March 10, 2016

Feature Stories

Gamecock Seniors: Changing the Culture
Gamecock Seniors: Leaving a Legacy
Page – The Loose Leader
Gamecock Freshmen Build Connection before Columbia
Unique Recruiting Trip Impacts Future Gamecocks
Accountability Program for Gamecock Softball
Plew Whitlock Returns Home
Elliott Driven for Success
Augustus Honing Leadership Skills
Video: Softball – The First 18
Gamecock Softball Part of Week of Giving
Webb Part of Mission Trip to Honduras
Gamecock Alums Reunite for Wounded Warrior Amputee Game
Page Goes Behind the Scenes at Colonial Life Arena
WWP Makes Jen Castro Gamecock for a Day

South Carolina Hosts No. 17/15 Kentucky for SEC Opening Weekend

• The Gamecocks open Southeastern Conference play this weekend at home against No. 17/15 Kentucky. Friday night’s contest, on SEC Network + on Watch ESPN, is slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch. Saturday and Sunday’s games, both on the SEC Network, begin at 1 p.m. each day.

South Carolina’s Offense Producing Early

• South Carolina’s offense has been clicking early, and it starts with leadoff batters reaching base. The Gamecocks have the fourth-best percentage in the SEC for their leadoff batters getting on base at .534, behind only Georgia (.624), Tennessee (.552) and Auburn (.543). Only once have the Gamecocks not gotten the leadoff runner on more than once, that in the Western Carolina win. South Carolina also has tallied 48 RBI in 74 chances with a runner on third and less than two outs. That .649 conversion rate is fifth in the league with Georgia. Leading that stat is this trio of Gamecocks: Alaynie Page (6-for-6), Krystan White (9-for-11) and Kennedy Clark (5-for-7). South Carolina has also struck out looking 16 times in 21 games, the third-lowest total in the SEC behind Alabama’s 13 and Missouri’s 15. The Gamecocks lead the SEC with 36 HBPs already this year, one away from the top five in a single season at South Carolina. One-third of that total came in two games, as six Gamecocks were hit against UNC Greensboro (2/19) and Michigan State (3/5).

South Carolina Team Notes

• Gamecock Kennedy Clark shared SEC Freshman of the Week honors for the week of March 6 with Kentucky’s Abbey Cheek. Clark hit .588 with seven RBI, both team highs, in a 5-0 week. The Gamecocks are on a 10-game winning streak, the second time under Beverly Smith and the fourth since the start of 1998 (others in 2002, 2009 & 2014). South Carolina pitchers Nickie Blue and Jessica Elliott combined for the first no-hitter in six years for the Gamecocks on Tues., March 1, blanking Western Carolina in a 1-0 victory. The pitching staff has posted a 1.66 ERA in the last 20 games (126.2 innings). South Carolina’s defense has been outstanding thus far, posting a .981 fielding percentage, which stands second in the SEC. The Gamecocks have tallied the most assists in a game among SEC teams this year, with 16 coming in the win over UC Santa Barbara (2/27). The Gamecocks started the season 9-1, the best start since the team went 12-1 to being 2009. South Carolina is the only SEC team to improve its win total in each of the past three season, going from 23 wins in 2012 to 38 in 2015. Two of South Carolina’s signees for next season, Cayla Drotar and Mackenzie Boesel, made the USA Today High School/American Family Insurance All-USA Preseason Softball Team.

White Hits Her Way into Lineup

• Sophomore Krystan White has hit her way into the lineup this spring, starting with a career-best day against Winthrop. The Chesterfield, S.C., product went 3-for-4 with a homer and five RBI against the Eagles. Since then, she’s been in the middle of the Gamecocks order producing. She’s hit .520 with runners on base, .500 with runners in scoring position and has driving in nine runners from third with less than two outs in 11 tries.

Clark Leading Gamecock Newcomers at the Plate

• Freshman outfielder Kennedy Clark has started every game, one of three Gamecocks to do that, and leads the team in on-base (.544) and slugging (.689) percentages to go with her team best of four home runs. Clark tied the program record with two round-trippers in the Ohio win. She’s come through in big situations, including tallying a team-best eight RBI with two outs. The freshman has driven home five runners from third with less than two outs in seven tries. She’s also advanced runners at a 67 percent clip (30-for-45) and hit well with two outs (.458).

Gamecocks Have a Rich History in NCAA Tournament

• South Carolina earned its 18th bid in the NCAA Tournament last season, its third straight under head coach Beverly Smith.
• The Gamecocks are 34-35 in those 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.

