Gamecocks Close Out Home Stand Against Winthrop

COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 17 South Carolina softball is set to close out an eight-game home stand on Wednesday night when it plays host to Winthrop at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. ET on SECN+ with former Gamecock player and assistant coach Chrissy Schoonmaker and Brad Muller on the call.
 
The Gamecocks are coming off a 6-1 week at home. The game against the Eagles will close out the longest home stand of the 2021 season before Carolina hits the road for North Carolina this weekend.
 
 THE PAST WEEK

• Carolina posted a 6-1 record last week with its lone loss coming to No. 16 Duke to close out the Gamecock Invitational on Sunday. The Gamecocks outscored their foes 59-17 in the seven games with a .353 batting average.
• Carlie Henderson led the way at the plate, hitting .476 on 10 hits with eight runs scored. She finished with four doubles and two triples.
• Kassidy Krupit shined, as well, with a .474 batting average on nine hits with 14 RBI and three home runs.
• In the circle, Rachel Vaughan and Leah Powell picked up two wins each. Bailey Betenbaugh and Karsen Ochs earned victories, too. Kelsey Oh picked up a save.
• The Carolina pitching staff posted a 1.88 ERA in 41.0 innings of work with just 11 earned runs allowed.
• Carolina was a perfect 14-for-14 on stolen bases.
• The Gamecocks earned 41 free bases thanks to 25 walks and 16 hit by pitches.
• As a team, South Carolina had a .474 on-base percentage in the seven games.

THIS IS CAROLINA… TRADITION LIVES HERE

• South Carolina softball has made 22 trips to the postseason, a number that started in 1982. The Gamecocks have reached two super regionals and three WCWS. In conference play, Carolina owns two SEC Championships.
• Carolina rolls into the 2021 season with a 45-48 record all-time in those crucial postseason games and a 14-15 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 four-straight completed years. The Gamecocks are 2-3 in those past five Sunday games.
• A historic trend Carolina will look to change is its record against host schools in regionals. Since 1982, the Gamecocks are just 2-11 against host schools and 0-7 under Smith. On the flip side, South Carolina is 4-2 at home in the postseason under Smith having advanced to just the program’s second super regional in 2018 with two win-or-go-home games against Liberty.

 THE GAMECOCKS

• South Carolina comes into the 2021 season looking to build off a 17-6 shorted season highlighted with wins over Ohio State, Iowa State, No. 8 Michigan and No. 12 Georgia.
• The Gamecocks are set to welcome 10 freshmen to the program (Maddie Gallagher, Carlie Henderson, Kylee Gleason, Zoe Laneaux, Aaliyah White, Skylar Trahan, Leah Powell, Carly Robbins, Riley Blampied and Leslie Carroll.
• Carolina will have nine left-handed batters available in the lineup. It had five in 2020, seven in 2019, eight in 2017 and six in 2016. Of the nine left-handed batters, four (Carlie Henderson, Kylee Gleason, Haley Simpson and Aaliyah White) are listed as slap hitters.
• 13 Georgia natives help make up the Gamecock roster. It’s the most from any single state for the 2021 season. For comparison, Georgia has 14 on its 2021 roster while Georgia Tech has 17.

 THIS NEW CLASS… IT’S A 10/10

• South Carolina will have 10 newcomers on the 2021 roster. The group (Maddie Gallagher, Carlie Henderson, Kylee Gleason, Zoe Laneaux, Aaliyah White, Skylar Trahan, Leah Powell, Carly Robbins, Riley Blampied and Chooch Carroll) bring a mix of power and speed to the plate and plenty of versatility defensively.
• Two newcomers (Gallagher and Blampied) bring national team experience with them after playing on the gold winning U-17 squad this past summer.
• The freshmen class is comprised of five infielders, two outfielders, two pitchers and one catcher.
• Majors in the group include pre-business (Gallagher), retailing (Henderson, Laneaux, Trahan, Powell, Blampied and Carroll), exercise science (Gleason), cardiovascular technology (White) and biological science (Robbins).

 GUESS WHO IS BACK… GO TELL A FRIEND

• They aren’t Slim Shady… but the four 2020 Carolina seniors are back to finish what they started in 2021. Cayla Drotar, Lauren Stewart, Kenzi Maguire and Mackenzie Boesel all announced over the summer they’d be returning.
• With their return, nine of the top-10 individual batting averages from the 2020 season will return for this upcoming year. The returning pitching staff of Bailey Betenbaugh, Drotar, Kelsey Oh and Rachel Vaughan bring back 12 of Carolina’s 17 wins in 2020 (71 percent) and its lone SEC winner in the circle last year (Ochs).
• As a team, Carolina brings back 85 percent of its 2020 runs scored, 86 percent of its hits, 83 percent of its doubles, 85 percent of its home runs and 87 percent of its RBI.
• Boesel returns looking to secure her spot as one of the all-time greats at Carolina. She comes into her final season as one of just five Gamecocks ever to be in the top-10 for 10 or more career offensive records and is on pace to break many of them. Off the field, she’s also a three-time Academic All-American.

 THAT’S… INTERESTING 

• South Carolina will have at least one student-athlete on from the state of California for the 26th-consecutive year dating back to 1994 in 2021. With a signing class that includes two more (Marissa Gonzalez and Emma Sellers), the streak could continue on for three decades.
• Kenzi Maguire’s 2021 season will be her sixth season in Columbia, meaning she’s been here for more than half of the Beverly Smith era (11 years).
• Carlie Henderson won’t be the first in her family to achieve at a high level in sports. Her grandpa, Billy Shaw, played football at Georgia Tech and went on to play offensive line for nine years with the Buffalo Bills before being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. Her father, Chip, played baseball at Shorter University and has been the baseball head coach at Calhoun High School for 26 years. He’s won more than 600 games with three state titles (and had eight players drafted into MLB).
• Maddie Gallagher has actually played for one of her teammates. Maguire was her assistant coach this past year on Gallagher’s travel ball team. The team was coached by Maguire’s dad, Kevin, and was based out of Tampa, Fla., even though Gallagher lived in Port Washington, N.Y.

 MUST WIN AT HOME! AND THE GAMECOCKS DO

• South Carolina is 187-82 (.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 ten years.
• Carolina has finished .500 or better at home seven of Beverly Smith’s ten years.
• South Carolina has not lost double digit games at home in seven years and has won 20 or more six of the past seven seasons (2020 included).

 NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS IS NOTHING NEW FOR SC

• South Carolina is 189-49 (.780) over the past eight 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 189 wins are 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 27 more non-conference games.
• Carolina had won 26-straight non-conference games (regular season) before the loss to Texas Tech in the second weekend of the year.