Gamecocks Set To Open SEC Tournament

TUSCALOOSA, AL. —- South Carolina softball is set to open the 2021 SEC Softball Tournament at Rhoads Stadium on the campus of Alabama on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. ET against Auburn. The Gamecocks will be the designated visiting team on SEC Network with Eric Frede (play-by-play), Amanda Scarborough (analyst), and Jalyn Johnson (sideline reporter) on the call.
 
Live stats will be provided through gamecocksonline.com while fans can also catch the game nationally via radio on XM 190, Online 961 + SEC Radio.
 
While first pitch is currently scheduled for 7, weather forecasts in the Tuscaloosa area could possibly change the game day timeline. Fans should continue to check with gamecocksoline.com and the team’s social media accounts for the latest updates on game times throughout the week.
 
The winner of Tuesday’s contest will move on to face LSU 35 minutes after the conclusion of the first game of the day on Wednesday (which starts at noon ET between Ole Miss and Mississippi State) on SEC Network.
 
South Carolina 1-1 this year against Auburn and has not faced LSU.
 
GAMECOCKS IN THE SEC… AND OTHER FUN NOTES

• 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.
• South Carolina comes into the 2021 SEC Softball Tournament with a 20-22 record all time in the tournament and has earned five wins under the direction of head coach Beverly Smith.
• Carolina set the tone for the tournament, taking home the first conference tournament title in 1997 as Trinity Johnson earned Tournament MVP honors in Columbus, Ga. The Gamecocks have two SEC Tournament championships to their names. The first coming in 1997 and the second just three years later in 2000. Megan Matthews Buning was honored as the Tournament MVP while Joyce Compton coached the Gamecocks to both championships.
• SC has reached the finals four times (1997, 2000, 2001 and 2018). That mark is the fifth-most appearances in the finals.
• Carolina owns the sixth-most SEC Tournament wins in league history.
• As go Kenzi Maguire and Mackenzie Boesel… As goes the South Carolina offense this year. In South Carolina’s 25 wins this season, both players are batting above .500 (Maguire at .573 on 43 hits and Boesel at .513 on 40 hits) with a combined 77 runs (37 percent of the team’s runs), 22 doubles (48 percent of the team’s doubles), six home runs, 56 RBI (30 percent of the team’s RBI), 19 walks and 18 hit by pitches. In those 25 games, Maguire has a .656 on-base percentage while Boesel’s is .600.
• The Gamecocks are 1-1 against Auburn this year after opening the season against the Tigers at North Florida. Kassidy Krupit finished 3-for-7 with two doubles and five RBI against Auburn. Boesel posted a 3-for-5 performance against the Tigers with three runs, a double and an RBI. She slugged 1.400 with three walks on her way to a .750 on-base percentage.
• Karsen Ochs earned the victory in the circle against Auburn. She went 7.0 innings with five runs on six hits with two strikeouts.
• Carolina currently sits at 44 in the RPI. The lowest ranked team according to RPI in the SEC to make the postseason tournament since 2012? Texas A&M at 50. The average SEC RPI this season is 17.23, the lowest for the conference since 2018 and second best over the past nine years.
• All 13 SEC teams have made the postseason the past three times the tournament was held.
• The 2019 Texas A&M team that made the postseason:  28-25 overall, 46 non-conference RPI, 2-11 road record, 6-21 vs. Top 50, 14-25 vs. Top 100; The 2021 South Carolina team: 25-25 overall, 4-11 road record, 7-24 vs. Top 50, 7-24 vs. Top 100.
• 31 out of 50 South Carolina games this year (62 percent) have been played against Top 35 RPI teams.