Snaer Receives NCAA Statistical Champion Plaque

Sept. 2, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Gamecock rising senior first baseman Kaylea Snaer received her 2016 NCAA Statistical Champion plaque, as she topped NCAA Division I in doubles per game in a record-setting year.

The Rowland Heights, Calif., native posted a program- and SEC-record 27 doubles in a season where she led the team in eight offensive categories. That doubles total surpassed former All-American Tina Plew (21) on South Carolina’s charts and Georgia’s Megan Wiggins and Tennessee’s Kelli Fitzgerald (23). Her total tied for fourth in NCAA Division I history for a single season, two shy of Fresno State’s Nina Lindenberg, who tallied 29 back in 1996.

“I was proud because Coach Bev (Smith) told me that both I and the university receive something to honor this,” said Snaer. “I was happy I contributed to the program, and it was a nice surprise to start our fall.”

Snaer is the second member of her recruiting class to gain an NCAA stat leader award, as teammate Nickie Blue claimed one in 2014, her freshman season, for her seven saves.

Entering 2017, Snaer will be tied for third in career doubles among active NCAA Division I players, tied with two others in the SEC, Mississippi State’s Caroline Seitz and Auburn’s Kasey Cooper. She’s 15 away from tying Plew’s career record at South Carolina with 58 two-base hits, just one of a handful of records she could reach before the end of her career.

The Gamecocks bring back six starting position players and all but one inning of work in the circle from last year’s 38-23 team that made the program’s 19th trip all-time and fourth straight to the NCAA Tournament.