Softball . May 14, 2014

Tallahassee Regional Begins Fri. with Gamecocks vs. USF at 4:30 PM

May 14, 2014

South Carolina in the 2014 Tallahassee Regional
JoAnne Graf Field at Seminole Softball Complex – Tallahassee, Fla.

Tallahassee Regional Central

Gamecocks vs. USF
Fri., May 16, 4:30 PM(ESPN2)
Live Audio | ESPN3/WatchESPN | | @GamecockSoftbll

Remaining possible schedule for South Carolina
Sat., May 17, 12 PM (Game 3) – Winners of Game 1 and Game 2 (ESPN) – ESPN3/WatchESPN

Sat., May 17, 2:30 PM (Game 4) – Losers of Game 1 and Game 2 (ESPN) – ESPN3/WatchESPN

Sat., May 17, 5 PM (Game 5) – Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 3 (ESPN3) – ESPN3/WatchESPN

Sun., May 18, 12 PM (Game 6) – Winners of Game 3 and Game 5 (ESPN2) – ESPN3/WatchESPN

Sun., May 18, 2:30 PM (Game 7) – If Necessary Game (ESPN2) – ESPN3/WatchESPN

2014 SC Softball Notes – 5/14

2014 SC Softball Stats – 5/7

South Carolina Team Notes

South Carolina has recorded two new team single-season records this year, as the 50 home runs and 203 walks eclipses the previous marks of 45 HR last year and 173 BB in 1992, respectively.
Sarah Mooney, a junior transfer from James Madison, has 11 home runs on the season, tying the single-season record set twice before by Evan Childs in 2012 and McKenna Hughes in 2007.
The Gamecocks are 6-3 in its last nine games, with two of the losses coming in extra innings, the only extra-inning games this year.
South Carolina is 7-7 in one-run games this season, two wins better than last year’s 5-5. They went 5-9 during those contests in 2012 and 7-11 in Smith’s first year of 2011.
After posting only eight hits combined in the first two games, South Carolina tallied at least eight hits in the next seven and later had an eight-game skein (3/23 at Tenn., through 4/1 vs. Pres.).
Overall, the Gamecocks have five or more hits in 45 games and eight or more in 26 of 55 outings.
The Gamecocks have left the least runners on base in the SEC this season at 318.
Freshman Kaylea Snaer has eight round-trippers, tying for seventh on the single-season charts.
In the first 30 games, South Carolina scored five runs combined in the second inning. Over the last 25, the team has plated 28, including five in the second game of the Furman doubleheader.

Awards Pouring in for Gamecocks

Gamecock freshmen Nickie Blue and Kaylea Snaer both garnered spots on the SEC All-Freshman Team as voted on by the league’s coaches.
It’s the first time since 2008 for South Carolina to received multiple people on any combination of the SEC’s postseason awards.
Blue started the team’s weekly recognition haul with her Feb. 24 SEC Freshman of the Week win.
Redshirt junior Julie Sarratt garnered SEC Pitcher of the Week honors on March 17 after helping the Gamecocks take the series from nationally-ranked Texas A&M.
Seniors Ashlyn Masters (March 31) and Codee Yeske (May 5) both won SEC Player of the Week awards, the first time since 2005 the team had won two in a year.
Blue also earned a spot on the first listing of 25 for the NFCA’s inaugural National Freshman of the Year award.
Senior Chelsea Hawkins gained a spot on the 2014 SEC Softball Community Service Team, while Sarratt made last year’s.
Ansley Ard, Brooke Barnhill, Dana Hathorn, Hawkins, Masters, Sarratt and Kristen Struett all made the SEC Academic Honor Rolls last season, part of 13 Gamecock softball players on the lists.

A New (Ashlyn) Masters Tradition: Leading the Offense

Senior Ashlyn Masters leads the Gamecocks in 10 offensive categories.
She took over the leadoff spot in the middle of February. And she’s scored 39 runs in those 47 games, more than any player’s total this year, and tallying 27 of her 28 extra-base hits.
She earned South Carolina’s first SEC Player of the Week nod (on March 31) since 2005 with her performances against Furman and Mississippi.
Her 19 doubles, tied for tops in the SEC, stands second at South Carolina in a season, one of six marks she has currently in the top 15 in a single season as a Gamecock.
She’s in the Gamecocks’ career top-10 in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, which can be found on page 10, along with the total of nine marks she owns in the top 20.
Two hits separate Masters from qualifying for that career per-game listing.
With multiple hits in 17 games, she leads the team.
She’s hitting .408 when playing a defensive position compared to .209 in 19 games as a designated/offensive player.

