South Carolina's remarkable season ends with shutout loss to UCLA
The season will go down as a success, but there will undoubtedly be thoughts of what could’ve been.
No. 8 South Carolina was eliminated from the postseason on Sunday with a 5-0 loss to No. 9 UCLA in a winner-take-all game three of the Columbia Super Regional.
In head coach Ashley Chastain Woodard’s first season, the Gamecocks will finish 44-17, an impressive feat to say the least. But they will fall one win shy of reaching the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 1997.
“I’m just so proud of the program. I’m so proud of the players,” Chastain Woodard said, “and just this first year of laying the foundation of who we’re going to be from here on out. And it was really special. It’s a special team, it’s a special group.”
Making her final start in her six-year college career, Sam Gress gave up three straight hits to begin her outing, with Jordan Woolery, the hero in game two, ripping an RBI single into centerfield. But she’d get out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam with a fly out and an inning-ending double play.
Gress settled in from that point on until the fifth inning after she gave up a one-out double to Jessica Clements. She’d exit with two outs and a runner at third, turning the ball over to Jori Heard, who then allowed an RBI single to Woolery, extending UCLA’s lead.
In 4.2 innings of work, Gress was charged with two runs on five hits and struck out two with a pair of walks over 80 pitches.
“It just means the world to me that I got to play my last year here, and that I’ll forever be a Gamecock and forever be part of this special team and what we’ve accomplished this year,” Gress said.
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Meanwhile, South Carolina couldn’t get much going offensively against UCLA left-hander Kaitlyn Terry. After giving up five runs in less than two innings on Friday, she was much tougher to hit the second time around.
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Terry struck out four with one walk over 5.2 shutout innings. She only gave up two hits. When she exited, South Carolina had come close to tying the game with one swing. With a runner on first in the sixth, Karley Shelton and Arianna Rodi each hit lofty fly balls into right, but they were caught on the warning track and stayed in the ballpark.
Facing Taylor Tinsley with two on and two outs in the inning, Ella Chancey struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch to end the Gamecocks’ best scoring chance.
“We just didn’t have enough production. You can see that from the box score,” Chastain Woodard said. “We didn’t walk enough. We struck out too much. And hats off to Terry and Tinsley. They had a really great day. And sometimes that happens.”
The Bruins broke the game open with three runs in the seventh off Heard, all coming with one out. In 1.2 innings, Heard allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts and two walks.
Up next: With the season over, South Carolina will turn its attention to the transfer portal, which is open until June 16. The Gamecocks will be back in action in February 2026 for Opening Day next season.
