeting – Eastern Kentucky at South Carolina – March 15, 2006