No. 23 Softball Hosts No. 3 Texas to Open SEC Play

COLUMBIA, S.C. – For the second straight season the 23rd ranked South Carolina softball team will open SEC play with the defending National Champion, when the Gamecocks host No. 3 Texas March 6-8. Sunday’s game will be the first of the season broadcast on SEC Network.

#23 South Carolina Gamecocks 15-6, 0-0 SEC
Coach: Ashley Woodard | 2nd Season
AVG Leader: .448 | Quincee Lilio
RBI Leader: 26 | Karley Shelton
Home Run Leader: 6 | Arianna Rodi
ERA Leader: 1.24 | Jori Heard
Strikeout Leader: 36 | Jori Heard
Wins Leader: 5 | Emma Friedel

#3 Texas Longhorns 19-1, 0-0 SEC
Series History: South Carolina leads 3-2
Trend: South Carolina won 2
Last Meeting: South Carolina 1, Texas 0 (8) | Mar. 13, 2018 | Columbia, S.C.
Coach: Mike White | 8th Season
AVG Leader: .512 | Leighann Goode
RBI Leader: 33 | Reese Atwood
Home Run Leader: 11 | Katie Stewart
ERA Leader: 1.31 | Brenlee Gonzales
Strikeout Leader: 66 | Teagan Kavan
Wins Leader: 8 | Teagan Kavan

LEADING OFF

• The 2026 season is the 53rd season for the Carolina Softball team.
• This week in the polls the Gamecocks are ranked No. 23 by the NFCA and by D1Softball, and No. 24 by Softball America, and by USA Softball/ESPN.
• This is the second straight season Carolina has opened SEC play with the defending National Champion. They opened 2025 at Oklahoma.
• This will be the first meeting between the Longhorns and Gamecocks since 2018.
  • The two sides played a mid-week game in Columbia, which the Gamecocks won when Krystan White hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth.
• Arianna Rodi hit her 50th career home run against Queens on Sunday.
  • She currently sits 6th among active NCAA players in career home runs.
  • Rodi also ranks 4th among active players in career walks.
• As a team, South Carolina ranks 10th in the nation in hit by pitches with 21.
  • They also rank 13th in double plays, 14th in on-base percentage, 15th in walks, 16th in total runs, 17th in RBIs, 18th in scoring, and 19th in RBIs per game.
• Arianna Rodi currently is 8th among Division I players with 1.05 walks per game.
  • Quincee Lilio ranks 22nd at 0.90 per game.
• Nealy Lamb ranks 26th in the nation with 3.67 hits allowed per game.
• Tate Davis ranks 28th with eight doubles.
• Nia McKnight had a triple and a home run against Marist (2/27), the first Gamecock to do so since Victoria Williams vs. Presbyterian (2/10/2017).
• The 25 runs scored against Queens (3/1) were the most by Carolina since scoring 29 against Alabama State (3/2/2013).
  • The 19 hits were also the most since they had 20 also against Alabama State.
  • Rodi had seven RBIs in the game, the most by a player since Cayla Drotar had eight against Campbell on Feb. 16, 2019.
• Alyssa Hovermale hit her first career home run last week, the game-winner, against Winthrop.
• Karley Shelton went 4-for-4 against Kennesaw State, becoming the first Gamecock since Denver Bryant on May 8, 2024, with four hits in a game.
• Tori Ensley finished a triple shy of the cycle against Winthrop on Feb. 8.
  • She also finished with six RBIs, the most by a Gamecock since Katie Prebble drove home six on April 8, 2022, against ETSU.
• Arianna Rodi started the season by being named to the Top 50 Watch List for the 2026 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.

IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME

• South Carolina is 290-113 (.720) 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.

GAMECOCKS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS

• South Carolina is 190-421-1 (.311) against opponents ranked in the NFCA top 25 since 1995.
• Broken down by site, the Gamecocks are 91-153 (.373) at home, 49-191 (.204) on the road and 50-77-1 (.395) 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 2,719 games in its softball history, going 1,753-959-7 (.646) in its 53 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.

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.