Softball Opens 7-Game Homestand with Tues.'s Furman DH

March 24, 2014

South Carolina Hosts Furman
Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field – Columbia, S.C.
Tues., March 25, 5 PM (DH)
Game One: Live Video | | @GamecockSoftbll
Game Two: Live Video | | @GamecockSoftbll

2014 SC Softball Stats – 3/22

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.
• 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 24 of 29 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 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.
• 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 college veterans have come through with runners on third and less than two outs, as Ansley Ard, Dana Hathorn, Chelsea Hawkins, Olivia Lawrence, Ashlyn Masters, Sarah Mooney and Kristen Struett have posted 22 RBI in 32 chances. The rest of the team is 11-for-33.
• 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 29 games into the year.
• All of South Carolina’s losses have come when they’ve given up four or more earned runs. In fact, of the 85 team earned runs allowed, 73 have come in the 12 losses.
• The Gamecocks seem to be allergic to offense in the second inning, hitting .212 with five runs in the frame. They hit over .248 with 20 or more runs in all other frames.

Monumental Weekend for Gamecocks and Coach Smith vs. Texas A&M

• South Carolina won its first series over a ranked SEC opponent since 2009 with Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of No. 13/15 Texas A&M.
• It also stands as the first SEC series win in Carolina Softball Stadium for the Gamecocks in five tries in the new facility.
• The second win on March 15 marked Beverly Smith’s 100th at South Carolina.
• The come-from-behind in the bottom of the seventh is the first since March 11, 2012 vs. Arkansas.
• Both games featured two-run, walk-off homers, Evan Childs with the one over the Hogs in 2012 and Ashlyn Masters with the shot against the Aggies.
• Entering the seventh tied, the Gamecocks won their first game in that scenario in 2014. Five times, South Carolina did that in 2013, with three in SEC play (at Mississippi State and at Auburn twice).
• Julie Sarratt earned SEC Pitcher of the Week honors for getting the win and the save during the doubleheader along with her win over Eastern Kentucky on March 11.

The Pitchers Reign Supreme

• Both redshirt junior Julie Sarratt and freshman Nickie Blue have won weekly awards from the Southeastern Conference, Sarratt most recently being named pitcher of the week on March 17.
• 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 vs. Michigan State.
• When Blue pitches, she’s produced over double the ground-ball outs (124) versus fly outs (59).
• Blue has three saves, tying for 10th in a single season at South Carolina and one away from joining six others in a tie for fourth.
• Sarratt picked up SEC Pitcher of the Week honors on March 17 after going 2-0 with a save the week prior, which included a complete-game, nine strikeout win over No. 13/15 Texas A&M.
• Sarratt’s fanned 87 batters in 87 innings, a rate nearly three K’s better her career standard (4.56 K/7IP) entering the year.
• Sarratt struck out a career-high 10 in the win over Maryland, while she sat down nine in her complete-game victory over No. 13/15 Texas A&M, her best in an SEC game.
• She is at her best with two strikes against right-handed hitters, holding them to a .099 batting average (10-of-101) with 55 of her K’s in those circumstances.
• Sarratt already owns four saves on the year, tying for fourth at South Carolina in a single season. Her next save would tie her with Aleca Johnson in third in a single year.
• Both are better in relief (Sarratt 0.78 ERA, Blue 1.13) than starting (Sarratt 2.64, Blue 4.56). In fact, boths strikeout-to-walk ratio is 2.7:1 or better out of the bullpen.
• The group posted a 29-inning scoreless streak from the final game at Florida Atlantic till the final game of the Gamecock Invitational. UNC Wilmington posted a first-inning unearned run.
• As a team, the Gamecock pitchers have allowed 0.04 triples and 0.42 homers per game, which ranks sixth and second in the league, respectively.
• The staff has given up only two runs in the fifth inning all year (28 innings).

Scouting Furman

• The Paladins stand at 14-14 on the year and are currently 2-3 in Southern Conference games.
• Pitching leads Furman, with ace Lauren Collier averaging almost a strikeout per inning (90 K in 96.2 IP). She’s tossed four shutouts and holds a 2.53 ERA.
• Shelby Parker also averages nearly a strikeout an inning (63 in 66.1 IP), but her ERA is 3.06, walking 31.
• Both have hit six batters and have opponent batting averages near .250.
• Collier’s more prone to giving up the long ball, allowing eight.
• When foes score three or more runs, they beat Furman 13 out of 15 times this year.
• Elise Smith leads the offense, posting three homers and 12 RBI. Sieara Bishop has one less RBI and the same number of homers.
• Ambree Muller and Nikki Legg provide the speed, combining to steal 11 bases in 12 tries.
• No Paladin has an on-base percentage over .350, and they have struck out 182 times in 28 games.

Furman and South Carolina Against Common Foes

• Both teams have faced Presbyterian and Gardner-Webb at home, with South Carolina beating both in shutouts (9-0 [5] vs. PC, 7-0 vs. GWU).
• The Paladins split a doubleheader with the Blue Hose, falling 12-5 before winning 1-0 in eight.
• Furman swept Gardner-Webb, 2-1 and 3-2 (8).

Ties between South Carolina and Furman

• Both teams have a transfer from the other. Lakyn Shull spent her freshman year at Furman, and Sarah Eidt did the same at South Carolina before moving to the other.
• Furman’s Hannah Pace played on the Carolina Crush travel-ball teams with Brooke Barnhill and Julie Sarratt. Taylor Jenkins also played with the group.

Series History vs. the Paladins

• South Carolina has won 58 of the 69 meetings against Furman all time, including a 41-2-1 mark in games in Columbia.

The Last Time – South Carolina at Furman – March 13, 2013

• The two teams split a doubleheader in Greenville, the Paladins gaining an 8-6 win in the opener before the Gamecocks bounced back with a 6-5 win.
• Muller and Collier homered Furman’s win, with Collier’s putting Furman ahead in the sixth.
• Dana Hathorn turned the tide in the second game with a sixth-inning blast to give SC the win.

Snaer’s Leading The Middle of the Order

• Freshman Kaylea Snaer ranks as one of two Gamecocks to start all 29 games and is the only player to bat in each contest.
• She already has five homers, 24 RBI and 13 walks, all three halfway or better to the top-15 in a season at South Carolina.
• Snaer’s posted two or more hits nine times and multiple RBI in nine games, the latter tops on the team.
• Half of Snaer’s 24 RBI have come with two outs.

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 12-3 this year compared to 7-10 in Carolina Softball Stadium a year ago.
• Out of those 15 home games, South Carolina has posted a shutout in eight of them. One loss even saw the Gamecocks throw a one-hitter (vs. No. 16/19 Minnesota, 3/19)
• In the 11 home dates, the Gamecocks have posted paid crowds over 1,000 in nine of them.