South Carolina softball still ranked despite series sweep

South Carolina softball dropped its fifth SEC series of the season last weekend. The Gamecocks dropped three contests to the top-10 Florida Gators in Columbia by a combined score of 26-3.

The 0-3 week moved USC’s season record to 23-20 overall, and the Gamecocks are now 3-12 in SEC play.

Still, Carolina has held onto a top-25 ranking. Below is a look at Ashley Chastain Woodard’s team’s updated placement in the four major rankings from Softball America, D1Softball, ESPN.com/USA Softball, and NFCA/GoRout.

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Three of the major polls left the Gamecocks out of their weekly top 25 rankings.

For the sixth week in a row, Softball America did not rank South Carolina. Joining them this week, D1Softball left USC out of the top 25 for the fourth time, and the NFCA/GoRout poll left Carolina out for the second time. Chastain Woodard’s group popped up in the voting for NFCA/GoRout.

Though Softball America didn’t rank Carolina, 10 Southeastern Conference teams did earn spots in the outlet’s top 25.

For the fourth week in a row, South Carolina did not earn a spot in D1Softball’s updated top 25. Like Softball America, D1Softball included 10 SEC teams in this week’s rankings. South Carolina fell out of the “also receiving votes” portion of the poll this week.

The combined ESPN.com and USA Softball poll dropped South Carolina out of its top 25 two weeks ago but restored the Gamecocks to the poll last week. Despite losing eight of nine games, USC slotted in at No. 25. That is one spot lower than last week’s poll. 10 SEC teams are ahead of Gamecock softball in the top 25.

South Carolina softball fell out of the NFCA/GoRout top 25 for the second time this season. The Gamecocks earned some votes in the updated rankings but not enough to be in the top 25. Despite the fall, the Gamecocks’ No. 11 position in the SEC remains the same.

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This week, South Carolina softball (23-20, 3-12) will play a mid-week opponent. In fact, the Gamecocks will take on the rival Clemson Tigers (27-16, 9-9) on Tuesday in the Upstate. Then, SEC play will resume with a three-game weekend set on the road against the Missouri Tigers (22-22, 6-9). Though that series will be in Columbia, Missouri, all times listed will be Eastern.

The Carolina-Clemson showdown will begin at 6 p.m. on Tuesday evening. The ACC Network will handle the television broadcast, while the ESPN app makes the rivalry matchup available via streaming. Clemson is unranked in all four major rankings but earned some votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.

The Missouri series begins with a 7 p.m. matchup in “the other Columbia.” The game will not be on traditional television but will stream on SEC Network+.

Game two will start at 6 p.m. on Saturday. SEC Network will broadcast the middle game of the series, and the ESPN app will make it available via streaming.

First pitch for Sunday’s series finale is at 2 p.m. Like game one, there will be no television broadcast, but fans can stream the game on SEC Network+.

Though Missouri is lower in the national rankings than South Carolina, the Tigers are ahead of the Gamecocks in the SEC standings.

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