The No. 14 Arkansas softball team will be on the road this weekend to take on No. 25 South Carolina in a three-game series at Columbia, S.C.
The Razorbacks (28-10, 7-5 SEC) took 2 of 3 games against then-No. 11 Missouri last weekend.
Senior right-hander Morgan Leinstock was named SEC co-pitcher of the week after she won both starts against the Tigers and recorded a 1.54 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings.
South Carolina (28-13, 4-8) enters today's opener at 5 p.m. Central coming off a 7-0 loss to No. 19 Clemson on Tuesday. The Gamecocks lost 2 of their 3 games last weekend to Mississippi State.
The teams will also play at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
South Carolina won 11 of its first 12 games, but has struggled against ranked opponents. The Gamecocks were swept by Tennessee and Texas A&M, and before losing last weekend's series against Mississippi State. Their lone SEC series victory came in a sweep of Ole Miss.
"I don't ever look at the record of SEC teams," Arkansas Coach Courtney Deifel said. "I don't think it has any bearing on who they are and what they do or how good they are. And I don't look at the number either, so I don't know where we are right now, either."
The Gamecocks leans on Stanford transfer pitcher Alana Vawter. Although the Razorbacks did not face South Carolina last season, they have faced Vawter.
In 2021, Vawter pitched against Arkansas in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional for Stanford. She gave up 7 runs in 4 1/3 innings and took the loss.
Arkansas won the regional and advanced to the super regionals with a 7-3 win.
"That feels like a lifetime ago," Deifel said. "I imagine she would say the same thing. She's a seasoned veteran now. She is an incredible competitor and she has been throughout her entire career. She has elite stuff. She was very, very good then, and now she has a few more years of experience under her belt."
Vawter is 12-6 with a 1.97 ERA and 77 strikeouts this season. At Stanford, the right-hander won 20-plus games three straight seasons with an ERA under 2.00 each season. She was an All-Pac-12 selection.
Right-hander Jori Heard is 6-1 with a 1.65 ERA. The sophomore was 6-3 last season. Her only loss this season came against Texas A&M.
Sophomore Reganne Bennett is also a key member of the Gamecocks' staff. She is 4-0 and has also been used as a position player on occasion, and has homered four times.
Freshman right-hander Sage Mardjetko has a 2.21 ERA in 85 2/3 innings pitched.
"I look at South Carolina and they just pitch the heck out of it," said Deifel. "They have really, really strong pitching. They are a really feisty team, a real gritty team and they play really good defense."
The Gamecocks have a team batting average of .241, worst in the SEC. Infielder Riley Blampied leads the team with a .306 batting average. She has 3 home runs, 26 RBI, 9 doubles, 7 home runs and 17 stolen bases.