The University of South Carolina softball team will play its last home game of the season against South Carolina State on April 28 at 6 p.m., with free admission for all attendees, according to an announcement on Apr. 27.
This matchup gives fans a final opportunity to see the Gamecocks at home this season. The teams have met only once before, with South Carolina winning their previous contest in April 2014.
South Carolina enters the game with a record of 29-22 overall and is led by head coach Ashley Woodard in her second season. Tori Ensley leads the team offensively, topping batting average (.352), runs batted in (41), and home runs (12). Jori Heard leads pitching statistics for the Gamecocks, including earned run average (1.77), strikeouts (113), and wins (11).
South Carolina State comes into the contest at 20-18 under first-year head coach Nakeya Hall. Dallas Hill leads her team with a .404 batting average, as well as being tops in RBIs (46) and home runs (10). Pitching leaders include Aaryn Krebs with a 2.29 ERA and Dymond Roundtree leading both strikeouts (42) and sharing wins leadership with Ciara Farrar.
The Gamecocks are ranked No. 24 in USA Softball/ESPN polls this week and hold the No. 25 spot in RPI rankings while playing one of the toughest schedules nationally based on opponent winning percentage (.658). They have faced more Top-25 RPI opponents than any other Division I program this year.
Notable individual performances include Arianna Rodi’s milestone of hitting her fiftieth career home run earlier this season; she currently ranks thirteenth among active NCAA players for career homers. Jori Heard also stands out nationally for her pitching achievements.
Since moving into their current stadium in 2013, South Carolina has maintained strong performance at home games, consistently ranking among national leaders for attendance each year except during COVID disruptions. Over recent seasons, they have demonstrated consistent success both within non-conference play—winning nearly eighty percent over nine years—and against other schools from within South Carolina.
