Gamecocks in eighth place
With its season winding down and the race for the final spot in the Southeastern Conference Tournament heating up, the USC softball team will host No. 16 Kentucky in a three-game series this weekend at Beckham Field.
The top eight teams in the 11-team league (Vanderbilt doesn't compete in softball) advance to the tournament, which will be held at Ole Miss this year. Currently, South Carolina is in ninth place with a 5-14 league record, three games behind Mississippi State (8-11). So, with nine SEC games remaining, the Gamecocks, who are 24-22 overall, need to make up three games on LSU in order to steal the final spot.
That mission begins this weekend against UK, which comes in at 33-10 overall and 11-6 in the league. The Wildcats are the first of three top-25 teams USC will face to close conference play. The path does not get any easier for the Gamecocks, however. USC will host ninth-ranked Florida next weekend before closing the season at No. 24 LSU.
Coach Beverly Smith is glad her team has the ability to control its own destiny.
"The exciting part is it's all within our control," she said. "If we get out and pitch as well as we've been pitching lately, and we're hitting as well, we're just going to need that key hit to win the game."
South Carolina's pitching has been strong recently, allowing no more than four runs in each of the last seven games.
To take the series, USC will have to stifle the UK bats. Catcher Brittany Cervantes is one of the largest contributors to the Wildcats' offense, with 14 home runs and 48 RBIs. Sophomore infielder Kara Dill has 52 hits. While the Gamecocks have been able to limit their opponents to only a few runs per game, getting runs of their own has been a bit harder. Smith said her team needs to get hits in key situations, something that has been missing at times.
However, that may be improving, as last weekend against Arkansas, junior Molly Brossart and freshman Dana Hathorn delivered in clutch moments to help South Carolina win the series.
"Every game is important, but my message to the team has been, 'Let's learn from our mistakes and keep improving,'" Smith said.
South Carolina leads the overall series with Kentucky 33-10, but it has not won a game against the Wildcats since 2009.
Kentucky carries momentum into Columbia, after a remarkable comeback win against Louisville on Wednesday. After being down 7-0, Kentucky stormed back to win 14-8. The Gamecocks are also bringing momentum of their own, after winning Wednesday against Charlotte.
Tonight's first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.