COLUMBIA — South Carolina softball, the top seed of the Columbia Regional and the No. 8 national seed, defeated No. 3 seed North Florida 3-0 in the NCAA tournament, on May 17.

With the win, the Gamecocks (42-15) advance to the regional final on May 18 (1 p.m., ESPN2).

It was a pitchers’ duel through five innings, with the wind an additional factor at Carolina Softball Stadium. After missing a two-run home run by a foot in the fourth inning, senior Ella Chancey stepped up to the plate in the sixth with two outs. She doubled to right field then an error at the plate allowed Chloe Lackey to score the game’s first run.

Emma Sellers, with the bases loaded and still two outs, singled to bring home two more to make it 3-0.

The Osprey (46-14) had star pitcher Allison Benning battling veteran Sam Gress for the Gamecocks. Gress allowed six hits, zero runs and threw four strikeouts in 4.2 innings. Jori Heard relieved Gress, following up her May 16 performance with another quality game. Heard allowed no hits and no runs in 2.1 innings.

South Carolina softball live score vs North Florida

The Gamecocks score the game’s first runs in the top of the sixth. North Florida had no hits and no runs to close the sixth, giving South Carolina a three-run lead heading into the top of the seventh.

South Carolina leaves two on in the fifth.

Ella Chancey was just a foot away from a two-run home run. North Florida leaves one on and it’s still 0-0 heading into the fifth.

Emily Vinson makes a diving catch for South Carolina to get the first out of the inning, then North Florida leaves two on.

Gamecocks go three up three down. The Ospreys’ runner gets called for leaving early, ending the inning.

Arianna Rodi with a two out single but South Carolina didn’t get anything more. The Ospreys load the bases but leave three on.

What time does South Carolina softball vs. North Florida start?  

• Date: May 17
• Time: 1 p.m. ET
• Location: Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field in Columbia, South Carolina

What TV channel is South Carolina softball vs. North Florida on today?  

• TV: N/A
• Streaming: ESPN+ on the ESPN app

South Carolina softball starting pitcher

Sam Gress is starting for the Gamecocks. She has a 3.12 ERA, 12 wins and 94 strikeouts.

North Florida softball starting pitcher

Allison Benning, North Florida’s star is starting. She has a 1.49 ERA, 25 wins and 174 strikeouts.

NCAA softball schedule

Here is the latest college softball schedule and NCAA Tournament bracket update.

NCAA Tournament Columbia Regional softball schedule

May 17

Game 3: North Florida vs South Carolina, 1 p.m., ESPN+

Game 4: Virginia vs. Elon, 3:30 p.m., TV TBD

Game 5: loser of G3 vs. winner of G4, 6 p.m., TV TBD

May 18

Game 6: winner of G3 vs. winner of G5, 1 p.m., ESPN2.

Game 7: winner of C6 vs. loser of G6 (if necessary), 3:30 p.m.

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Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin

South Carolina leaders reacted to President Donald Trump’s recent visit to Qatar — where he finalized a deal to sell American jets to Qatar’s fleet and was offered a $400 million jet as a gift from the prime minister.

Trump returned to the United States on May 16 after a four-day visit to Middle Eastern countries. Part of the tour included a stop in Qatar, where Trump signed an agreement to create an economic exchange worth $1.2 trillion, according to the White House.

That agreement included a $96 billion agreement to sell hundreds of Boeing jets to Qatar Airways. Boeing will produce 210 777X and 787 Dreamliner jets, which are built in South Carolina, to join Qatar Airways’ fleet.

The White House issued a statement on the sale that claims the agreement is Boeing’s “largest-ever widebody order and largest-ever 787 order.”

Boeing built its first South Carolina 787 Dreamliner in April 2012. The North Charleston manufacturing facility became the only producer of the Dreamliner in the United States in 2021, when the company moved production from its Everett, Washington, facility.

Republican U.S. Rep. William Timmons (SC-4th District) said that trade negotiations between the U.S. and foreign nations are going well — and while there are a lot of difficult changes underway, those factors create a “perfect storm” that strengthens the U.S. economy.

“It’s just exciting,” Timmons said. “All the ingredients are getting right in the next few months.”

More: Will Trump take $400M plane from Qatar? Nikki Haley calls gift ‘threat’ to national security

Boeing Commercial Airplane President Stephanie Pope said the company is honored that Qatar Airways has placed the record-breaking order.

“Our team is looking forward to building 787s and 777s for Qatar Airways into the next decade as they connect more people and businesses around the world with unmatched efficiency and comfort,” Pope said.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster addressed the deal on May 15 while he met with state leaders on storm preparedness for the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season.