Other Newcomer Contributions for South Carolina

• The other four newcomers to the 2016 Gamecocks have all made their presence known. Junior Jessica Elliott has gone 11-0, tied for the SEC lead in wins, with a 0.95 ERA in 18 appearances, striking out 48 while walking 30 in 66.1 innings of work. Elliott, with runners on, has held the opposition to a .138 batting average. Alexis Mack, a freshman who set Ohio high school’s all-time stolen base record, is second on the team in stolen bases (4) and tied for second in runs scored (15). Mack has moved up runners at a .640 clip, hitting mainly in the No. 2 spot when starting. Freshman Kenzi Maguire has started 14 games at shortstop and leads the team with eight HBPs. Mack, Maguire and Clark, hitting 2-3-4 in the lineup, combined to go 15-for-23 in wins over UConn and Kennesaw State, scoring nine runs and driving in eight as a group. Finally, Lex Hull is 3-for-11 at the plate and has started behind the plate in five Gamecock wins.

2016 Accolades and Accomplishments for Alaynie Page

• Senior Alaynie Page has already moved up in many career lists, found on page 8 of the notes. Notably, she’s five homers from matching the career record set by McKenna Hughes (2004-07). Page is one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award, which stands for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®. The returning first-team All-American also ranked as 50 players placed on the USA Softball National Player of the Year watch list. She reached base at a .550 clip in the first five home games, stealing four bases, posting six RBI and hitting her second homer of the season. Page has reached base in all but two games (vs. Virginia Tech, 2/13, and vs. SIUE, 3/8).

Blue Starting to Climb Gamecock Pitching Charts

• Junior Nickie Blue enters 2016 with her name already showing up in South Carolina’s career top 15 in many pitching categories (see page 8). She will once again anchor South Carolina’s staff with her heavy drop ball producing ground outs at a 65 percent rate (506-269) in her first two years on campus. She also tossed her first shutout of the year with a complete-game blanking of Longwood on Feb. 21. Blue tossed the first five innings of the no-hitter against Western Carolina on March 1, the first no-no for the Gamecocks since the second game of 2011.

Snaer Starting 2016 Stronger

• Junior first baseman Kaylea Snaer has started 2016 on a tear, tied for third in the SEC with nine doubles while hitting .377. The Rowland Heights, Calif., native is threatening the Gamecock single-season doubles charts, where 14 ties one for 15th. It’s a different start than last year, when Snaer went 9-for-53 (.170) with no extra base hits through 20 games. She still managed to finish tied for second on the team with seven homers and third with seven doubles while hitting .275. Snaer already ranks first in SC history in walks per game and in the top five in homers and RBI per game (see full updates on page 8).

We Schedule Tough

• On this year’s schedule, the Gamecocks are set to play 23 of their 56 regular-season games against teams who made the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Ten of those come against Women’s College World Series participants, the season opener vs. Michigan and three each in SEC play at Auburn and LSU and at home against Alabama. A total of 37 of the Gamecocks’ scheduled games come against teams that finished in the top 101 of the NCAA’s Ratings Percentage Index last year. The Gamecocks also play four defending regular-season conference champs: Michigan (Big Ten), Longwood (Big South), SIUE (Ohio Valley) and USC Upstate (Atlantic Sun). Thirty-three games are set for Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. Three former Gamecocks turned assistant coaches visited this spring: Chelsea Hawkins (UNC Greensboro), Kaela Jackson (Michigan State) and Chrissy Schoonmaker (Connecticut).

South Carolina Softball Historical Record

• South Carolina has played 2,145 games in its softball history, going 1397-741-7 (.653) in its 41st season of sponsorship.

Offensive Records Falling Regularly for Gamecocks under Smith

• In head coach Beverly Smith’s first five years, the Gamecocks have broken team offensive records 24 times (tracked on page 14 in these notes).
• South Carolina broke four more team offensive records in 2015: home runs (60), HR per game (1.00), on-base percentage (.391) and slugging percentage (.473).
• Smith’s teams have set the home run and slugging percentage records now in four-straight seasons and the on-base percentage mark in each of the last three.
• While not a record, the Gamecocks have hit .291 over the past four seasons, 75 points higher than the year before Smith came to Columbia.

