No. 12 Softball Kicks off 2026 Season Thursday

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The 12th ranked South Carolina softball team kicks off the 2026 season when it hosts the Gamecock Invitational February 5-8. The Gamecocks will play host to Binghamton, Syracuse, No. 19 Virginia Tech, and Winthrop.

#12 SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS 44-17, 13-11 SEC
COACH: Ashley Woodard | 2nd Season
RETURNING AVG LEADER: .359 | Quincee Lilio
RETURNING RBI LEADER: 55 | Arianna Rodi
RETURNING HOME RUN LEADER: 17 | Arianna Rodi
RETURNING ERA LEADER: 2.79 | Jori Heard
RETURNING STRIKEOUT LEADER: 115 | Jori Heard
RETURNING WINS LEADER: 18 | Jori Heard

BINGHAMTON BEARCATS 36-14, 16-2 AMERICA EAST
WHEN: February 8 – 12:30 p.m.
COACH: Jess Bump | 5th Season
SERIES HISTORY: First Meeting

SYRACUSE ORANGE 27-22, 6-18 ACC
WHEN: February 6 – 3 p.m.
COACH: Shannon Doepking | 8th Season
SERIES HISTORY: Syracuse leads 2-0
TREND: Syracuse won 2
LAST MEETING: Syracuse 10, South Carolina 3 | Feb. 20, 2005 | Tallahassee, Fla.

#19 VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES  43-13, 18-6 ACC
WHEN: February 5 – 6 p.m.; February 7 – 5:30 p.m.
COACH: Pete D’Amour | 8th Season
SERIES HISTORY: Virginia Tech leads 8-7
TREND: Virginia Tech won 2
LAST MEETING: Virginia Tech 5, South Carolina 3 | Feb. 26, 2022 | Columbia, S.C.

WINTHROP EAGLES 30-23, 10-8 BIG SOUTH
WHEN: February 8 – 3 p.m.
COACH: Kendall Fuller | 2nd Season
SERIES HISTORY: South Carolina leads 58-8-1
TREND: South Carolina won 18
LAST MEETING: South Carolina 2, Winthrop 1 (11) | Apr. 3, 2024 | Columbia, S.C.

LEADING OFF

• The 2026 season is the 53rd season for the Carolina Softball team.
• Carolina is coming off a Super Regional appearance and a national seed for the first time in modern program history (since Super Regionals began in 2005).
• Head coach Ashley Woodard begins her second season leading the Gamecocks after being named the D1Softball Coach of the Year in her first season.
• The Gamecocks return nine players from a team that went 44-17 last season and finished the year No. 12 in the NFCA poll.
• The Gamecocks return four All-Region players in Jori Heard, Lexi Winters, Arianna Rodi, and Quincee Lilio.
• The team will see 14 newcomers, including 10 transfers and four freshmen.
• Rodi won the program’s first Gold Glove Award last season at first base.
• She started the season by being named to the Top 50 Watch List for the 2026 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.
• This is the third straight season the Gamecocks have opened the year at home.
• Rodi was named the Preseason No. 34 overall player by D1Softball and the No. 4 first baseman.
• Karley Shelton was ranked as the No. 9 player at her second base by D1Softball.
• Rodi, Shelton, and Lexi Winters were ranked No. 47, 68, and 89 by Softball America.
• Rodi and Shelton were ranked No. 4 at their positions by Softball America, while Winters was the No. 7 catcher.
• Ansley Bennett was named to Softball America’s Top-100 Freshman Watch List.
• Bennett and Kai Byers were named to the D1Softball Preseason Top-100 Freshman to Watch list.
• The roster features 23 total players, with 12 different states represented.

THE GAMECOCKS

• Carolina comes into the 2026 season looking to fight back after falling to UCLA in the Columbia Super Regional.
• The Gamecocks advanced to the Super Regionals for the third time in program history and were one win away from the WCWS.
• The 2026 squad will look to build on that momentum, as they’ll have just nine underclassmen (five sophomores and four freshmen).
• The Gamecocks welcome four freshmen to the program (Ansley Bennett, Kai Byars, KG Favors, Dakota Potter).
• Carolina will have five left-handed batters available in the lineup. It had four in 2025, seven in 2024, 2023 and 2022, nine in 2021, five in 2020, and seven in 2019. Of the five left-handed batters, none are listed as a slap hitter.
• Six South Carolina and five California natives help make up the Gamecock roster. They’re the most from any single state.

THAT’S…INTERESTING!

