'They've earned it': Ashley Chastain Woodard makes case for South Carolina to be top-8 seed in NCAA Tournament

South Carolina softball’s run in the SEC Tournament was short-lived. The Gamecocks were bounced in the quarterfinals after a five-error night in a 12-4 loss to Texas A&M on Thursday.

Now, after returning to Columbia, they wait. They wait to see their name flash on the television screen on Sunday night. The odds are that they won’t have to leave Columbia anytime soon, either.

It’s not so much about whether South Carolina will host postseason games at Beckham Field. It’s more about seeding and potentially hosting beyond one round.

With Selection Sunday one day away, the Gamecocks will be one of the top 16 seeds in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. That much is certain. But will they be a coveted top-eight seed?

Head coach Ashley Chastain Woodard certainly thinks so.

“The facts are the facts. If you look at our resume, our team sheet, as we sit here right now, … we have 17 Quad I wins. That’s, I believe, tied for second in the country. ” Chastain Woodard said. “Personally, I think that’s the most important thing when you’re deciding one through eight, you know, who’s going to be able to host a Super, national seed.

“So there’s no arguing that. We earned all 17 of those, and I think we have 23 top-50 wins. We have no Quad III losses, no Quad IV losses.”

It’s a big deal to be a top-eight seed in the tournament. Sure, either way, South Carolina will host a Regional for the 14th time in program history. But if it were on the outside of being in the top eight, it would likely be on the road for a Super Regional if it advanced.

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But the numbers indicate the Gamecocks will have a fighting chance to host a Super Regional. They’ve won 40 games this year after being picked to finish last in the SEC preseason poll. Their RPI ranks 10th in the country. It’s even stronger in non-conference play, with the fourth-best RPI.

That’s because South Carolina took the liberty of scheduling weekend series with Duke and Texas Tech, both of which are top-20 RPI teams. It swept the Blue Devils in Durham before SEC play began. Then, during the middle of the conference slate, the Gamecocks took a series against the Red Raiders in Columbia, winning the first two games.

Chastain Woodard believes that it should mean something when the seeding is being determined. They didn’t have to schedule tough out-of-conference matchups. That’s without including a midweek win over a ranked Clemson team in late March. They chose to do so and took care of business.

It might be close with a 13-11 conference record and a few other teams right in the mix for a top-eight bid. But the Gamecocks do have notable series wins over SEC foes like Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, and Alabama. They have an additional win over Alabama in the second round of the SEC Tournament as well.

“Obviously, how you play at the end means something. (The SEC Tournament) does mean a lot, but I just think it’s a small piece of the puzzle,” Chastain Woodard said. “And obviously, we won the series against Bama last weekend. And then won game one here, so that has to mean something to the people that are making that decision, in my opinion.”

With no more games to play or opportunities to bolster the resume, all South Carolina can do is hope for the best. The NCAA softball selection show will air on Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2. The NCAA Tournament begins with regional play from May 16-18.

“Let’s just be honest, a program that people didn’t have much expectation for in the preseason,” Chastain Woodard said. “That was clear to us, something that we didn’t pay attention to. So yeah, they’ve earned it. I think we have a really valid argument that we deserve a top-eight seed.”

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