Some of Last Year’s Milestones in SEC Play

Roster Notes

• Seven position player starters return for the Gamecocks from last year’s squad.
• SC lost four seniors who combined to start 143 games, including every start at catcher and 57 of 60 starts in centerfield.
• Every major offensive category leader from 2015 returns for the Gamecocks, 14 of those by Alaynie Page.
• The Gamecocks return over 70 percent of its offense in most categories, from 79.9 percent of their walks to 71.7 percent of the home runs.
• The highest percentage lost in any offensive category is triples at 37.5, with five of those by Kristen Struett.
• Forty of the Gamecocks’ 41 stolen bases return.
• In the circle, 53.1 percent of the innings return, most by staff ace Nickie Blue.
• Blue also brings back 61.4 percent of the team’s strikeouts.
• Five newcomers join the squad, led by NJCAA Pitcher of the Year Jessica Elliott.
• The team is dominated by South Carolina natives, with 25 percent of the roster (five players) hailing from the Palmetto State. California is second with four players.
• The Gamecocks hail from 11 states this year, with the newcomers coming from California, Florida, Kentucky and Ohio.
• Nickie Blue and Hayley Copeland are the first Gamecock duo who are both over six-feet tall.
• While both Williams’ and juniors by class, Taylor and Victoria are not sisters.

Scouting Kentucky

• The Wildcats are 19-3 on the season and ranked 17th in this week’s NFCA poll. The entire pitching staff and six starters are back from last year’s team that advanced into the NCAA Super Regionals. Leading the charge is senior pitcher Kelsey Nunley, who has a 0.81 ERA in 51.2 innings of work. She’s struck out 64 and walked 13. Junior southpaw Meagan Prince has been as impressive, striking out 60 against eight walks in 56.1 innings. At the plate, it’s been freshmen Katie Reed and Abbey Cheek doing the most damage. Reed has a team-best .455 batting average and six stolen bases, while Cheek leads the team with 30 RBI and is tied for third with three homers. Senior Nikki Sagermann tops the team with a .530 on-base percentage while ranking third in homers (3) and RBI (16). Senior Christian Stokes and sophomore Brooklin Hinz have four home runs each. Both Hinz and Reed have five doubles. Senior Sylver Samuel leads the team with nine stolen bases and has laid down five sac bunts. Senior Maisie Steed has seven stolen bases and is second on the team with 11 walks. Stokes, after starting for three years, has come out of the lineup some this season, thanks in part to eight errors. Also back is senior Rachel Keller, who has a .317 batting average this season and is one of five Cougars to start all 13 games.

Kentucky and South Carolina Against Common Foes

• Both teams have victories over Winthrop, the Gamecocks a 9-1 win in six on Feb. 21. Kentucky won twice at Winthrop last weekend, 11-0 (5) and 8-0 (5).

Ties Between South Carolina and Kentucky

• Two sets of high-school teammates reunite: Ballard (Ky.) HS alums and freshmen Lex Hull and Madison Kearschner and Chesterfield (S.C.) grads Krystan White and Christian Stokes. UK freshman Abbey Cheek and senior Stokes played with the same Carolina Elite group that trained Gamecock seniors Alaynie Page and Jordan Bizzell, junior Macey Webb and sophomore White. Wildcat sophomore Haley Andrus played on the TN Fury travel-ball team, the same group that Gamecock junior Effie Manahan and freshman Hull spent time with in their youth careers.

SC Series History vs. the Wildcats

• The Gamecocks are 38-22 all-time against the Wildcats, including winning three of the last four in Lexington. In Columbia, South Carolina holds an 18-11 mark. Kentucky did sweep the only series between the teams at Carolina Softball Stadium in 2013.

The Last Series – South Carolina at Kentucky – April 17-18, 2015

• South Carolina won the series at John Cropp Stadium last season, taking the first game 6-4 before winning the finale in 11, 7-6. Alaynie Page hit her SC single-season record-breaking 12th home run in the game-one win, while Lauren Masters started the scoring in the first with a bases-loaded single. No. 14/16 Kentucky took game two 2-0, as Meagan Prince didn’t let the ball out of the infield for the Wildcats (no outfield putouts or assists). Both Kentucky runs came without the benefit of a hit. The first scored on a bases-loaded walk in the first, while the second came after a failed pickoff throw let a runner score from second. SC won the finale, 7-6 in 11 innings, thanks to Page’s extra-inning heroics. Page hit the game-winning home run in the top of the 11th, while she started the game-ending double play in the bottom half. Both Page and Kaylea Snaer had three hits, with both having a double, two of five for the Gamecocks. The series win was SC’s first on the road against a ranked SEC team.

Preseason Nuggets for the Gamecocks

• Fledgling outlet College Sports Madness honored senior Alaynie Page on its Preseason All-America second team, while she also made the Preseason All-SEC team from the site and the league’s coaches.
• Junior Nickie Blue made College Sports Madness’s All-SEC second team in the preseason.
• In a preseason poll of SEC coaches, the Gamecocks ranked 11th of 13. It’s a prediction South Carolina has bettered in each of the previous two seasons.

