South Carolina softball moves into top-10 following road sweep of Duke Blue Devils
Over the last week, Ashley Chastain Woodard’s South Carolina softball team made a big statement. The Gamecocks hit the road for the first time in 2025, beat her former team in Charlotte, and then whipped the top-10 Duke Blue Devils in a three-game sweep in which they exacted a little revenge on the team that ended their 2024 campaign. Overall, USC outscored Duke 30-16 in the sweep, posting seven multi-run innings, including four in which they crossed the plate at least four times.
Because of the sweep, South Carolina, one of just two undefeated teams remaining in major college softball, moved up to No. 9 in On3’s Softball America top 25. The 19-0 overall start is the best in the program’s NCAA history. Last year, despite playing against a lighter slate, the Gamecocks didn’t win their 19th game until nearly two weeks deeper into the schedule.
You can see the entire top 25 below.
- Texas Longhorns
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Florida Gators
- Arizona Wildcats
- Texas A&M Aggies
- LSU Tigers
- UCLA Bruins
- Florida State Seminoles
- South Carolina Gamecocks
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Oregon Ducks
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Duke Blue Devils
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Auburn Tigers
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Virginia Tech Hokies
- Stanford Cardinal
- Liberty Flames
- Virginia Cavaliers
- Mississippi State Bulldogs
- Clemson Tigers
Following four road contests in a row against North Carolina foes Charlotte and Duke, the Gamecocks return home for a mid-week contest against the Youngstown State Penguins on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Fans can tune in to watch the contest via streaming on SEC Network+, though, the game will not be on traditional television.
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If South Carolina can handle business against Youngstown State, this weekend might be the biggest of the young college softball season. The Gamecocks will travel to Norman, Oklahoma to take on the also-undefeated Oklahoma Sooners. Patty Gasso’s team has won the last four Women’s College World Series titles and has lost just 15 total games during that stretch. A series win for Chastian Woodard’s Gamecocks (or, perhaps, even a competitive 1-2 series loss) could indicate that USC is ready to join Oklahoma and the rest of the SEC elites at the top of the conference hierarchy. Whether or not Carolina will win, the rankings surely will look different next week.
The three-game tilt against the Sooners will start on Friday as game one is set for a 7:30 p.m. first pitch at Love’s Field and can be streamed on SEC Network+. Saturday’s game two also will be streamed on SEC Network+ and will begin at 3:00 p.m. The 2:30 p.m. series finale on Sunday will air on SEC Network while it streams on SEC Network+.
