Blue named SEC freshman of week for weekend performances
The South Carolina softball team closed out Sunday’s game against UNC Wilmington in dramatic fashion and capped off the weekend with its fourth win as many games, securing their place as the unofficial winners of the Gamecock invitational. With a runner in scoring position and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, freshman pitcher Nickie Blue calmly stepped to the mound and got the batter to ground out to the shortstop, ending the game.
In the other three contests, which the Gamecocks won by a combined score of 18-0, they gave up no runs and dominated all aspects of the games, especially from the hill. In fact, the only run allowed all weekend came off an error in game four.
Freshman phenom Kaylea Snaer also had another great weekend at the plate, totaling two RBI, five hits, and three runs. Snaer, who leads the team in almost every statistical category, brought her batting average up to an impressive .463 over the weekend and is on pace to break any and all batting records for freshman at South Carolina.
With everything that the Gamecocks did so well over the weekend, it would be rather difficult to pinpoint one area of their game that stood out among the others. Coach Beverly Smith, however, was most proud of that clutch win on Sunday.
“I thought it was great,” Smith said. We haven’t had one of those really close games yet so I’m glad we were able to close it out and I thought we definitely showed a little bit of resolve, which every great softball team needs. So this was a good win for us.”
Smith also spoke about the role her pitching staff played in earning those four victories and expressed her overall pleasure with her team’s performance.
“I’m really proud of the way this team played this weekend,” Smith said. “Obviously when you play four games and win all of them you’re going to be happy, but I thought our pitching was incredible. Nickie and Julie (Sarratt) played great and only allowed one run all weekend on that error. So yeah I thought the defense was solid and I’m glad we came out unscathed.”
When asked about how the team’s play matched their potential, Smith seemed confident that they hadn’t even scratched the surface of how dominant they can be by the end of the year and that she likes the direction they’re headed in.
Blue, who was named SEC Freshman of the Week for her showing over the weekend, also chimed in on the success she and Sarratt shared.
“Julie and I look to get ahead on batters,” Blue said, “And like I said earlier, make them hit our pitches and I think we both did a good job of hitting our spots.”
She also went on to say how she had full faith and confidence in her defense this weekend, especially in the last inning against UNC Wilmington.
On Tuesday, the Gamecocks will entertain a visit from 3-6 Western Carolina for a doubleheader that will make up for an the earlier matchup that was postponed due to icy conditions. The Catamounts hope to get their first road victory of the year while the Gamecocks will try to extend their home winning streak to eioght games when the two teams meat at 3:00 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.