Gamecock Pitching Making Strides

• Smith’s pupils in the circle have also improved greatly in her first five seasons.
• Gamecock pitching has improved its strikeout-to-walk ratio in each of the past three seasons.
• Junior Nickie Blue, who led the nation in saves as a freshman, posted over 200 innings in the circle and an ERA under 2.00 in 2015, one of two in the SEC to post such numbers (Lauren Haeger of Florida the other).
• Blue’s 165 strikeouts last season rank 14th in Gamecock history.
• Graduate Julie Sarratt put her name in the career top 10 for pitchers in eight major categories, including a tie for third in appearances (142).

Gamecocks Off the Diamond

• The 2015 Gamecocks posted the team’s best GPA at 3.442.
• Thirteen Gamecocks garnered NFCA Scholar-Athlete honors in 2014-15, the most in the past five seasons.
• Victoria Williams became the 16th Gamecock selection to CoSIDA’s Academic All-District team with her pick last year.
• Off the 2015 roster with 22 students, 19 Gamecocks earned SEC Academic Honor Roll nods last year.
• Sophomore Jordyn Augustus is one of 15 South Carolina students on the Columbia campus selected to participate in the Carolina Leadership Initiative for this academic year.
• Many Gamecocks have been on mission trips during their summers, including Augustus, Effie Manahan and Macey Webb.
• The softball team has won the department’s Community Outreach Team of the Year twice under Bev Smith in 2011 and 2013.
• Gamecock signees Mackenzie Boesel, Cayla Drotar and Alexis Lindsey, during their official visit this fall, joined the team and community helping Columbia recover from the historic floods that devastated the Midlands in early October.

Page Soared in 2015

• Last season, left fielder Alaynie Page became the first Gamecock under head coach Beverly Smith to earn NFCA All-America accolades, garnering a spot on the first team.
• Page also gained first-team All-SEC honors from the coaches, the second under Smith (Lauren Lackey, 2012).
• First-team All-SEC honorees Page and Auburn’s Emily Carosone finished 2015 in the top 40 in the country in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
• Page led the team in 12 offensive categories, including batting average (.446), slugging percentage (.826), runs (58), hits (82), doubles (11), triples (7), home runs (15) and RBI (45).
• The Gamecocks’ leadoff hitter reached base 61.5 percent of the time she’s led off an inning.
• Only on three occasions did she not reached base safely in a game (Western Carolina 2/26, No. 21/20 Missouri 3/9, at No. 14/16 Kentucky-1 4/18).
• Page moved runners up at a team-best 60.8 percentage in 79 opportunities.

Awards Poured in for 2015 Gamecocks

• Alaynie Page became South Carolina’s first NFCA All-American in 16 years when she earned a first-team nod.
• She also garnered first-team All-SEC honors, while Tiara Duffy gained a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team in the utility spot.
• Page ranked as the only Gamecock on the NFCA All-Southeast Region team.
• Macey Webb gained a spot on the 2015 SEC Softball Community Service Team.
• Nickie Blue claimed the SEC Pitcher of the Week honor on March 16, 2015.

South Carolina Staff Has Top Credentials

• Gamecock head coach Beverly Smith has been a part of 11 NCAA Tournament teams as a coach (eight at UNC, three at South Carolina).
• Associate head coach Lisa Navas has been to five NCAA Tournaments as an assistant coach (three at SC, one each at UNC and Missouri) and eight as a head coach (six Division II at Barry, two at NC State). Her 1998 Barry squad played in the national championship game.
• Assistant coach Calvin Beamon has three titles to his credit as a player, the biggest a College World Series title at Texas during 2005.
• He also won the NJCAA Division I title in 2003 at the College of Southern Nevada and a high school state championship at Smoky Hill High School in Cherry Creek, Colo.
• Volunteer assistant Tina Plew Whitlock played on the last Gamecock team to make the Women’s College World Series and has coached teams to the NCAA Tournament at the Division II level.

This Is How Tough 2015 Was (Especially in the SEC)

• The Gamecocks played 30 games against teams who made the 2015 NCAA Tournament, with SC going 13-17 in those games.
• The Gamecocks went 22-19 against teams with RPI marks in the top 100, including five wins over top-25 squads (Cal at 20, two vs. Tennessee at 9, two at Kentucky at 25).
• A total of 41 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, 26 were against RPI top-50 teams.
• This year, South Carolina faced regular-season champs from the SEC (Florida), ACC (Florida State), American (UCF), Conference USA (Western Kentucky), Atlantic Sun (USC Upstate) and Big South (Longwood) as well as the tourney champs of the Sun Belt (South Alabama).