Beverly Smith Will Not Return as Gamecocks’ Head Softball Coach
Beverly Smith will not return as University of South Carolina softball coach, Gamecocks Athletics Director Ray Tanner announced today.
Smith was named Carolina’s softball coach on July 15, 2010. In her 14 seasons as the program’s head coach, the Gamecocks had a 461-323 (.588) overall record and a 102-219 (.318) mark in the Southeastern Conference. Her 461 wins at South Carolina is second in school history, behind Hall of Fame coach Joyce Compton’s 951 victories.
South Carolina went to the post-season nine times, advancing to a Super Regional in 2018, which was the best finish in Smith’s tenure, finishing with a 49-17 overall mark and a third-place finish in the SEC with a 15-9 mark.
Smith coached two NFCA All-Americans, 10 All-SEC and 15 All-Region players.
This past season, Carolina finished 36-24 overall, 8-16 in SEC play and concluded its season in the NCAA Durham Regional. The team was ranked as high as 17th in national polls and finished the regular season with a No. 27 NCAA RPI Ranking.
Since softball became an NCAA Championship in 1982, South Carolina’s softball program has been to 24 NCAA Regionals, winning five regional titles and advancing to the College World Series three times, the latest in 1997.