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).

Gamecocks Have a Rich History in NCAA Tournament

South Carolina earned its 17th bid in the NCAA Tournament this season and its second straight.
The Gamecocks are 31-29 in those previous 16 trips, making three Women’s College World Series in their history (1983, 1989 and 1997).
The program has five AIAW World Series trips in its history as well prior to 1982.
Four times, South Carolina has won a regional, the last in 2007 to advance into the program’s only super regional.
In 2013, the Gamecocks made their seventh regional final (in multi-team regionals) in 14 appearances. The regionals in 1982-83 were set up like super regionals now, a best-of-three series against one opponent.

The Pitchers Reign Supreme

Both redshirt junior Julie Sarratt and freshman Nickie Blue won SEC weekly awards in 2014.
Blue has seven saves, second in a single season at Carolina, and Sarratt four, tied for fifth.
Both are better in relief (Sarratt 1.12 ERA, Blue 1.62) than starting (Sarratt 3.06, Blue 3.79).
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 an unearned first-inning run to snap it.
Longer than that stretch was the Gamecock pitchers’ no-homer stand, from the 4th against Ohio through the end of the UNC Wilmington game, lasting 72 innings.
As a team, the Gamecock pitchers have allowed 0.52 homers, 0.08 triples and 0.80 doubles per game, which stand first, sixth and sixth in the league, respectively.
The staff has given up 120 runs in the first three innings of games (165 IP) and only 88 runs in the innings 4-7 this season (in 184.1 innings).

Blue’s Been Best in Big Games

Nickie Blue garnered a spot on the inaugural NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year listing of the 25 finalists.
Blue leads the SEC in three categories: appearances (45), saves (7) and wild pitches (18).
Her seven saves also stand atop the NCAA Division I stat rankings.
When Blue pitches, she’s produced nearly double the ground-ball outs (235) versus fly outs (118).
Lefties have more trouble against Blue, hitting .170 (23-of-135) with two strikes (and .208 overall)with 57 of her strikeouts against lefty batters in over 120 less at-bats than vs. righties.
Blue earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors on Feb. 24 after picking up a win and two saves in relief as well as her first career shutout vs. Michigan State.
Blue has two marquee wins on the season, both complete-game victories at ranked opponents in the 3-2 victory at No. 3/3 Arizona State and the 1-0 triumph at No. 15/17 Georgia.
Against the Bulldogs, Blue struck out a career-best seven and held UGA to its lowest hit total of the season to date, allowing only three.
She also tossed a shutout in the 8-0 (5) win over No. –/24 LSU.

Savvy Veteran Sarratt Striking Down Foes

Julie 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.
Last year’s leader in wins, ERA, innings pitched and strikeouts, Sarratt has 12 career marks in South Carolina’s top 15 in her third year active on the roster.
Sarratt’s fanned 136 batters in 160 innings, a rate (5.95 K/7IP), over a strikeout 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 .150 batting average (28-of-187) with 84 of her K’s in those circumstances.

We Scheduled Strong Foes (And The SEC Is Tough Too)

The Gamecocks played 24 of their 54 regular-season games against teams who made the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
South Carolina downed No. 3/3 Arizona State and went 8-16 against those teams in 2014.
A total of 35 of the Gamecocks’ scheduled games came against teams that finished in the top 100 of the NCAA’s Ratings Percentage Index last year. Of those, 21 were against RPI top-50 teams.
After facing nothing but NCAA Tournament participants in SEC play in 2013, SC had two conference weekends against non-tourney teams in 2014 (home vs. Mississippi & Auburn).
Two of the Gamecocks’ SEC contests were on national television, including the opening game to ESPN’s national coverage at Tennessee on March 23.

