A fresh look at South Carolina softball's new faces for 2025 season

The Ashley Chastain Woodard era of South Carolina softball is set to begin in just over one week. The newly-hired head softball coach will lead the Gamecocks in regular season action for the first time in eight days, when they take on Virginia in their first game of the Gamecock Invitational on Feb. 6.

Chastain and her team of assistant coaches won’t be the only new faces in the home dugout, though. Of the 21 players listed on South Carolina’s 2025 roster, 15 will be playing their first season in garnet and black this year.

Here’s a breakdown of the Gamecocks’ newcomers, from impact transfer additions to talented freshman prospects.

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The Charlotte contingent of bats

When Chastain Woodard moved to South Carolina from her previous head coaching role at UNC Charlotte, multiple players followed her. Six total players from the 49ers’ 2024 American Athletic Conference championship-winning squad, including four position players, joined her in Columbia.

Arianna Rodi, a 2024 Softball America First Team All-American at first base, was the most notable addition of that contingent. Rodi broke out as a sophomore last season, hitting .353 and logging 55 RBI. In 2024, she ranked in the top 30 nationally in home runs (fifth, with 22), slugging percentage (27th, .788) and total bases (23rd, 134). Both D1Softball and Softball America placed Rodi in their respective top-100 preseason player rankings for 2025.

The Gamecocks further bolstered their infield and outfield depth with the additions of Ella Chancey and Abigail Knight, respectively. Chancey made the All-American Athletic Conference (AAC) First Team as a third baseman last year with a .316 batting average, six home runs, 38 RBI, 31 runs scored and a .515 slugging percentage across 57 starts. Knight also hit above .300 (309), in addition to driving in 26 runs and not committing an error in the outfield in 2024.

A fourth former Charlotte position player, Lexi Winters, plies her trade behind the plate. The Lexington, South Carolina, native hit .230 with five home runs and 25 RBI last year. But her most valuable contributions came on defense, which led to her being named the AAC’s Defensive Player of the Year. Winters allowed just 18 total stolen bases, including just one in conference play, and did not surrender a passed ball all season.

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Two 49ers join the pitching rotation

South Carolina saw an additional two players from Charlotte join its five-person pitching staff.

Sam Gress heads into 2025 as one of the country’s top hurlers, placing 30th in D1Softball’s preseason pitching rankings. Last year, Gress functioned as both a starter and reliever, making 13 starts and 20 appearances out of the bullpen. She pitched to a 14-10 record and a 2.57 earned run average, striking out 92 batters across 122.1 innings pitched. Gress also limited opposing hitters to a .210 batting average, while recording one complete game and three saves on her way to earning Second-Team All-AAC honors.

The Gamecocks also earned a commitment from Kadie Becker, who impressed during her debut college campaign last year. Appearing in 12 contests and starting in one, Becker struck out nine batters across 15.2 innings pitched. She finished the 2024 season with a 1-1 record and a 4.02 ERA.

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More reinforcements from Division I programs

South Carolina did not limit its search for veteran experience to just Charlotte, though. The Gamecocks utilized the transfer portal to land pledges from three players, including two Big South starters and a former national champion.

Nealy Lamb enters her sophomore year coming off one of the strongest individual seasons for a pitcher in Big South Conference history. Lamb amassed 137.2 innings pitched, logging a 12-9 record and 130 strikeouts across 34 appearances and 16 starts. She pitched to a conference-low 1.76 ERA, in addition to tossing five complete-game shutouts, recording four saves, and breaking Charleston Southern’s single-season record for opponent batting average (.176). In the process, Lamb became the first player conference history to be named Big South All-Freshman, Freshman of the Year, Pitcher of the Year and First-Team All-Conference in the same year.

Emily Vinson – a native of Elgin, South Carolina – started in 50 games for Longwood, another Big South program, last year. Vinson hit .265 with two home runs, two triples and six doubles, while finishing third on the team with 25 RBI. The year before, she was a recipient of the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association’s Rawlings Gold Glove Award, a distinction given to the top nine defenders in Division I college softball, after recording a 1.000 fielding percentage in left and center field.

South Carolina also added Omaha-caliber experience in Quincee Lilio, a utility player who previously played for Oklahoma. Lilio appeared in 41 games last season, hitting .129 and recording a .372 on-base percentage. But in her three seasons as a college softball player, she has yet to lose a national title, as the Sooners have claimed every College World Series championship during that time frame (and another before Lilio’s freshman year, too).

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Highly-touted freshman recruiting class

While the Gamecocks dedicated effort to rebuilding their roster through the transfer portal, they also emphasized recruiting from the high school ranks. Their efforts yielded positive results, as South Carolina’s recruiting class of 2024 ranked No. 11 nationally, according to Extra Innings Softball.

Shae Anderson – a utility player from Moorpark, California – headlines the six-player class. Extra Innings Softball listed Anderson as the No. 43 overall recruit in the class of 2024. She led Moorpark High School to a league title in 2023 and finished her high school career with a .393 batting average, an .810 slugging percentage, 14 home runs, 22 stolen bases and two Defensive Player of the Year nods. D1Softball placed Anderson on its Preseason Freshman Watchlist ahead of the 2025 season.

The Gamecocks’ outfield saw two incoming freshman outfield additions in Nia McKnight and Chloe Lackey. McKnight, Extra Innings Softball’s No. 17 overall recruit and a three-time All-Region First Team and All-County selection from Loganville, Georgia, hit .434 across her high school career and holds Grayson High School’s all-time records in RBI (187), home runs (15) and slugging percentage (.694). Lackey hit over .500 three times and led Oliver Springs (Tennessee) High School to district championships each year from 2021 to 2023.

Mya Flindt and Audrey Wilson could earn playing time at catcher during the 2025 campaign. Flindt, who hails from Rocklin, California, was twice Whitney High School’s Offensive Player of the Year and led the team to a sectional championship and a third-place finish at the state tournament in 2023. Wilson, a native of Fort Mill, South Carolina, earned two state championships and three-time All-State selections at Catawba Ridge High School, where she finished her high school career with a .519 batting average, 202 hits, 35 home runs, 183 RBI and a .591 on-base percentage.

Olivia Kotowski, a pitcher from Lilburn, Georgia, rounds out South Carolina’s freshman class. Kotowski, Extra Innings Softball’s No. 23 overall recruit, was a three-time Class 7-A, Region 4 Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-Region selection. A two-way player in high school, she is Parkview High School’s leader in career wins and both single-season and career home runs.

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