The USCB softball team looks to continue its strong start to the 2016 season when the 14th-ranked Sand Sharks host Brewton-Parker for a non-conference doubleheader at 1 p.m. Thursday at Richard Gray Sports Complex. The games originally were scheduled for Wednesday but were postponed due to high winds. USCB has won all six previous meetings with the Barons, including three victories last season. It's the final home date for the Sand Sharks for a month, as they hit the road for doubleheaders at Embry-Riddle (Feb. 12) and Coastal Georgia (Feb. 17) and tournaments in Plant City, Fla.; Hattiesburg, Miss.; and Gulf Shores, Ala.; before hosting Cumberland (Tenn.) on March 10.
FIN FACTS
• The Sand Sharks are 94-14 all-time at Richard Gray Sports Complex, including a 20-3 mark last season and a 2-0 mark in 2016. USCB won its first 15 home games in 2015.
• Senior RHP Ashlie Layman opened the 2016 season with the fourth perfect game in USCB history – the first since 2012 – by retiring all 15 batters she faced in a 14-0 win over Montreat. Layman racked up nine strikeouts and did not allow a ball out of the infield.
• Senior SS Haley Brown picked up where she left off in an outstanding 2015 campaign, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, four runs and four RBIs against Montreat.
• USCB used four pitchers on opening day, matching the number the Sand Sharks have used in each of the past three seasons. The Sand Sharks had more players appear in the circle only in 2012, when USCB used five pitchers. With three pitchers who have yet to see action, that mark is sure to fall quickly.
• Junior RHP Kendall Jumper pitched two perfect innings to earn the save in USCB's 14-6 win in Game 2 against Montreat, becoming the fifth player in program history to record a save.
BY THE NUMBERS
6 – The Sand Sharks rank first in the NAIA (through Tuesday) in six offensive categories – doubles per game (4.5), hits per game (15.5), runs per game (14), RBIs per game (12), batting average (.517) and slugging (.700).
28 – USCB scored 28 runs in a doubleheader sweep of Montreat, its most on opening day since outscoring Wesleyan College 37-1 in a twinbill to begin the inaugural 2012 campaign.
0 – The Sand Sharks did all their damage at the plate against Montreat without the benefit of a home run. USCB did show gap-to-gap power, though, racking up nine doubles and a triple.
MILESTONE WATCH
• Senior OF Missy Hughes ranks sixth in USCB history for hits (149) and runs (88). Hughes went 3-for-7 and scored three runs in a season-opening doubleheader against Montreat.
• Junior 2B Marissa Becker (24) and senior OF Missy Hughes (22) rank fifth and sixth on USCB's career list for stolen bases. Becker swiped 19 bags last season, one short of matching the single-season school record set by Barbara Phillips in 2012.
• With nine strikeouts against Montreat, senior RHP Ashlie Layman now has 287 in her career and needs 13 to join Kristy Cook (522) as the only players in USCB history with 300.
SCOUTING BREWTON-PARKER
The Barons are off to a 1-3 start, having split a doubleheader at Edward Waters (Fla.) before dropping two games against No. 2 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.). They have struggled offensively, managing a total of one run in their three losses. The team returns a number of key players from last season's 22-20 squad, including infielder Whitney Smith (.380 BA, 3 HR, 24 RBIs in 2015), and new coach Randy Crawford has fortified the pitching staff with junior college transfers Taylor Douglass and Luana Imamura.
RELATED LINKS
USCB Schedule and Results
USCB Season Statistics
Sand Shark Softball Record Book
Sun Conference Softball Standings
