Gamecocks To Open Tallahassee Regional On Friday Against USF

COLUMBIA, S.C. —- South Carolina softball will open up the 2019 NCAA Postseason as the No. 2 seed in the Tallahassee Regional on Friday against South Florida. First pitch from Joanne Graf Field is set for noon ET on SEC Network.
 
The Gamecocks and Bulls are joined by host Florida State and Bethune-Cookman. 
 
A limited number of seats are still available through Florida State here. 
 
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

• South Carolina softball will be the No. 2 seed in the Florida State Regional, starting Friday at noon ET on SEC Network against USF. The winner will move on to face the victor between the Seminoles and Bethune-Cookman on Saturday in the winner’s bracket game. 
• Three of the four times (FSU, USF and BCU) finished the season as conference champions. Carolina is 1-0 against the field, USF is 0-1 while BCU and FSU are 0-0. 
• Carolina is one of 13 SEC teams to make the NCAA Postseason this year, the third-straight year the conference has had everyone get in. Six squads (Florida, Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Kentucky) earned national bids. 
• The Tallahassee Regional will be matched with the Stillwater Regional. If the Gamecocks were to advance to the Stillwater Super Regional it would be their third trip to supers in program history and the first time they had gone back-to-back years. If the Cowgirls were to get knocked off and the Gamecocks were to win, Carolina would have the chance to host a super regional of its own next week. South Carolina is 3-6 all-time against Oklahoma State and hasn’t met the Cowgirls since 1998. 

NOTES AND TRENDS HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND

• South Carolina comes into the weekend looking to advance to its third-ever super regional and go back-to-back years for the first time in program history. 
• Carolina comes into the week having hit at least one home run its past nine games and two or more in six of them. Jana Johns as led the way with four in just her past four games. 
• South Carolina is no stranger to the Tallahassee Regional and has found some success there. One of the three WCWS trips for the Gamecocks (1989) started in the Tallahassee Regional as the Gamecocks beat Florida State and Louisiana Tech to advance. The Gamecocks outscored teams 13-5 in the mostly tightly contested games. 
• There have been a couple notable trends this season surrounding the Gamecocks and scoring. Carolina is 26-1 when it scores at least six runs and 27-5 when it scores first. In contrast, the Gamecocks are just 10-16 when scoring less than six runs and 9-11 when the opponent plates one first.

THE GAMECOCKS IN THE TALLAHASSEE REGIONAL

• Carolina is making its fifth overall trip to Tallahassee Regional and its fourth under head coach Beverly Smith. The Gamecocks are 7-7 all-time and 4-6 under Smith. 
• The Gamecocks have actually faced South Florida as many times as they have Florida State at the Tallahassee Regional. Carolina is 1-3 against the Seminoles and 2-2 against the Bulls. It has never played Bethune-Cookman in the postseason but holds an 0-1 record all-time after losing in 2006. 
• Kennedy Clark and Kenzi Maguire are the lone hold outs from the last Carolina team to venture to Tallahassee for a regional. It was the third-straight season the Gamecocks had been sent there. 
• South Carolina reached the region final in 2016, falling to host Florida State in the first Sunday game. It marks just the second time Carolina reached the region final in Tallahassee and the first time since 1989 when it advanced to Sunnyvale, Calif. for the WCWS. 

THIS IS CAROLINA… TRADITION LIVES HERE 

• South Carolina is making its 22nd trip to the postseason, a number that started in 1982. The Gamecocks have reached two super regionals and three WCWS. 
• Carolina rolls into the 2019 postseason with a 43-46 record all-time in those crucial games and a 12-13 mark under Beverly Smith. 
• Fans and opponents have become accustomed to seeing the Gamecocks play on Sundays in the postseason. Carolina has reached the regional final three-straight years. The Gamecocks are 2-2 in those past three Sunday games. 
• A historic trend Carolina will have to change this weekend is its record against host schools in regionals. Since 1982, the Gamecocks are just 2-10 against host schools and 0-6 under Smith. 

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS IN THE SUNSHINE STATE

• South Carolina has been great historically great in Florida when playing non-conference games there under Beverly Smith. Carolina is 41-11 (.790) in the Sunshine State under Smith and 14-1 over the past two years. 
• Speaking of non-conference success in Florida, Carolina has won its past four games over USF. The Gamecocks have outscored the Bulls 23-2 during those contests. 
• The Gamecocks met up with South Florida earlier this year in Tampa, taking down the Bulls 8-1 in the second game of a doubleheader. Alyssa Kumiyama, in just her second at-bat of the year, highlighted the game with a three-run home run in the top of the seventh to push the Gamecocks to their eight runs. She notably hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the first game of the day against Ball State in her first at-bat of the 2019 season. Dixie Raley earned the win in the circle. 
• The last time South Carolina met up with Florida State, the Gamecocks split a pair of games in Columbia during its bye week. Carolina took the first game, 7-2. It marked Carolina’s fourth win ever over a No. 1 ranked team and the first time since 2002. Cayla Drotar notably went 2-for-3 at the plate and earned the victory in the circle. 

LAST 10 REGULAR SEASON GAMES COMING INTO FSU 

• Carolina came into the SEC Tournament with a 6-4 record over its past 10 games while outscoring teams 56-37 with 18 home runs and a .382 team on-base percentage. 
• The Gamecocks took two games from UNCG and a game over USC Upstate over its bye week. Carolina outscored the pair 25-9 with six home runs while slugging .688 in three games. 
• South Carolina dropped its series to Georgia, 2-1. Cayla Drotar had a team-best four RBI. 
• Carolina dropped its series to Missouri, 2-1, over the weekend.

SOUTH CAROLINA STAFF HAS TOP CREDENTIALS 

• South Carolina head coach Beverly Smith has been a part of 14 NCAA Tournament teams as a coach (eight at UNC and six at Carolina). 
• Associate head coach Lisa Navas has been to seven NCAA Tournaments as an assistant coach (five at Carolina, and one each at UNC and Missouri) and eight as a head coach (six Division II at Barry, two at NC State). Navas was selected to be a part of the 2017-19 USA Softball Women’s National Team coaching pool alongside 21 other coaches. 
• Carolina adds hitting coach Kaela Jackson to the staff in 2019. Jackson joins the Gamecocks from Michigan State before her playing days at South Carolina for head coach Beverly Smith. 
• Volunteer assistant Taylor Wike joins the Gamecocks this season from the University of North Carolina. She primarily works with the runners and infield alongside coach Lisa Navas.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS IS NOTHING NEW FOR SC

• South Carolina is 165-43 (.780) over the past six years in games outside the SEC. Notable wins include Texas, Penn State, Houston, Arizona State, North Carolina, Florida State, California, Virginia Tech, USF, Long Beach State, Hofstra and Liberty.  
• The 165 wins in notable because they account for 64 percent of the Carolina wins during that time (yeah, it’s really tough to win SEC games and of course there are more opportunities to win non-conference games. But still). 
• This year Carolina is set for at least 25 more non-conference games. 
• Carolina has won 22-straight non-conference games following the Wednesday night victory over USC Upstate.

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