No. 23 Gamecocks Travel to No. 11 Clemson Wednesday Night

CLEMSON, S.C. – The 23rd ranked South Carolina softball team travels to No. 11 Clemson Wednesday for a 6 p.m. first pitch in game one of their Palmetto Series Presented by the South Carolina Education Lottery.

#23 South Carolina Gamecocks 21-7, 0-3 SEC
Coach: Beverly Smith | 14th Season
AVG Leader: .385 | Carlie Henderson
RBI Leader: 20 | Riley Blampied
Home Run Leader: 4 | Reganne Bennett
ERA Leader: 0.68 | Reganne Bennett
Strikeout Leader: 68 | Sage Mardjetko
Wins Leader: 7 | Alana Vawter

#11 Clemson Tigers 20-6, 4-1 ACC
Coach: John Rittman | 5th Season
AVG Leader: .308 | Valerie Cagle
RBI Leader: 25 | Valerie Cagle
Home Run Leader: 7 | McKenzie Clark
ERA Leader: 0.51 | Regan Spencer
Strikeout Leader: 73 | Valerie Cagle
Wins Leader: 7 | Valerie Cagle

Series Information
Series History: Clemson leads 5-1
Last Meeting: Clemson 4, South Carolina 3 | March 11, 2023 | Columbia, S.C.

All-Time Meetings
4/21/1979 – H – W, 24-5
4/21/2021 – H – L, 6-0
3/30/2022 – A – L, 8-1
4/12/2022 – H – L, 3-1
3/28/2023 – A – L, 10-0 (5)
4/11/2023 – H – L, 4-3

LEADING OFF

• The 2024 season will be the 51st season for the Carolina Softball team.
• Carolina received votes in three polls this week. They are ranked No. 23 by NFCA/USA Today and No. 25 by by ESPN/USA Softball and Softball America.
• This will be the first game of a home-and-home series in the Palmetto Series Presented by the South Carolina Education Lottery.
• Game two of the series will be in Columbia on April 9.
• The Gamecocks are 0-2 all-time at Clemson.
• South Carolina’s lone victory in the series came on April 21, 1979 in a 24-5 victory in Columbia.
• Carolina combined to shutout then-No. 24 Boston U last Thursday, earning a 3-0 victory in eight innings.
  • It was the first time the Terriers had been shut out all season and only their second loss.
• The Gamecocks recorded three straight shutouts on the weekend.
• Jori Heard threw a perfect game in the 4-0 win over Bethune-Cookman on March 2. It was the first 7-inning perfect game in Division I this season.
  • Heard’s perfect game is the 11th in program history, as she becomes the seventh Gamecock pitcher to earn perfection.
  • It was the first perfect game for South Carolina since Melissa Hendon against Pittsburgh on March 4, 2007.
  • Six of Carolina’s 10 previous perfect games came between 1995 and 1997 and were thrown by either Trinity Johnson (5) or Darlene Gareis (2).

VAWTER ON THE NATIONAL STAGE

Alana Vawter joined the Gamecocks after an outstanding four-year career at Stanford. Her awards list in long, but she also ranks among the nation’s active career leaders in a myriad of pitching categories:

She ranks first in not only Division I but among all NCAA players in game started with 113

• Leads DI and is second overall in Innings pitched (745.3)
• Ranks second in DI and fourth overall in wins (85)
• Ranks third in DI and sixth overall in shutouts (28)
• Ranks third in DI and fifth overall in complete games (76)
• Ranks fifth in DI and NCAA in appearances with 144
• Ranks 13th in DI in ERA with a 1.74
• Ranks 15th in DI and 34th overall in strikeouts at 574

OUCH…THAT HURT!

• Jen Cummings ranks 3rd in DI with 47 career high by pitches.
• She also ranks 5th among all divisions.

GAMECOCKS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS

• South Carolina is 164-383-1 (.300) against opponents ranked in the NFCA top 25 since 1995.
• Broken down by site, the Gamecocks are 80-130 (.381) at home, 39-179 (.179) on the road and 46-73-1 (.388) in neutral-site outings.
• This season, they’ve defeated #24 Boston U and #13 Utah.
• In 2023, the Gamecocks went 12-16 against ranked opponents. Earning victories over #3 Florida State, #4 Tennessee, #13 Georgia, #11 Florida (twice), #14 LSU, #16 Alabama, #16 Auburn (twice), and #23 Texas A&M (three).

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS IS NOTHING NEW FOR SC

• South Carolina is 265-69 (.793) over the past nine years in games outside the SEC. Notable wins include Boston U, Utah, Texas, Penn State, Houston, Arizona State, North Carolina, Florida State, California, Virginia Tech, USF, Long Beach State, Hofstra, Liberty, and UCF.
• Carolina had won 26-straight non-conference games (regular season) before a loss to Texas Tech in the second weekend of the 2020 season.

SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL RECORD

• South Carolina has played 2,604 games in its softball history, going 1,678-919-7 (.646) in its 51 years of history.
• The Gamecocks have posted 30 or more wins in eight of the past 10 full seasons under the direction of head coach Beverly Smith.
• Carolina has protected home well, also, with 17 or more victories coming in friendly confines each of the past eight full years.

For the latest on South Carolina Softball, visit GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team’s social media accounts on Twitter @GamecockSoftbll, Facebook /GamecockSoftball, and Instagram @GamecockSoftball.