And This Is How Tough It’s Been

When looking at this year’s RPI, the Gamecocks are 13-19 against top-100 RPI teams, with the only loss outside of the top 100 coming to Maryland (147).
South Carolina rebounded to beat Maryland the next day.
Entering the NCAA Tournament, South Carolina is 7-15 against RPI top-50 squads. Only Fordham (55) has an RPI above 50 in the Tallahassee Regional.
South Carolina played 11 of the 63 other teams in the NCAA Tournament, going 9-16 against those squads.
Six of those 11 were SEC foes, teams that the Gamecocks went 6-12 against during the year.
Five of the 11 earned national seeds, with the Gamecocks posting a 2-10 mark against them (No. 2 Alabama, No. 4 Georgia, No. 9 Arizona State, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 16 Minnesota).

Rough SEC Road Prepares Teams for Postseason

South Carolina won half of its SEC three-game series this year for the first time since 2007 and for the sixth time since the advent of the three-game series in 2001 (2001-03, `05, `07).
The Gamecocks, with a .458 winning percentage this season, last had a mark in SEC play higher in 2003, when the team went 18-12 (.643).
South Carolina dropped eight of its first nine road contests in SEC play in 2014.
Those eight losses came against the No. 1, 3 and 6 ranked pitching staffs in ERA and 1, 2 and 5 offenses by batting average in the SEC stat rankings for league games only.
In SEC play, Alabama holds the league’s best mark with a 2.52 ERA, while Tennessee ranks 3rd at 3.24 and Georgia 6th at 3.26.
UGA’s Chelsea Wilkinson claimed the SEC Tournament MVP award, going 3-0 with a 1.07 ERA.
In SEC action, the Lady Vols topped the league with a .314 batting average (and also with a .437 on-base percentage and .545 slugging percentage).
The Crimson Tide stood 2nd with a .311 batting average (and with a .404 OBP), and Georgia ranked 5th at .277 (but second in slugging at .501).
The home series loss came to the third-best team by batting average, LSU (.300).

Monumental Series Wins for SC and Coach Smith vs. Texas A&M & Auburn

For the first time in program history, South Carolina won two series from ranked SEC opponents, taking two games from both Texas A&M and Auburn at the league’s newest stadium.
South Carolina won its first series over a ranked SEC opponent since 2009 with a doubleheader sweep of No. 13/15 Texas A&M on March 15.
The second series win over the Auburn Tigers secured the eighth seed in the SEC Tournament.
In the Auburn series, the Tigers were held to 11 runs, their second-lowest output in SEC play this year (vs. Florida, 8).
Senior Codee Yeske earned SEC Player of the Week accolades after helping the Gamecocks to the two wins to end the weekend.
The A&M triumphs count as the first SEC series win in Carolina Softball Stadium.
The second win over the Aggies on March 15 marked Beverly Smith’s 100th at South Carolina.
The come-from-behind win in game one in the bottom of the seventh is the first since March 11, 2012 vs. Arkansas.
Both of those 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.

Milestone Wins for Gamecocks, Coach Smith Already Passed in ’14

South Carolina has played 2,049 games in its softball history, going 1334-709-6 (.653) in its 41st season of sponsorship.
With the season-opening 1-0 win over Iowa, the Gamecocks gained their 1,300th program victory.
Head coach Beverly Smith claimed second alone on SC’s coaching wins list with a 9-1 (5) win in the first game of the doubleheader against Furman.
She earlier took third 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.

