Gamecocks Set To Welcome Tennessee

COLUMBIA, S.C. —- South Carolina softball is set to play host to No. 16 Tennessee on the national stage as the two teams square off with a three-game series this weekend at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. The trio of contests will start Saturday at 6:00 p.m. ET before continuing Sunday at 6:00 p.m. The series finale is set for Monday at 7:00 p.m.
 
The first game will stream on SEC Network+ with Brad Muller and former Carolina standout Chrissy Schoonmaker on the call before shifting over to SEC Network the final two contests with Alex Perlman and Alabama legend Kayla Braud handling the announcing duties.
 
SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE SEC…. AND SOME FUN NOTES

• South Carolina comes into the SEC week with a 261-362 (.413) record all-time in SEC play.
• The Gamecocks have won the SEC once in program history (1997, the first year of the conference). Carolina went 25-1 that year in SEC play on its way to a first-place finish in the SEC East Division.
• Carolina has won 20+ SEC games in a season twice (1997 and 2002) and has won 10+ 13 times (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2014, 2015 and 2018).
• The Garnet and Black posted a 9-14 record in 2019 SEC play. Carolina went 1-2 last year with a series loss to Georgia before the season was ended.
• Over the past nine games, Mackenzie Boesel and Kenzi Maguire have been stellar. The duo is hitting a combined .526 on 30 hits with 14 RBI, 24 runs scored and seven walks.
• South Carolina has now won three-straight games heading into its weekend series with Tennessee.
• Jordan Fabian has been an RBI machine over the past 10 games with a team-best 13 over that stretch. She has three home runs and three doubles.
• You can’t forget about Cayla Drotar during this stretch of 10 games, either. She’s hitting .318 on seven hits with two home runs and 11 RBI.
• Maguire is 8-for-11 (.727) during this three-game winning streak with five runs. Riley Blampied is 5-for-9 with two runs, a home run and four RBI.
• Over the past 10 home games, Maguire is also batting a team-best .577 on 15 hits with 17 runs scored and eight RBI.
• Fabian has been great over the past 10 home games, as well. She’s brought home 17R RBI with three home runs and is slugging .821.
• Leah Powell has been stellar in the past 10 home games, too. She’s posted a 1.11 ERA in 19.0 innings of work with a 2-0 record.
• Kelsey Oh has earned two of the wins in the past six home victories, as well.

 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 Chooch 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’S BACK… BACK AGAIN. 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 197-89 (.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).

 GAMECOCKS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS

• South Carolina is 144-333-1 (.293) against opponents ranked in the NFCA top 25 since 1995.
• Broken down by site, the Gamecocks are 69-112 (.358) at home, 33-149 (.154) on the road and 43-71-1 (.407) in neutral-site outings.
• During the notable 2018 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.
• Last season, the Gamecocks went 2-5 against ranked foes with wins over Michigan and Georgia.