Softball | April 18, 2023

Each week, USC Aiken will produce softball notes. The Pacers play at Georgia Southwestern in the regular-season finale series on Apr. 22 and Apr. 23.

Recapping Last Week

Last week, USC Aiken hosted Flagler in the home finale series. The Pacers went 1-2 in a tightly contested series. Head coach Jaclin Poole's team lost the opener 4-3 before bouncing back for a 5-2 win in the nightcap of the doubleheader. USC Aiken lost a 5-1 decision in the series finale.

Skylar Is Superb

Junior Skylar Morley posted a team-best .625 batting average in three games against Flagler last weekend. She went five-for-eight at the plate and scored a team-best three runs. She slugged a team-high .625 and had a team-best .667 on-base percentage. Additionally, she had five putouts without an error and drove in a run.

Half The Time

In the three-game series against Flagler, senior Jessica Stanley recorded 12 at bats from her lead-off spot in the order, which was most on the team. She promptly responded with six hits, which topped the team. Additionally, her six total bases were the most on the squad.

More On Stanley

Jessica Stanley missed nearly a month of games – not playing from Feb. 9 through March 2. Since returning to the line-up on March 3, Stanley is batting .362 (34-94). In the last two weeks – against Augusta and Flagler – Stanley is batting .609 (14-23).

Complete-Game Win

Against Flagler, sophomore Lakyn Phillips started game two of the doubleheader and promptly tossed a complete game, picking up the victory. In the 95-pitch effort, Phillips struck out five and gave up just one earned run on four hits.

100

In the win over Flagler on Apr. 15, Emily Ayers ripped a single to center field. The base hit drove in Jessica Stanley. The RBI marked the 100^th for Ayers in her historic career. With the RBI, Ayers became the fourth student-athlete in school history to reach the mark. The other three include Hall of Fame standout Jessica Strickland (151), Hannah Price (115) and Samantha Chubb (105).

Making History (Record Book)

Heading into the final week of the regular season, several student-athletes have etched their names in the USC Aiken record book. Emily Ayers moved into a tie for ninth for doubles in a career (31). She's also third in home runs (21), fourth in RBI (100), ninth in total bases (247) and 10^th in sacrifice flies (4). Defensively, she's seventh in chances (819) and fifth in putouts (716).

Holly Daum is fifth in sacrifice hits (25) and 10^th in sacrifice flies (4). Mallory Shaver is ninth in home runs (15).

In the circle, Payton Baker moved into ninth for strikeouts (235) and sixth in saves (2). Lakyn Phillips is third in saves (3), seventh in strikeouts (308) and ninth in shutouts (8).  

Inside The Numbers

This week, USC Aiken plays at Georgia Southwestern on Saturday, Apr. 22 and Sunday, Apr. 23. Since moving to Division II, the Pacers are 229-197 in Saturday games (53.8 percent) and 121-145 (45.5 percent) in Sunday contests. During the same time, the team is 3-6 on Apr. 22 and 4-6 on Apr. 23.

Against The Opponent

This week, USC Aiken plays at Georgia Southwestern on Saturday, Apr. 22 and Sunday, Apr. 23. The Pacers hold an 18-14 edge in the all-time series.