March 13, 2014

South Carolina hosts No. 13/15 Texas A&M
Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field – Columbia, S.C.
Weekend’s Links (all times Eastern)
Fri., March 14, 6 PM
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Sat., March 15, 2 PM
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Sun., March 9, 2:30 PM
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2014 SC Softball Notes – 3/13

2014 SC Softball Stats – 3/11

South Carolina Team Notes

• South Carolina snapped a five-game losing streak with Tues.’s 8-0 (5) win over Eastern Kentucky.
• 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 20 of 22 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 .453 clip, sixth best in the SEC.
• While no Gamecocks rank in the SEC top 15 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.

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 seven homers on the year, tying for the 11th spot in the single-season charts at South Carolina just 22 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 20 appearances.
• When Blue pitches, she’s produced over double the ground-ball outs (96) versus fly outs (47).
• Both Blue and redshirt junior Julie Sarratt already owns three saves on the year, tying for ninth at South Carolina in a single season. Either’s next would move them into fourth with five others.
• Sarratt’s fanned 65 batters in 59.2 innings, a rate (7.63 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 .069 batting average (5-of-72) with 43 of her K’s in those counts.

South Carolina Batting Around in 2014

• On 10 occasions, the Gamecocks have sent nine or more batters to the plate. To see those times, click on the notes link above.

The Joys of Playing at Home

• 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.
• Barring any rainouts, it would take two postseason games at home to tie the 2002 team’s record with 36 home games.
• The Gamecocks have already surpassed their 2013 home win total, going 10-1 this year compared to 7-10 in Carolina Softball Stadium a year ago.
• Out of those 11 home games, South Carolina has posted a shutout in eight of them.

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 Texas A&M, Minnesota and Tennessee, all of whom earned at-large bids.
• 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. Of those, 21 are against RPI top-50 teams.
• After facing nothing but NCAA Tournament participants in SEC 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 Texas A&M

• The Aggies enter the series with a 20-5 overall mark and a 2-1 SEC record. They won at College of Charleston on Wednesday 11-3.
• Nicole Morgan tops the team in many offensive categories, including her nine homers and 33 RBI.
• The league leader in homers, Morgan’s walked 23 times to post an on-base percentage of .578, while she leads the nation with a .954 slugging percentage.
• April Ryan has scored 29 runs while knocking eight doubles and two triples, all three tops on the team, and is second on the squad with 27 RBI.
• Emily Albus stands second in batting average (.430) and is a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen bases.
• Both Cassie Tysarczyk and Amber Garza have five homers, with the former ranking third on the teamwith 24 RBI.
• Seven of the possible offensive starters have on-base percentage over .400.
• Sophomore Katie Marks leads the Aggies in the circle, posting a 1.54 ERA and 10-0 record in 63.2 innings of work.
• Rachel Fox handles most of the rest of the load with a 2.46 ERA in 59.2 innings.
• Both Marks and Fox have struck out over 35 while walking 16 or less.

Ties between South Carolina and Texas A&M

• Aggie ace Katie Marks played her freshman year at South Carolina before transfering last summer to be closer to home.

Series History vs. the Aggies

• Texas A&M holds a 15-11 advantage in the series all-time, including a 5-3 mark in Columbia.
• The Gamecocks’ last wins in the series came in the NFCA Leadoff Classics of 1996 and 1997 in Columbus, Ga.
• This is the first meeting between the softball teams since the Aggies joined the SEC last year. Only four games have come since the SEC first sponsored softball in 1997.

The Last Meeting – Texas A&M vs. South Carolina – May 17, 2003

• The Aggies eliminated the Gamecocks from the 2003 NCAA Regional in Tucson, Ariz., by a 6-3 score.

Gamecocks vs. Ranked Opponents

• South Carolina is 95-230-1 (.293) all-time against ranked opponents.
• Broken down by site, the Gamecocks are 41-73 (.360) at home, 16-103 (.134) on the road and 38-54-1 (.414) in neutral-site outings.
• So far this season, the Gamecocks are 1-4 against ranked teams, with the next seven games coming against top-20 foes according to this week’s NFCA poll..
• Last season, the Gamecocks went 3-16 (.158) against ranked foes, including a 2-7 mark when playing in the opponent’s home park and a 1-8 record at home.
• With the 3-2 win at No. 3/3 Arizona State on Feb. 27, South Carolina is now 2-21 against top-five opposition on the road.

History in the Making

• South Carolina has played 2,016 games in its softball history, going 1314-696-6 (.653) 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 two 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 moved into third on SC’s coaching wins list with the 13-0 (5) victory vs. 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.

Snaer’s Early Start

• Freshman Kaylea Snaer leads the Gamecocks in five offensive categories over a third of the way through the season.
• She already has four homers and 21 RBI, both over halfway to the top-15 in a season at South Carolina.
• She’s also a third of the way to single-season listings on the Gamecocks’ doubles (5) and walks (8).
• Snaer’s posted two or more hits seven times and multiple RBI in eight games, the latter tops on the team.
• Snaer has only failed to reach base four times this season (vs. Boston University, 2/21; vs. Western Carolina-2, 2/25; at No. 3/3 Arizona State 2/27; vs. Ball State 2/28).
• Eleven of Snaer’s 21 RBI have come with two outs.