Softball Hosts Carolina Classic Starting Thursday

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina softball team returns to the field after opening the season 5-0, when the Gamecocks host the Carolina Classic Feb. 13-16. The tournament will host App State, Georgia State, Miami (OH), and Winthrop.

South Carolina Gamecocks 5-0, 0-0 SEC
Coach: Ashley Chastain Woodard | 1st Season
AVG Leader: .643 | Quincee Lilio
RBI Leader: 6 | Lexi Winters
Home Run Leader: 1 | Three tied
ERA Leader: 0.47 | Jori Heard
Strikeout Leader: 19 | Jori Heard
Wins Leader: 3 | Jori Heard

Georgia State Panthers 0-5, 0-0 Sun Belt
When: Feb. 13 | 6 p.m.; Feb. 14 | 3:30 p.m.
Series History: South Carolina leads 36-5
Last Meeting: South Carolina 7, Georgia State 3 | Mar. 27, 2019 | Columbia, S.C.
Coach: Becca Owens | 1st Season

Miami (OH) RedHawks 1-4, 0-0 MAC
When: Feb. 14 | 6 p.m.; Feb. 15 | 3:30 p.m.
Series History: South Carolina leads 9-1
Last Meeting: South Carolina 5, Miami 4 | Feb. 10, 2023 | Charlotte, N.C.
Coach: Mandy Gardner-Colegate | 1st Season

App State Mountaineers 1-4, 0-0 Sun Belt
When: Feb. 16 | 3 p.m.
Series History: South Carolina leads 3-0
Last Meeting: South Carolina 5, App State 0 | Feb. 13, 2015 | Columbia, S.C.
Coach: Whitney Jones | 1st Season

LEADING OFF

• The 2025 season is the 52nd season for the Carolina Softball team.
• South Carolina entered at No. 25 in the Softball America Top-25 Poll.
• The Gamecocks received votes in the two main polls to start the season by NFCA/USA Today and by ESPN/USA Softball. They also received voted in the D1Softball.com poll.
• A new era of Carolina softball began under Ashley Chastain Woodard when she named the head coach on June 11. She is the 11th head coach in program history.
  • The former Gamecock (2009-11) spent the last five seasons at Charlotte where she had a career record of 154-96.
  • Chastain Woodard was named the No. 2 head coaching hire by D1Softball.
• Carolina earned a pair of walk-off wins in its first two games of the season.
  • Scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th on opening day against Virginia.
  • Scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th on Feb. 7, also against Virginia, before Brooke Blankenship’s solo home run to lead off the bottom of the 8th.
• Last weekend Quincee Lilio reached based to start the game in four of Carolina’s five contests.
• For the first time in program history every game will be televised on the ESPN family of networks and digital platforms.
• Carolina’s roster features 15 newcomers and six returners for the 2025 season.
• Newcomer first baseman Arianna Rodi was named a Softball America First Team All-American and NFCA First Team All-Region.
  • This preseason she was named the No. 86 overall player by D1Softball and the No. 7 first baseman.
• Newcomer pitcher Sam Gress was named the No. 30 pitcher entering the season by D1Softball.
• This preseason Shae Anderson was named to Softball America’s Freshman Watch List.
• The roster features 21 total players, with nine different states represented.

THE GAMECOCKS

• Carolina comes into the 2025 season looking to fight back after advancing to the Durham Regional Final, before falling to eventual WCWS participant Duke.
• The 2025 squad will look to build on that momentum, as they’ll just nine underclassmen (three sophomores and six freshmen).
• The Gamecocks welcome six freshmen to the program (Shae Anderson, Mya Flindt, Olivia Kotowski, Chloe Lackey, Nia McKnight, Audrey Wilson).
• Carolina will have four left-handed batters available in the lineup. It had seven in 2024, 2023 and 2022, nine in 2021, five in 2020, seven in 2019, eight in 2017 and six in 2016. Of the seven left-handed batters, only Carlie Henderson is listed as a slap hitter.
• Five South Carolina and five Georgia 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 natives Shae Anderson and Mya Flindt, and recent 2026 signee Dakota Potter, ensuring the tradition continues for years to come.
• Quincee Lilio is the first player in program history to wear No. 43.
• Mya Flindt is the second player in program history to wear No. 31 (Karsen Ochs 2020-23)
• Karley Shelton (33) wears the same number as head coach Ashley Chastain Woodard did as a player at Carolina.
• Carlie Henderson isn’t the first in her family to achieve at a high level in sports. Her grandpa, Billy Shaw, played football at Georgia Tech and went on to play offensive line for nine years with the Buffalo Bills before being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. Her father, Chip, played baseball at Shorter University and has been the baseball head coach at Calhoun High School for 26 years. He’s won more than 600 games with three state titles (and had eight players drafted into MLB).
• 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 is at Florida, 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 Shane Beamer’s staff as the coordinator of football operations.

IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME

• South Carolina is 248-103 (.707) at Carolina Softball Stadium since being built in 2013. That includes a 4-1 record at home while hosting an NCAA regional 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 that limited attendance, they have never finished lower than 15th in average or cumulative attendance.
• In 2024, Carolina ranked 7th in the nation in total attendance and 14th in average attendance. They were 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 277-73 (.791) over the past nine years in games outside the SEC.
• Notable wins include Clemson, 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 33 non-conference games in 2025, 28 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 14 times. On the flip side, 12 games have ended as shutouts.
• Including the Carolina Classic and Black & Garnet Challenge, the Gamecocks are 85-9 in their past 90 home tournament games.

SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL RECORD

• South Carolina has played 2,641 games in its softball history, going 1,698-936-7 (.644) in its 51 years of history.
• Carolina has posted 30 or more wins in nine of the past 11 full seasons.
• Carolina has protected home well, also, with 17 or more victories coming in friendly confines each of the past 10 full years.

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.