• South Carolina will have at least one student-athlete from the state of California for the 31st-consecutive year dating back to 1994. The Gamecocks have freshmen and California native Dakota Potter, ensuring the tradition continues for years to come.
• The Gamecocks have two players on the roster who have a twin sibling in Sage Scarmardo and Jori Heard. Sage and her identical twin sister Summer played together at Purdue. This will be Sage’s first season not playing on the same team as her sister since starting softball at 4 years old. Sage will wear No. 12 this season, the number her sister used to wear. Jori’s fraternal twin brother Gavin was a multi-time state champion swimmer as a senior in high school at the Illinois High School Athletes With Disabilities State Meet. He won the 200 freestyle, 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, and 100 breaststroke.
• Quincee Lilio (43) and Julie Kelley (55) are the first players in program history to wear their respective numbers.
• Lilio is a second cousin once removed of former Gamecocks Hannah (2020-22) and Alyssa Kumiyama (2018-21). Their grandparents are cousins.
• Karley Shelton (33) wears the same number as head coach Ashley Woodard did as a player at Carolina.
• Karley Shelton is the fifth member of her immediate family to play softball or baseball in college. She joins her father and mother who both played at Charlotte, her older brother Colby played at Florida and was drafted by the Chicago White Sox last season, and older sister Kiley is at Florida Atlantic.
• Arianna Rodi doesn’t just fly in her softball cleats, she can also fly on ice skates. Rodi was a dual-sport athlete in high school, winning three state championships in ice hockey as a defenseman. Her father, brother, and sister all played hockey, but Ari decided to forge her own path on the softball diamond.
• Associate head coach Katie Browder (Rietkovich) isn’t the first Gamecock in her family. Browder’s South Carolina roots run deep, as her father and sister have also donned the garnet and black. Her dad Ty Rietkovich played tight end for the Gamecocks from 1980-83 and worked on the football staff from 1984-86. Her sister Caroline (Rietkovich) Coleman was a cheerleader and is currently on the football staff as the coordinator of football operations.

IT’S GOOD TO BE HOME

• It’s technically the sixth time in the last seven seasons, and the third straight, they have opened the year at home, however the 2022 the tournament was cancelled due to weather.
• For the sixth straight season, South Carolina will play over 30 home games.
• Carolina will host 33 home contests, including the Gamecock Invitational, Garnet & Black Invitational, and Carolina Classic.
• Outside of tournaments they will also host a three-game series against Boston College, along with four mid-week games.
• They will play just four true non-conference road games (Clemson, Coastal Carolina, North Carolina, and Winthrop). The schedule also includes 12 road SEC games.

IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME

• South Carolina is 278-110 (.717) at Carolina Softball Stadium since being built in 2013. That includes a 7-1 record at home while hosting an NCAA Regional and a 1-2 record hosting Super Regionals at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field.
• Prior to 2021, South Carolina had not lost double digit games at home in seven years and has won 20 or more eight of the past nine seasons.
• Since 2016, South Carolina has consistently ranked among the nation’s leaders in attendance. Since that time, excluding the 2021 COVID season, they have never finished lower than 15th in average or cumulative attendance.
• In 2025, Carolina ranked 15th in the nation in total attendance and 28th in average attendance. They were 7th and 14th in 2024, 9th and 11th in 2023, 7th and 13th in 2022, 7th and 11th in 2020, 10th and 13th in 2019, 11th and 13th in 2018, 10th and 11th in 2017, 12th and 15th in 2016.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS IS NOTHING NEW FOR SC

• South Carolina is 301-78 (.794) over the past nine years in games outside the SEC. Notable wins include Clemson, Duke, Texas Tech, Boston U, Utah, Texas, Penn State, Houston, Arizona State, North Carolina, Florida State, California, Virginia Tech, USF, Long Beach State, Hofstra, Liberty, and UCF.
• Carolina will play 28 non-conference games in 2026, 21 of which will be played at Carolina Softball Stadium.

CAROLINA HOSTS TOURNAMENTS… AND WINS A LOT

• Carolina is an amazing 48-6 over the past seven seasons in the Gamecock Invitational. The 2021 tournament was canceled due to weather.
• The Gamecock pitching staff has shined in the tournaments. In the games during that span, Carolina pitching staffs have allowed three or more runs 15 times. On the flip side, 16 games have ended as shutouts.
• Including the Carolina Classic and Black & Garnet Challenge, the Gamecocks are 94-9 in their past 95 home tournament games.

GAMECOCKS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS

• South Carolina is 187-411-1 (.313) against opponents ranked in the NFCA top 25 since 1995.
• Broken down by site, the Gamecocks are 91-144 (.387) at home, 49-191 (.204) on the road and 48-75-1 (.391) in neutral-site outings.
• In 2025 the Gamecocks were 16-14 against ranked opponents.
• In 2024, the Gamecocks went 9-20 against ranked opponents.

SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL RECORD

• South Carolina has played 2,697 games in its softball history, going 1,738-953-7 (.646) in its 52 years of history.
• Carolina has posted 30 or more wins in 10 of the past 12 full seasons.
• Carolina has protected home well, also, with 17 or more victories coming in friendly confines each of the past 11 full years.

CAROLINA RUNS THIS STATE

• Since 2011 Carolina owns an 94-15 mark against other Palmetto State schools.
• That mark includes a 31-game winning streak that stretched over five seasons before Coastal Carolina snapped the streak in 2017.
• South Carolina went 7-2 last season against in-state foes.

For the latest on South Carolina Softball, visit GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team’s social media accounts on Twitter @GamecockSoftbll, Facebook /GamecockSoftball, and Instagram @GamecockSoftball.