Scouting USF

The Bulls stand at 41-15 entering the NCAA Tournament, finishing second in the first year of the American Athletic Conference with a 13-5 mark under 17-year head coach Ken Ericksen.
USF boasted of two of the league’s individual award winners, led by senior pitcher Sara Nevins’s second-straight Pitcher of the Year award (2013 BIG EAST, 2014 AAC).
Nevins holds a 1.42 ERA in 191.2 innings of work, striking out 273 batters against 55 walks. She’s hit 22 batters as well.
She’s sixth in NCAA Division I this year in hits allowed per seven innings (3.43) and eighth in strikeouts per seven innings (10.0).
Foes hit only .145 against Nevins, including a total of 20 extra-base hits, seven of those homers.
She tossed four no-hitters on the year, including a perfect game against Temple.
Freshman Juli Weber also claimed the American’s Rookie of the Year title for 2014, hitting a team-best eight doubles.
Sophomore Erica Nunn is also solid in the circle, tallying a 2.79 ERA in 118 innings, with foes hitting .173 against her with 10 homers. She’s struck out 151 and walked 50 while hitting 21.
The Bulls have speed, compiling 73 thefts on the year with three stealing 10 or more bases (Kristen Wyckoff, Fr., 16-of-18; Ashli Goff, Sr., 16-of-19; Kourney Salvarola, Sr., 10-of-11).
Salvarola leads the Bulls with 14 home runs as well as with 43 runs scored and is one of five Bulls to make the American’s first-team squad (Nevins, Weber, Goff, and Stephanie Medina).
Medina tops USF with 37 RBI and five triples.
Second-team All-AAC Lee Ann Spivey, a sophomore, hit the second-most homers on the team (9) and has the third-most RBI (31).
Freshman Tacoia Williams has 13 extra-base hits (6 2Bs, 7 HRs) among her 24 hits on the season.
The selfless Bulls have 51 sacrifice hits in 56 games.
Defensively, USF is solid, holding the 19th-best fielding percentage in NCAA Division I (.972).

Series History vs. the Bulls

SC holds a 20-8 advantage in the all-time series against USF, including a 7-2 mark at neutral sites.
Three of those neutral site wins came in Tallahassee (DH on April 13, 1985, March 15, 1991).

The Last Meeting – South Carolina at USF – March 8, 2013

Despite homers from Shelby Gonzales and Julie Sarratt, South Carolina could not hold off USF (12-10), as the Bulls won a 5-3 decision at USF Softball Stadium.
Stephanie Medina led USF with a 2-for-3 day, getting a two-run homer and an RBI double. Mo Santos also had a homer in a 2-for-3 day for the Bulls.
Sara Nevin got the win in relief with three shutout innings, giving up three hits and fanning two.
Returners Kristen Struett, Chelsea Hawkins and both Masters sisters, also had hits.

Common Opponent for USF and South Carolina

Both teams hold at least one loss from Tennessee on their record. The Bulls fell 3-2 to the Lady Vols on Sat., Feb. 15, while the Gamecocks were swept in Knoxville, with two of those one-run losses.

Scouting Fordham

The Atlantic 10 champs at 13-3, the Rams went 36-18 on the season for A-10 Coach of the Year Bridget Orchard, her fifth such award in 13 years.
A-10 Player of the Year Elise Fortier, a senior, leads the team offensively in 11 categories, including 19 homers and 70 RBI.
She has three top-10 marks in NCAA Division I, including standing sixth in RBI (1.30 per game), seventh in homers (19) and 10th in homers per game (0.35).
Senior Gabby Luety, also a first-team All-Atlantic 10 selection, has 13 homers and 44 RBI.
Freshmen Sydney Canessa (6 homers, 25 RBI) and Amy Van Hoven (12 doubles, 2 triples) both made the All-Atlantic 10 first team.
Junior Kayla Lombardo earned Capital One Academic All-District honors with her 10 homers and 35 RBI.
A-10 Co-Pitcher of the Year Michele Daubman holds a 2.58 ERA in 154.2 innings, striking out 70 and walking 26 in her junior season.
She also swings the bat well, posting 12 doubles and 6 homers on the year.
Both junior Rachel Gillen (4.66 ERA, 73.2 IP) or freshman Lauren Quense (3.32 ERA, 82.1 IP) have opponent batting averages higher than .280 with six homers allowed.

Ties Between South Carolina and Fordham

The Rams’ Paige Ortiz and the Gamecocks’ Taylor Williams both played travel ball with Houston Power.

Series History vs. the Rams

Fordham claimed the only previous meeting listed below.

The Last Meeting – Fordham at South Carolina – Feb. 25, 2006

An eighth-inning homer by Fordham’s Laura Klaiber led the Rams to a 4-3 win in a game that spanned two days thanks to rain in Columbia.
Ashton Payne went 3-for-4 with two runs in the setback for the Gamecocks.

Common Opponents for Fordham and South Carolina

Both teams gained wins over LIU Brooklyn, the Rams a 5-0 win in the season opener at UCF, while the Gamecocks took a 9-5 win one week later at Florida Atlantic.
In Charleston, Fordham downed Mississippi 4-3 and Western Carolina 1-0, two teams the Gamecocks went 5-0 combined against on the year.
Before the Gamecocks hosted LSU, the Rams did, but rains halted the game in the fourth tied 3-3, and it was never finished.

