Gamecocks Open SEC Tournament Wednesday Against Mississippi State

AUBURN, Ala. – The South Carolina softball team kicks off its SEC Tournament Wednesday, when the 11th seeded Gamecocks take on the No. 6 seed Mississippi State. First pitch will be 35 minutes after the conclusion of the Auburn vs Georgia game (approx. 8 p.m.)

RV South Carolina Gamecocks 33-21, 8-16 SEC
Coach: Beverly Smith | 14th Season
AVG Leader: .355 | Carlie Henderson
RBI Leader: 33 | Riley Blampied
Home Run Leader: 6 | Riley Blampied
ERA Leader: 0.86 | Reganne Bennett
Strikeout Leader: 104 | Sage Mardjetko
Wins Leader: 15 | Alana Vawter

Series History: Mississippi State leads 37-34
Last Meeting: South Carolina 3, Mississippi State 1 | April 7, 2024 | Columbia, S.C.
All-Time Record in the SEC Tournament: 27-25

LEADING OFF

• The 2024 season will be the 51st season for the Carolina Softball team.
• South Carolina made history during the 2023 SEC Tournament, becoming the lowest seed to ever reach the finals and becoming the first double-digit seed to play in the championship game.
• The Gamecocks continue to receive votes in the two main polls this week by NFCA/USA Today and by ESPN/USA Softball.
• The Gamecocks turned their 30th double play of the season over the weekend, one off the program record from 2018.
  • Carolina turned four double plays against Florida on April 21, tying a program record for the second time this season. They also turned four at Ole Miss on 3/29.
  • They’re the only team in D1 to turn four double plays in a game twice this season.
  • They rank 9th in the nation in double plays per game and 5th in overall DP’s.
• Carolina played 10 innings on Sunday, marking the fifth time this season they have played 10-plus innings, tied with Dayton for the most in Division I.
• It’s tied for the most 10-plus inning games in a season in program history (1986).
• It was their ninth extra inning game, tied for second most in DI. (Merrimack, 10).
  • It’s tied with 2002 for the fourth most extra inning games in program history (1989-10, 2000-11, and 2001-13).
• Carolina is coming off a streak of 13 consecutive games against a top-25 opponent.
  • It’s the third straight season playing 10+ games in-a-row against a ranked foe.
  • It’s the longest stretch of games against top-25 foes in program history (11 twice)
• Sage Mardjetko was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for her performance against then-No. 21 Kentucky.
• The series win over then-No. 21 Kentucky was Carolina’s first in the series since 2015.
• Alana Vawter was named the SEC Pitcher of the Week on April 2.
• Carolina turned a triple play in the third inning against Charleston Southern, the first in the recorded history of Carolina softball (since at least 2000).
  • It was the fourth triple play recorded this season in Division I.
• The Gamecocks swept Ole Miss, their first SEC road sweep since 2013 (4/26-28, at Mississippi State).
• The Gamecocks earned a walk-off win over Winthrop on April 3 in 11 innings.
• The Gamecocks won earlier this season at Clemson 6-4 in 12 innings.
  • It was the longest game for Carolina since a 4-3 loss to Arkansas on April 15, 2000.
• 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 Division I and second among all NCAA players in:
  • Game started: 124
  • Innings pitched: 846
• Ranks second in DI and fifth overall in complete games (83)
• Ranks third in DI and sixth overall in wins (92)
• Ranks third in DI and NCAA in appearances with 164
• Ranks fourth in DI and 12 overall in shutouts (29)
• Ranks 18th in DI in ERA with a 1.79
• Ranks 20th in DI and 46th overall in strikeouts at 621

OUCH…THAT HURT!

• Jen Cummings ranks 5th in DI with 50 career hit by pitches.
• She also ranks 12th among all divisions.

GAMECOCKS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS

• South Carolina is 170-394-1 (.302) against opponents ranked in the NFCA top 25 since 1995.
• Broken down by site, the Gamecocks are 82-138 (.373) at home, 43-182 (.191) on the road and 46-73-1 (.388) in neutral-site outings.
• This season, they’ve defeated #21 Kentucky (twice), #10 Florida, #17 Arkansas, #16 Mississippi State, #11 Clemson, #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).

SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL RECORD

• South Carolina has played 2,630 games in its softball history, going 1,690-933-7 (.644) in its 51 years of history.
• The Gamecocks have posted 30 or more wins in nine of the past 12 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 10 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.