Dawn Staley shares SEC Softball Championship prediction, calls for South Carolina fan support

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley was on hand to support the Gamecocks during the SEC Softball Championship Game. The Gamecocks reached the final game of the tournament as the ten-seed, and took on one-seed Tennessee.

Staley shared a video at the ballpark calling for fans to tune into the championship game — while predicting a South Carolina victory.

You already know @dawnstaley is going with @GamecockSoftbll 🤙

📺: 3 PM ET on ESPN pic.twitter.com/pRCXItCJj3

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 13, 2023

Dawn Staley supports Gamecocks softball

In her video, Staley made a bold prediction by picking South Carolina to win by three over the tournament’s number one seed. The Gamecocks have advanced through each round via late heroics and drama, winning each game by just one run so far with late-inning hits.

“If y’all are not locked in to watch this SEC Championship Game… yes I’m going for the ‘Cocks. But the Volunteers, they are a force to be reckoned with. But they must go down,” said Staley.

“Whatever you’re doing, stop, and get ready for this game here. It’s gonna be a doozy. ‘Cocks by three.”

The Gamecocks are the first No. 10 seed to ever play in the SEC tournament championship, and championship quality play is something that Staley loves to see from her fellow South Carolina programs. After they advanced to the game itself, Staley shared additional support on Twitter — telling everyone that the Gamecocks squad was headed “to the MF chip!” Now she’ll support them as they try to win the chip.

Close games define South Carolina’s run to SEC softball title game

The road to the championship wasn’t an easy one for South Carolina. The Gamecocks started the week in Fayetteville with an extra-inning thriller against Texas A&M — a game that had to wait more than four hours to end thanks to lightning and rain delays. They held on for the 1-0 victory after scoring their lone run in the top of the eighth, setting up a quarterfinal matchup against No. 2 seed Georgia.

Once again, South Carolina was in a grind-it-out game. The Gamecocks trailed the Bulldogs 1-0 after the third inning, but a Riley Blampied home run tied things up in the fourth inning. In extra innings for the second consecutive game, Brooke Blankenship hit a go-ahead single to drive in Emma Sellers to make it a 2-1 South Carolina lead. Gobourne, despite a threat from Georgia, struck out Jaiden Fields to seal the win as the Gamecocks headed to the semifinals.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this article.