South-Carolina
Why South Carolina softball, Ashley Chastain Woodard believed a super regional was possible
COLUMBIA — It took a moment to sink in — then suddenly, celebrations erupted as an eighth run meant South Carolina softball advanced to a super regional for the first time since 2018.
First-year coach Ashley Chastain Woodard and the No. 8 seed Gamecocks (43-15) beat North Florida 8-0 in a run-ruled five-inning game on May 18, after beating the Ospreys 3-0 on May 17 and Elon 5-2 on May 16 in the Columbia Regional.
They will host either No. 9 seed UCLA (52-10) in a super regional at Carolina Softball Stadium. The Gamecocks are 34-5 at home.
South Carolina was voted to finish last in the SEC but now the Gamecocks are just two wins away from advancing to the Women’s College World Series, which would be the program’s first since 1997.
Chastain Woodard, who was a pitcher for the Gamecocks from 2009-11, was hired from Charlotte and brought six players with her, including star pitcher Sam Gress, infielder Ella Chancey and home-run leader Arianna Rodi. The 2025 roster is a hodgepodge of Gamecocks who stayed through the coaching change after last season, former 49ers and other transfers.
Sixth-year outfielder Abigail Knight, a transfer from Charlotte, said looking at the roster and the 2025 season, the Gamecocks had two choices.
“Either use this time as a rebuild and use this time to grow or we could go get it right away,” Knight said. “Nobody wanted to waste any time, just tip-toeing into the season, we wanted to go get it. There’s no time like the present.”
Chastain Woodard has set a program record for the most wins for a first-year coach.
“She’s the best that I’ve ever played behind,” Knight said. “What an honor it is to follow her into battle.”
Heading into the regional final, South Carolina had to win just one game against North Florida. The Gamecocks had a game-changing two-out rally in the fifth inning where they scored six runs. In the regional, 12 of the 16 runs scored by South Carolina came with two outs.
After the win on May 17, Chastain Woodard admitted that last summer she told her team a regional appearance was attainable for this group. Now, this next achievement isn’t a surprise either.
“I think anything is possible,” Chastain Woodard said. “I have a ton of belief in the players, in the ones who stayed and the ones who came in. I knew it was definitely possible … a top-8 seed, you look around at the conference, you look around at the game right now and man, that’s really hard to do … it’s special, these are moments and weeks you’ll never forget.”
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
Clemson Tigers and the West Virginia Mountaineers play in Charleston, South Carolina
West Virginia Mountaineers (5-0) vs. Clemson Tigers (4-1)
Charleston, South Carolina; Friday, 6:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: West Virginia and Clemson square off at TD Arena in Charleston, South Carolina.
The Tigers are 4-1 in non-conference play. Clemson scores 84.6 points and has outscored opponents by 26.0 points per game.
The Mountaineers are 5-0 in non-conference play. West Virginia is 4-0 in games decided by 10 points or more.
Clemson makes 46.0% of its shots from the field this season, which is 8.5 percentage points higher than West Virginia has allowed to its opponents (37.5%). West Virginia averages 14.2 more points per game (72.8) than Clemson gives up (58.6).
TOP PERFORMERS: Carter Welling is shooting 70.0% and averaging 11.4 points for the Tigers. Jake Wahlin is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers.
Honor Huff is scoring 17.2 points per game and averaging 2.0 rebounds for the Mountaineers. Brenen Lorient is averaging 12.8 points.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
South-Carolina
‘Bright, curious’: S.C. school district speaks on 7-year-old student’s death
GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. – The South Carolina Highway Patrol responded to a fatal crash Saturday afternoon.
Troopers said that the crash was reported to have happened at 3:35 p.m. at the intersection of Augusta Road and Matrix Parkway.
Officials said that four vehicles were involved in the crash. A 2019 Jeep SUV was turning left onto Matrix Parkway from Augusta Road when a 2018 Ford pickup truck traveling south on Augusta Road struck the Jeep.
The two vehicles then collided with a 2018 Mitsubishi SUV and 2005 Honda sedan on Matrix Parkway.
According to troopers, the driver of the Ford was not injured. The drivers of the other three vehicles, along with three passengers in the Mitsubishi, were taken to the hospital.
According to the Greenville County Coroner’s Office, a rear-seat passenger in the Jeep was taken to Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Emergency Department, where he later died from his injuries.
The corner identified the victim as 7-year-old Caius Zaire Blakley from Woodruff.
Spartanburg County School District Four confirmed Blakley was a student at Woodruff Primary School.
The district released the following statement:
This incident remains under active investigation by the Greenville County Coroner’s Office in collaboration with the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
South-Carolina
South Carolina’s near-total abortion ban fails to advance out of subcommittee
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCIV) — The State Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee continued discussions about Senate Bill 323 – a proposed near-total abortion ban.
The controversial bill creates new definitions for human life, contraception and makes abortion a felony. The bill also removes current exceptions for rape, incest and fatal fetal anomaly written into the state’s six-week ban.
On Tuesday, a motion to send a favorable report on Senate Bill 323 to the full medical affairs committee failed 3-2, with four members abstaining.
READ MORE | “SC looks at most restrictive abortion bill in the US as opponents keep pushing limits.”
The motion came after three hours of discussion of possible amendments to the bill. Some proposals sought to remove criminal and civil protections for pregnant mothers, or return to state law that took precedent before Roe v. Wade became precedent in the 1970s.
Those amendments failed to pass.
The bill’s author, State Sen. Richard Cash, chairman of the Medical Affairs Subcommittee, defended the bill as written – claiming abortion is the number one issue in the state.
“I believe it’s our first duty as elected officials to bring an end to it, to protect innocent human life, life, liberty, property,” Cash said. “The rights are in that order. It is our duty to protect innocent life.”
READ MORE | “Second hearing scheduled regarding SC’s controversial near-total abortion ban bill.”
State Sen. Billy Garrett, one of the bill’s original sponsors, abstained. At one point in the meeting, he said he wants to protect the unborn. However, he was against criminalizing mothers.
“I’m extremely in favor of saving babies’ lives,” Garrett said. “I’ll always be that way. My constituents are that way. They asked me to be that way, and I am, but I have never intended, nor should any of us ever intend to, to punish or be punitive towards our moms.”
Sen. Tom Fernandez and Sen. Cash voted in support of the bill. Sens. Deon Tedder, Ronnie Saab and Brad Hutto voted against it. Sens. Garrett, Matt Leber, Thomas Corbin and Jeff Zell abstained.
“This is an enormous victory for reproductive freedom and for the people of South Carolina,” said Dr. Amalia Luxardo, CEO of the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network (WREN). “This outcome was made possible because thousands of South Carolinians stood up, spoke out, and refused to allow their rights and their futures to be stripped away.”
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