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Ashton Payne

  • position U
  • height 5-6
  • class Junior
  • Hometown Richmond, Va.
  • High school Godwin
  • position U
  • height 5-6
  • class Junior
  • Hometown Richmond, Va.
  • High school Godwin

Ashton Payne Bio

Payne’s Career Statistics
Payne’s 2008 Game-by-Game Statistics
Payne’s 2009 Game-by-Game Statistics

  • 2009 Third-Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America as selected by CoSIDA
  • 2009 First-Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III as selected by CoSIDA
  • 2008 Second-Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America as selected by CoSIDA
  • 2008 First-Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III as selected by CoSIDA
  • 2008 Second-Team Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Southeast Region
  • 2009 SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll
  • 2008 SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll
  • 2008 SEC Softball Community Service Team
  • 2007 Second-Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III as selected by CoSIDA
  • 2007 SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll
  • SEC Freshman of the Week (Feb. 27, 2006)
  • 2006 SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll

2009 (SENIOR): Started 23 games and appeared in three others during her senior season…Drew 11 of those starts at second, 10 at designated player and two in the outfield…Finished the season with a .304 batting average, which would have finished second on the team with the proper number of at bats…Tied for the team lead with two triples…Her 24 hits finished fourth on the team…Went 3-for-4 in the season opener against College of Charleston (2/7), knocking two doubles…Posted four other two-hit days, including in both games on Feb. 13 in the UCF Tournament against No. 25 Kansas and Bradley…Drove in a pair of runs in the win over Bowling Green (2/14)…Went 2-for-2 with a run against Houston (2/27)…Her final home game was a 2-for-4 outing against Georgia (3/22)…Earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America third-team honors after her third-straight district award from CoSIDA…Earned a spot on the Southeastern Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll. 2008 (JUNIOR): The only Gamecock to play in all 47 games, Payne started 46 of those and led the team in batting average (.348), runs scored (23), hits (55), doubles (7), triples (6) and total bases (74)…Ranked second on the team in on-base percentage (.372), slugging percentage (.468) and stolen bases (3)…Had 16 multi-hit games, most on the squad…Hit a team-best .360 with the bases empty…Also led the squad with a .318 average during SEC play, scoring 10 runs while hitting three doubles and four triples…Versatile player drew starts at second and in both corner outfield positions…Compiled an 18-game hitting streak that started with a pinch-hitting appearance against Western Carolina and ended during a perfect game in game two at No. 22/20 Georgia (2/13-3/15)…Had three hits twice during that stretch, against Cal Poly (2/15) and Wright State (2/24)…Scored runs in six straight from the Wright State game through the first game against Arkansas (2/24-3-8)…Went 2-for-3 against Florida ace Stacey Nelson in the first game in Gainesville (3/26), starting a seven-game hitting skein…Had two hits on four occasions and three hits once during that streak…Went 5-for-12 with three runs, an RBI and a triple in the series sweep at Kentucky (3/29-30)…Tripled in a 2-for-4 game while scoring two runs at Winthrop (4/2)…Ended the season on a four-game hitting streak, which included a 3-for-4 game against LSU…Picked to the SEC Softball Community Service Team…Earned a spot on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III first team and on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-South Region second team…Also voted onto the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America second team. 2007 (SOPHOMORE): Started all 59 games in which she played…Tied for the team lead in hits (61) while leading the squad with 13 stolen bases…Also led the Gamecocks in triples with five…Ranked second in batting average (.308), slugging percentage (.394), on-base percentage (.338) and total bases (78)…Stood third with her 23 runs scored and fourth with 17 RBI…Led the squad with 16 multi-hit games and tied for second with four multi-RBI outings…Started 23 games at second base and 36 games in right field…Topped the squad with her .444 average with runners on base…Tallied a team-best .435 average with runners in scoring position…Ranked second on the team with a .556 average (5-for-9) with a runner on third and less than two outs…Finished the year tops on the squad in advancing runners at a .568 clip…Hit .300 from the leadoff spot, batting there in 47 games…Started the season on a seven-game hitting streak…Went 9-for-20 with four runs scored in the Florida Atlantic Kick-Off Classic…Had a team-best nine-game hitting streak that started against Jacksonville (2/17) and ended after just one at-bat against Charlotte (3/3)…Followed that with a five-game skein…Compiled a 2-for-5 outing with two runs scored to kick off the hitting streak in the victory over Jacksonville (2/17)…Had identical 2-for-4 lines with a run and an RBI in both games of the doubleheader against College of Charleston (2/22)…Had a triple, a run scored and 2 RBI against East Tennessee State (2/24)…Hit her first career home run, a three-run blast, in the game two win at Arkansas (3/10)…Went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored in the series finale at Mississippi State (4/1)…Went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI in the weekend capper against Georgia (4/15)…Caught fire again in the NCAA Tournament, hitting .364 in seven games with two triples and two RBI…Both runs batted in came in the Columbia Regional clincher against No. 20 Oregon (5/20)…Ended the year on a four-game hitting streak…Earned SEC Academic Honor Roll honors for the second consecutive year. 2006 (FRESHMAN): Led the team in stolen bases and runs scored (29)…Her 15 stolen bases tied the most by a Gamecock since 2004 and were the most by a freshman since Christie Dammer (19) in 1994…Named SEC Freshman of the Week (2/26) for her efforts in helping lead USC to a 3-1 week as she went 7-for-14 and hit .500…Also scored five of USC’s 16 runs, went 3-for-3 in stolen bases, hit a triple and had three RBI…Scored a team-high three runs in game against Winthrop (2/15)…Also in that game, she stole a career-high two bases…Hit safely in the first eight games of the season…Reached base safely in nine straight games…Scored twice on a wild pitch…Scored a run in six of her first eight games. HIGH SCHOOL: A four-year letter winner in softball at Godwin H.S. for coach Walter Pettus…Hit .513 as a senior, .465 as a junior, .504 as a sophomore and .342 as a freshman…During her junior year, the team advanced to the state semifinals…Four-time all-district…Four-time all-academic…Three-time all-region…Two-time Team MVP…Two-time Best Defensive Player…Best Offensive Player during sophomore season…Two-time all-metro…Played travel ball for the Richmond Diamonds. PERSONAL: Full name is Ashton Leigh Payne…Parents are Bill and Angela…Has a brother named Erik, who plays baseball for the Gamecocks starting in 2011…Major is biology.