Softball hits the road for Clearwater

No. 18 South Carolina softball hits the road for the first time in 2020 this weekend when it travels to Clearwater for the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational starting Thursday at the Eddie C. Moore Complex. Tournament action begins at 12:30 PM on Thursday against No. 17 Texas Tech on SEC Network.

Carolina continues tournament play Friday against Virginia Tech at 10:00 AM on ESPNU before closing the day at 6:00 PM on ESPN3 against Kansas. Saturday showcases the Gamecocks against No. 1 Washington at 8:00 PM on ESPNU.

South Carolina's trip to Clearwater concludes on Sunday with a 12:30 PM first pitch against James Madison.

THE GAMECOCKS

South Carolina comes into the 2020 season looking to build off a 38-19 season in which it reached the regional championship for the fourth-straight season.

Carolina welcomes four newcomers (Ellie Bailey, Bailey Betenbaugh, Hannah Kumiyama, Karsen Ochs) as well as Baylor transfer Kassidy Krupit to a roster that will be looking to replace two starters (Kennedy Clark in the outfield and Dixie Raley in the circle).

The Gamecocks return one of the most experienced middle infields in the country with Kenzi Maguire and Mackenzie Boesel. The two have combined for 352 games played and 348 starts heading into their senior campaign. Broken down, that means the pair has combined to play in 72 percent of all South Carolina games the past four years.

Head coach Beverly Smith returns for her 10th season leading the Gamecocks. She's guided the Gamecocks to seven-straight NCAA trips and four-consecutive regional championships, both of which are school records.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS IS NOTHING NEW FOR SC

South Carolina is 169-43 (.780) over the past six years in games outside the SEC. Notable wins include Texas, Penn State, Houston, Arizona State, North Carolina, Florida State, California, Virginia Tech, USF, Long Beach State, Hofstra and Liberty.

The 165 wins are notable because they account for 64 percent of the Carolina wins during that time (yeah, it's really tough to win SEC games and of course there are more opportunities to win non-conference games. But still).

This year Carolina is set for at least 26 more non-conference games.

Carolina has won 26-straight non-conference games (regular season) as of last weekend.

THE OPENING WEEKEND

South Carolina returned to the field for the first time in 2020 and walked away from four games of the Carolina Classic with four wins. The Gamecocks opened with wins over Ohio State, NDSU, Southern Illinois and UNCG.

Sophomore Madison Owens, still in the process of learning to play in the outfield, posted a team-best .500 batting average on the week with five hits and two RBI.

Kelsey Oh was undoubtably the star of the weekend as she was named SEC Pitcher of the Week for the first time in her career (12th Gamecock ever). She went 3-0 with a 0.47 ERA in 15 innings of work, including a complete-game effort on opening day against Ohio State. She finished the week with 22 strikeouts (Carolina finished with 29 as a staff), including two games (Ohio State and UNCG) with eight. In the 15 UNCG batters faced in four innings on Sunday, she struck out eight.

The team officially welcomed newcomers to Beckham field as Kassidy Krupit (first base), Ellie Bailey (first base), Hanna Kumiyama (left field and DP) and Karsen Ochs (pitcher) made their Carolina debuts this weekend. Krupit recorded her first Carolina home run while Ochs recorded her first appearance in the circle and first strikeout.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS IN THE SUNSHINE STATE

South Carolina has been great historically in Florida when playing non-conference games there under Beverly Smith. Carolina is 41- 11 (.790) in the Sunshine State under Smith and 14-1 over the past two years. (Regular season only).

Carolina returns to Florida this season for the 2020 St. Pete/ Clearwater Elite Invitational. The Gamecocks will face Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, Kansas, Washington and James Madison.

Including postseason games, South Carolina went 7-2 in the state of Florida in 2019 with two wins over ranked USF teams.

This is the third-straight year Carolina has had a tournament in the state of Florida.