Scouting Florida State

The Seminoles, who dominated the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 24-3 record in league action, ranks third in the final regular-season NFCA poll and is 50-6 overall.
The ACC champs won three of the league’s individual awards, including Coach of the Year Lonni Alameda, Player of the Year Maddie O’Brien and Pitcher of the Year Lacey Waldrop.
The junior Waldrop, a third-team NFCA All-American last year, should earn that again after posting a 0.96 ERA, 4th in the country, in 218.1 innings this season, leading the country with 33 wins.
She’s struck out 256 batters while walking 68, with opponents hitting .171, allowing four homers.
O’Brien, a redshirt junior, leads the country with a .994 slugging percentage and with 1.43 RBI per game while she’s tied with Georgia’s Alex Hugo with a nation’s best 23 home runs.
To go with those 23 homers, O’Brien has 17 doubles and 80 RBI, while she’s walked 43 times.
Senior Courtney Senas joined O’Brien and Waldrop on the All-ACC first team after posting 13 homers, 50 RBI and 13 stolen bases on the year.
The Seminoles’ second starter, redshirt freshman Jessica Burroughs, made the All-ACC second team with her 1.92 ERA in 105.2 innings. Foes hit .191 against her with a 113:43 K:BB ratio.
Redshirt senior Briana Hamilton and sophomore Victoria East made the All-ACC third team.
Hamilton hit nine homers in 131 at-bats, while East has 11 doubles and seven stolen bases.
Redshirt senior Tiffani Brown has 25 stolen bases in 29 tries to go with has four triples on the year.

Ties Between South Carolina and Florida State

Seminole redshirt senior Briana Hamilton played her first season at South Carolina in 2010, starting 32 games in the infield before transferring to Tallahassee, twice earning All-ACC honors there.
Gamecock senior Ashlyn Masters signed with Florida State but played two years at Northwest Florida State College before coming to Columbia.

Series History vs. the Seminoles

Longtime regional rivals, Florida State holds a slim 22-19 lead in the series that dates back to 1985.
The teams played every year for 12 seasons (1985-96).
In Tallahassee, the Seminoles are 12-7 against the Gamecocks, which includes three-consecutive wins, one each in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The Last Meeting – South Carolina at Florida State – Feb. 17, 2007

No. 22 Florida State defeated South Carolina 8-3 during the Sunshine State Tournament in Tallahassee, desping McKenna Hughes’ two-homer day for the Gamecocks.

Common Opponents for Florida State and South Carolina

Both teams defeated Big South Tournament champs Charleston Southern at home in the regular season, FSU with a 8-2 win on Feb. 21 and SC with a 9-1 (6) victory on April 1.
The Seminoles beat Auburn 5-4 on Feb. 26, a team SC went 2-2 against in four-straight games.
Florida State split its games at Alabama, gaining a 5-1 win on Sunday. South Carolina was swept in three games in Tuscaloosa a week later.

Gamecocks vs. Ranked Opponents

South Carolina is 100-239-1 (.296) all-time against opponents ranked in the NFCA top 25.
Broken down by site, the Gamecocks are 45-77 (.369) at home, 17-108 (.148) on the road and 38-54-1 (.414) in neutral-site outings.
So far this season, the Gamecocks are 6-13 against teams ranked in the NFCA poll at the time of the game, including a 2-8 mark on the road.
Twice, the Gamecocks won an SEC home series against ranked teams, downing Texas A&M and Auburn, the first time in history that had happened in the same season.
Last season, the Gamecocks went 3-16 (.158) against ranked foes, including a 2-7 mark when playing in the opponent’s home park (W’s at LSU and Kentucky).
South Carolina is now 2-24 against top-five opposition on the road, with one win being the 3-2 victory at No. 3/3 Arizona State on Feb. 27.

In Wins and Losses, Who (and What) Stands Out?