“We’ve done a lot of business with Qatar,” McMaster said. “The work that he’s (Trump’s) done over there is just remarkable.”

Trump faced criticism from key Republican and Democratic lawmakers earlier this week when he posted on Truth Social that the Department of Defense was offered a Boeing 747 as a gift from Qatari leaders.

“The fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40-year-old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats,” the president said.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was among critics of the president’s potential acceptance of the jet. She also posted about the matter on social media and said that accepting gifts from foreign nations is never a good practice.

“Regardless of how beautiful the plane may be, it opens a door and implies the President and US can be bought,” Haley said. “If this were Biden, we would be furious.

Reporter Bella Carpentier covers the South Carolina legislature, state and Greenville County politics. Contact her at bcarpentier@gannett.com.

Paul Mainieri didn’t just give Jase Woita the green light. In his own words, he gave him an “emphatic” green light to swing at a 3-0 pitch.

Tied with the No. 1 team in the country in the bottom of the ninth inning, Mainieri was going down swinging. He saw that South Carolina had struggled to bring home runs after putting itself in some good situations early on. So he called on Woita to pinch-hit for Gavin Braland, knowing he could potentially do some damage.

“Somebody has to eventually hit the ball to get, well, unless they throw a wild pitch to end the game right there,” Mainieri said, alluding to what later happened. “You hate to count on that. You need to hit your way to victory. I just thought Jase had the best chance.”

After Mainieri joked about Woita’s “blazing speed” earlier in the week, the junior slugger came through with potentially the biggest hit of the night, a triple that took a favorable bounce off the top of the left field wall. It set South Carolina up for a dramatic finish a few batters later, as Dalton Mashore, pinch-running for Woita, scored on a wild pitch to walk it off in a 6-5 win over top-ranked LSU.

“(Woita) was hauling,” said Henry Kaczmar, who hit two of the team’s three triples, becoming the first Gamecock since 2019 to do so. “I heard a couple guys in the dugout say, ‘Unhook the trailer!’ We’re all happy he got there. I thought it was going to leave the yard at the start. It stayed fair, but we were fortunate that he was able to hustle that triple out for us.”

It was the type of effort that encapsulated the night for the Gamecocks (28-26, 6-22 SEC). And after going through so much heartbreak and losses throughout the season, Mainieri felt it was about time something good happened for the players.

“You’ve got to get the best possible team put together. You’ve got to coach them right. You’ve got to motivate them. And then they got to go out there and they got to perform,” he said. “You’ve got to get some breaks along the way. It’s hard to win games, but anything’s possible. Today, we didn’t give up.”

After some weekends where the pitching was the biggest problem, South Carolina received quality outings from Ashton Crowther and Brandon Stone, who each pitched 4.1 innings.

Crowther gave up an early two-run homer to Daniel Dickinson in the first but settled in after that. Stone pitched well for most of his time on the mound before giving up two runs in the eighth that put the Tigers up by two runs with six outs to go.

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But the Gamecocks continued to battle. They immediately got a run back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single from Kennedy Jones after Kaczmar led off with a triple. That was all they’d get, though, still trailing by a run with three outs left.

Then, with one out in the ninth, KJ Scobey tied the game with one swing as he crushed a solo homer off LSU right-hander Zac Cowan. The freshman third baseman admitted he sat on a first-pitch changeup, which he hit into the visitor’s bullpen.

“He’s really been swinging the bat great. He swung the bat well down at Auburn, you know, the game-tying home run today in the ninth inning,” Mainieri said. “Don’t forget his sacrifice fly off of Noot when he came into the game. That was a huge swing, too. Scobey is developing into a really outstanding player, just like I thought he would.”

Just when it looked like South Carolina was heading towards another brutal loss, it found new life. It looked like the game might be on its way to extra innings after LSU first baseman Jared Jones made a diving catch to rob Nathan Hall of a possible walk-off hit.

But after Woita’s all-important triple, a 1-1 pitch to Cayden Gaskin bounced in the dirt and went to the backstop. Mashore scored easily as a player-led celebration ensued at Founders Park. Mainieri watched on, soaking up all he could of a big night for his team.

“Anytime you beat the number one team in the country, it’s special,” Mainieri said. “… It was an exciting night for South Carolina, the Gamecocks, and our players and staff. I’m glad the fans got to enjoy a really good win as well.”

Up next: South Carolina will go for the series win over the Tigers on Friday. First pitch is at 7 p.m. on SEC Network Plus. Jake McCoy (4-4, 6.71 ERA) will get the start on the mound. It will also be senior night for the Gamecocks, which will begin at 6:25 p.m.