No. 20 South Carolina is looking to host the No. 19 Arkansas Razorbacks this weekend in their first SEC weekend series.
First pitch coming at 6:00 PM in Columbia South Carolina, and the first true weekend test of the year.
Hitting is pretty reliable so far this season
The Ladies in Garnet and Black are coming in hot off winning the Carolina Classic at Chapel Hill, and the bats are proving to be working. Having the fourth best batting percentage in the SEC, and 11 RBI’s on the season as of late.
This team has a collective batting average of .317, with 118 runs on 131 hits. When the bats get base runners, these girls know how to get runs. Arkansas on the other hand is tied for 6th in the SEC with strikeouts brining 74 with them to Columbia this weekend.
This Arkansas Team on the pitching side is tied for 10th when it comes to walks allowed (41) and runs allowed (59), and 11th in runs earned (46). This pitching crew for Arkansas isn’t the best but is not to be slept on seeing as they have struck out 120 batters.
Pitching has got stay strong
This Arkansas team is the real deal when they come to the box, 11th in the SEC in batting average at .302, 13th in stolen bases, but when you realize they’ve only attempted 3 steals on the season and lead the SEC in home runs (47) and walks (81) they don’t necessarily need to.
This team is an all or nothing type of batting lineup and it shows in the statistics. Lady Yardcock pitchers Bailey Betenbaugh, Leah Powell, and Rachel Vaughn have got to hold strong through the weekend and keep the Arkansas batters honest keeping the ball in play.
This pitching core has allowed 131 hits and 118 runs on the season. They have sat 88 batters down on strikeouts and keeping a batting average at .332.
Allowing double plays and home runs cannot continue if these girls want a shot at beating Arkansas and reaching the top 15. Keeping the errors low is crucial as they’ve won that all season (11-19).
Conclusion
This series is going to be a dog fight. The Gamecock bats vs Arkansas bats. Who has a field day and who can get off the field faster?
The Lady’s can potentially walk away from this winning the series, but only time will tell. One thing is for Sure Mackenzie Boesel, Kassidy Krupit, and Carlie Henderson have got to bring their big bats all weekend long.