South Carolina softball moves up in some rankings despite Oklahoma sweep
This weekend, South Carolina softball traveled to Oklahoma to take on the four-time defending national champions. The battle between the country’s last two undefeated teams was highly competitive, but the Gamecocks were swept in three separate one-run contests. Carolina lost 9-10 on Friday, 9-10 again in the first game of a doubleheader on Sunday, and 1-2 in the series finale on Sunday.
With the three losses, USC moved to 20-3 overall on the season and 0-3 in SEC play. Still, the major softball polls didn’t penalize South Carolina too much for its trio of weekend defeats. In fact, the close games in Norman proved to the softball world that head coach Ashley Chastain Woodard’s team is legit.
Stay on top of all things Gamecocks for just $1 for 7 days—lock in this special offer today!
All four major rankings kept South Carolina inside the top 15.
D1Softball ranked the Gamecocks 9th last week but dropped them to No. 14. The five-spot drop is the biggest of the week.
South Carolina softball earned the 10-spot in On3’s Softball America poll. That marked just a one-spot dip for the garnet and black.
The ESPN.com and USA Softball poll ranked the Gamecocks 10th last week but moved USC up one spot to No. 9 in their updated rankings this week.
USA Today and the NFCA tabbed South Carolina as the country’s No. 9 team. That actually was an improvement for the Gamecocks, a two-spot jump from last week’s No. 11 ranking.
Top 10
- 1New
USC players
Altercation with Purdue fans
- 2Trending
Lamont Butler injury
Latest on UK star
- 3Hot
Bracketology
Texas shakes up projection
- 4
SEC Tournament
Updated bracket, schedule
- 5
Dennis Gates
Takes shot at Chris Jans, Miss. State
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
Be in the know about all things Gamecocks for just $1 for 7 days—lock in this special offer!
Chastain Woodard’s squad will take the field again on Wednesday. Carolina will host the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in the mid-week contest at 6:00 p.m. SEC Network+ will stream the game. Coastal has won six consecutive games, including a weekend sweep of South Dakota in which they surrendered zero runs.
Then, the Gamecocks will move on to their second SEC weekend series. This time, USC will play at home against a ranked Georgia Bulldogs team. The 19-4 (1-2) ‘Dawgs are coming off a 1-2 series loss to the top-10 Tennessee Volunteers.
First, on Friday, the SEC rivals will face off at 6:00 p.m. at Beckham Field. Saturday’s game two will begin at 3:00 p.m. Then, the series finale on Sunday will have its first pitch at 1:00 p.m. None of the three games will be on traditional television, but all three will be streamed on the SEC Network+.
The Georgia series will lead into a brief break from SEC play as the Gamecocks will play four non-conference contests (including a mid-week game against the rival Clemson Tigers) before resuming conference showdowns against LSU at the end of the month.
