Carolina Set To Play Host To Georgia For Senior Weekend

COLUMBIA, S.C. —- No. 14 South Carolina softball is set to play host to No. 15 Georgia for senior weekend this Friday through Sunday at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. Carolina opens the series Friday at 6:00 PM ET on SEC Network while the Saturday contest is set for 12:00 PM ET on ESPN2. The series concludes Sunday at 3:00 PM ET on ESPN2. 
 
The Gamecocks will honor seniors Kennedy Clark and Dixie Raley throughout the weekend. Raley will be honored prior to the Saturday game while Clark will be recognized before the Sunday contest. 
 
Carolina comes into the game riding a five-game winning streak and has won four of its past six SEC games. 
 
Fans are encouraged to park in the Heyward Street Parking Garage for all three games. 
 

THE GAMECOCKS 

• Carolina comes into the 2019 season looking to build upon a 49-17 season in which the Gamecocks reached the program’s second ever super regional after winning the Columbia Regional. 
• The Gamecocks welcome five freshmen and transfer Katie Prebble to the program this season to bring the Gamecocks to 19 active members. 
• Head coach Beverly Smith has been keeping the local talent home recently, as the Gamecocks have five South Carolina natives on roster and two of the last three South Carolina Gator Players of the Year. 
• Carolina won’t be lacking arms this season with five available coming into the new season, leaving 14 fielders. Freshman Rachel Vaughan comes in as coach Smith’s first left-handed pitcher during her time at South Carolina. 

THE UPCOMING WEEKEND 

• The Gamecocks come out of their SEC bye week following five-straight wins. Carolina is set for three games at home this weekend starting on Friday against Georgia. The Gamecocks will honor Dixie Raley on Saturday and Kennedy Clark on Sunday. President Pastides in notably set to throw the first pitch on Sunday. 
• South Carolina continued SEC play two weekends ago, as it earned its first road series win of the year over No. 12 Auburn. It marked the first time under Beverly Smith the Gamecocks dropped the Friday night game of a series on the road against a ranked team and came back to win the series.
• Carolina returns to SEC action this weekend when it plays host to No. 22 Georgia for its senior weekend. Carolina will honor seniors Kennedy Clark and Dixie Raley throughout the weekend as all three games of the series will be on national television starting April 26. 
• South Carolina comes into the week with the 13th-most home runs per game in the country and 12th-best slugging percentage. Jana Johns is 22nd in the NCAA for on-base percentage while Cayla Drotar is fourth in saves. 

NOTES AND TRENDS HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND 

• South Carolina comes into the weekend looking to build upon a five-game winning streak as the Gamecocks have won nine of their last 11 games coming into its next SEC weekend. 
• As a team Carolina is hitting .342 over the last 10 games with an 8-2 record. The Gamecocks have outscored opponents 64-36 during that stretch with 15 home runs. 
• Madison Owens has been great at the plate during the last 10 games with a .423 batting average (team-best) with 11 hits, seven runs scored and three RBI. Jana leads the squad with four home runs and a .538 on-base percentage. Cayla Drotar has led the way in the circle with four wins. 
• There have been a couple notable trends this season surrounding the Gamecocks and scoring. Carolina is 26-0 when it scores at least six runs and 25-3 when it scores first. In contrast, the Gamecocks are just 8-12 when scoring less than six runs and 9-9 when the opponent plates one first. 

THE ARGUMENT TO HOST – THERE’S STILL A CHANCE 

• With six games remaining in the regular season, it’s still too soon to count Carolina out of the hosting conversation. 
• 23% of Carolina’s 34 wins have come against the RPI Top-25; 26 % have come from the RPI-50. 44% of the wins have come against 2018 tournament teams. 
• To go along with some good wins, South Carolina hasn’t had a bad loss this year with Baylor (No. 58 RPI) being the lowest RPI loss. 
• Carolina has six games left against the RPI top-50.

THANK YOU SENIORS 

• South Carolina will honor its two seniors on Saturday and Sunday with Dixie Raley’s day set for Saturday and Kennedy Clark’s on Sunday. 
• The pair have won 83 games together over the past two year (Raley transferred in) and helped Carolina reach its second-ever super regional. 
• Kennedy Clark stands second all-time for fielding percentage in a career at South Carolina for an outfielder. 
• Dixie Raley is the only pitcher under Beverly Smith to beat Alabama twice in a career. 

THE BYE WEEK 

• Carolina took home three wins over its SEC bye week after defeating USC Upstate and UNCG twice. 
• The Gamecocks outscored opponents 25-9 over the course of the three games with a .400 batting average with six home runs. 
• Karly Heath led the way at the plate batting .778 on seven hits with four runs, two homers, three RBI and a .800 on-base %. 
• Four batters (Heath, Kennedy Clark, Jana Johns and Madison Owens) hit .500 or better on the week.

MUST WIN AT HOME! AND THE GAMECOCKS DO

• South Carolina is 166-78 (.665) at home during the Beverly Smith era, which does not include a 4-1 record at home while hosting a regional at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. 
• The Gamecocks have lost more than 10 games at home in a single season just three times in her eight years. 
• Carolina has finished .500 or better at home seven of Beverly Smith’s nine years. 
• South Carolina has not lost double digit games at home in six years, and has won 20 or more the past six seasons.

GAMECOCKS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS 

• South Carolina is 139-317-1 (.293) against opponents ranked in the NFCA top 25 since 1995. 
• Broken down by site, the Gamecocks are 65-102 (.358) at home, 32-147 (.154) on the road and 43-67-1 (.407) in neutral-site outings.
• Last season, the Gamecocks went 8-14 against ranked teams, including an 8-1 record in home games. The Gamecocks notably swept Tennessee and Mississippi State in home series against ranked teams last year. The Gamecocks also took two of three games against Arkansas, as well. 
• In road games, the Gamecocks notably won a road series at Ole Miss to star the SEC season and earned their first win over Texas A&M since 2015.