When the Gamecocks hit a homer, they are 26-8.
If they amass more hits than the foe, they are 29-2.
When holding opponents without a homer, South Carolina is 26-7.
In 15 of the 20 losses, the Gamecocks have given up eight hits or more. Only on four occasions have they won when allowing that many hits.
All but two of South Carolina’s losses have come when they’ve given up four or more earned runs. In fact, of the 157 team earned runs allowed, 118 have come in the 20 losses.
The first loss without four earned runs allowed for the Gamecocks came in the first game at Arkansas (4/11), where five errors led to 10 unearned Arkansas runs in the 11-10 setback.
The second setback came in the second game against Longwood (4/26), when one earned run on a wild pitch felled the Gamecocks in a 1-0 loss in eight innings.
As a team, the Gamecocks slug .528 in wins and .368 in losses and reach base at a .422 clip in wins and just .328 in losses.
The Gamecocks have drawn 140 walks and been hit 31 times in 35 wins and garnered only 63 free passes and 12 HBPs in 20 losses.
Power providers in wins include Ashlyn Masters (.410 BA, 23 XBH in W’s, .259 BA, 5 XBH in L’s), Sarah Mooney (.738 slugging percentage in W’s, .340 in L’s) and Chelsea Hawkins (.313/.389/.542 in W’s, .182/.345/.250 in L’s).
Other offensive catalysts include Ansley Ard (.426 BA in W’s, .179 in L’s), Codee Yeske (.466 OBP in W’s, .294 in L’s) and Kristen Struett (.384 OBP in W’s, .261 in L’s).
Gamecock pitching has a 191:80 strikeout-to-walk (K:BB) ratio in wins while it’s 78:89 in losses.
Julie Sarratt has a 103:37 K:BB ratio in 102.1 innings in wins and a 33:34 ratio in 57.2 innings in losses. Nickie Blue stands with a 79:39 K:BB rate in wins (111.1 IP) and 36:34 in losses.

Runners on Third with Less Than Two Outs One Indicator of Gamecock Success

As a team, the Gamecocks have scored 57.3 percent (71 of 124) of runners from third with less than two outs, standing fifth in the SEC. The league as a whole averaged 53.7 percent.
The college upperclassmen have come through with runners on third and less than two outs, as Dana Hathorn, Chelsea Hawkins, Olivia Lawrence, Ashlyn Masters, Sarah Mooney, Kristen Struett and Codee Yeske have posted 42 RBI in 66 chances. The rest of the team is 29-for-58.
Seniors Hathorn (7-of-9) and Hawkins (6-of-8) lead those efforts with runners on third and less than two outs.
South Carolina is 9-14 when getting one or less runners to third with less than two outs this season.
Only four times have the Gamecocks gotten three or more runners to third with less than two outs and not won the game (2/28 vs. Minnesota, 3/9 at Alabama, 3/14 vs. Texas A&M, 3/22 at Tenn.)

Snaer Drives The Middle of the Order

Freshman Kaylea Snaer started the first 46 games before an arm injury took her out of the lineup.
She resumed practicing this week with hopes of returning during the Tallahassee Regional.
While she’s been out, the Gamecocks have managed to go 6-3.
She has eight homers (T-7th) and 28 walks (T-7th), both in SC’s top 10 in a season.
Her 35 RBI are four shy of a spot on the single-season charts.
Earning a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team, she had 14 hits in 20 league games, with nine going for extra bases (4 2B, 5 HR).
Snaer’s posted two or more hits 11 times and multiple RBI in 12 games, the latter tops on the team.
Eighteen of Snaer’s 35 RBI have come with two outs.

Notables from Earlier

For the second-consecutive season, South Carolina claimed at least one SEC road series, taking two of three at Arkansas over April 11-13.
The Gamecocks won their first game at Georgia since March 28, 2001 in the first game of the April 5 doubleheader.
It was the team’s second win at the home of a ranked team in 2014, joining the 3-2 victory at No. 3/3 Arizona State.
South Carolina’s 3-2 win at No. 3/3 Arizona State marked the first win (and second all-time) at a top-five team’s park since March 13, 2004, a 6-4 win in nine innings at LSU.
South Carolina swept Mississippi at home over March 29-30, the first SEC home series sweep since the Rebels’ last visit in 2011.
The Sunday win over Ole Miss, which came by scoring two runs in its final at-bat, ranks as the first this season for SC when it enters the seventh trailing.
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.
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.
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.