Sept. 9, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina softball team began its fall practice on Tuesday afternoon, working out at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field on a pleasant day.

“Any day you get to be out here in the middle of the day on the softball field is a beautiful day,” said Gamecock head coach Beverly Smith. “The weather was perfect. Everything was set for a great start for us.”

Rains on Monday delayed practice by a day, but the Gamecocks still got in their hacks in the four-lane indoor batting cage built with the new stadium that the program has used for two years. The team worked outside of the cages today, concentrating on fielding basics and baserunning drills.

“It was exciting,” said Gamecock head coach Beverly Smith. “I enjoyed getting out here to see all the new players. We have a group of young talent mixing in with a core group of returners. This group is going to do some fun things this year.”

For the returners, it was a good refresher on all they have learned over the past years on campus, but they share in the energy the new season and new players bring. And they get to impart some of their knowledge down to the new group of student-athletes.

“This is exciting, going out on the first day with everybody,” remarked redshirt sophomore infielder Lauren Masters. “I told the freshman to expect to work hard and go 100 percent every day.”

South Carolina builds on back-to-back NCAA Tournament trips and a 36-22 mark in 2014. Six starters and the two primary pitchers return for Smith’s squad.

The Gamecocks continue drills the rest of the week, with the team kicking off their fall campaign on Sat., Sept. 20 with a doubleheader at North Carolina.