South Carolina softball learns SEC Tournament path

South Carolina softball wrapped up its regular season on Saturday night with a one-run loss to Alabama, their ninth one-run defeat on the season. Turnaround will be relatively quick, however. The Gamecocks will begin their postseason in Lexington, Kentucky as the No. 12 seed in the SEC Tournament.

Ashley Chastain Woodard’s team faced a brutal schedule in 2026 (both out-of-conference and in SEC play), but Tuesday’s opening round will present Carolina with a new opponent. The Gamecocks (30-25, 7-17) will take on the No. 13 seed Ole Miss Rebels (32-23, 6-18) in the Bluegrass State.

The May 5 showdown will be the third of the day in Lexington. 11-seed Missouri and 14-seed Auburn will play at 1 p.m. Then, 10-seed Mississippi State and 15-seed Kentucky will do battle after that. That means that South Carolina-Ole Miss should begin sometime between 7 p.m.

The last time USC took on Mississippi, South Carolina took two of three games in a ranked matchup in Columbia during the 2025 regular season.

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If the Gamecocks can win against the Rebels, they will meet up with the No. 5 seed Tennessee Lady Volunteers on Wednesday, May 6.

After that, the No. 4 seed Texas Longhorns await in the quarterfinals on Thursday, May 7.

The SEC Tournament semifinals will take place on Friday, May 8. Then, the championship game will be on Saturday, May 9.

On Sunday, May 10 at 7 p.m., the NCAA Tournament Selection Show will broadcast on ESPN2. It will also stream on the ESPN app. South Carolina softball is a pretty safe bet to make the tourney. However, a strong showing this week would solidify their case and could improve their potential path to a postseason run.

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina softball!