COLUMBIA — South Carolina softball is set to host a super regional at Carolina Softball Stadium. The No. 8 seed Gamecocks (43-15) are matched up with No. 9 seed UCLA (52-10) in a best-of-three series, beginning May 23 (1 p.m., ESPN). First-year coach
Ashley Chastain Woodard is trying to send South Carolina back to the Women's College World Series for the first time since 1997. The Bruins are aiming for their fourth trip in the last five seasons. UCLA has 32 WCWS appearances and has 12 national championships, the most of any Division I softball team. The Bruins last won the WCWS in 2019. Both teams went 3-0 in their respective regionals as hosts, and both run-ruled their opponents in five innings on May 18 in the deciding game. South Carolina beat North Florida 8-0 and UCLA beat UC Santa Barbara 12-1.
Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery: UCLA's duo of powerful hitters
Jordan Woolery and Megan Grant are UCLA's powerhouse hitters. Grant has a .377 batting average (fourth for UCLA), .513 on-base percentage and a .967 slugging percentage. She has 57 hits, 79 RBIs and 25 home runs this season. Woolery has a .423 batting average, .487 on-base percentage and .918 slugging percentage. She has 77 hits, 82 RBIs and 22 home runs. Her batting average is second on the team for UCLA, with senior Savannah Pola the leader (.437).
South Carolina softball's record-setter Arianna Rodi
Chastain Woodard said after the win on May 16 when junior infielder Arianna Rodi had a two-run homer that it was just "Rodi doing Rodi things," which summarizes the season for her. Rodi set a program record for most home runs in a single season (16) on May 7 and also became the first player in South Carolina history to hit multiple home runs in an SEC tournament game. On May 18, she helped the program set two-single season records with the team’s 324th RBI and 96th double on the season. She has a .336 batting average, .490 on-base percentage and .747 slugging percentage. She has 49 hits, 52 RBIs and 17 home runs.
South Carolina softball vs UCLA: Pitchers
Junior Jordi Heard (18-3, 2.53 ERA) and sixth-year Sam Gress (13-9, 2.93 ERA) are two star pitchers for Chastain Woodard. In the last two games of the Columbia Regional, the duo combined for a shutout. Gress pitched four innings on May 18, with Heard relieving her for one. On May 17, Gress allowed six hits, zero runs and struck out four batters in 5⅔ innings. Heard allowed zero hits in two innings. UCLA's pitching staff is led by freshman Addisen Fisher (16-2, 2.43 ERA), sophomore Kaitlyn Terry (18-4, 2.50 ERA) and junior Taylor Tinsley (14-4, 2.47 ERA).
South Carolina softball vs UCLA: Series history
South Carolina is 1-12 against UCLA all time, and the most recent meeting was a 5-2 loss for the Gamecocks on March 5, 2017. Before then, it had been nearly a decade since the two teams battled.
Columbia Super Regional schedule
