South Carolina looks to build on a successful 2025 season where they went 44-17 with transfer portal additions junior outfielder Tori Ensley and junior pitcher Emma Friedel.
The Gamecocks hosted a regional in 2025 after being picked to finish 15th in the SEC in the preseason. In Ashley Chastain Woodard's first year as head coach, South Carolina made it to the Super-Regionals before losing to UCLA in three games.
With impact players such as Ella Chancey and Brooke Blankenship graduating, the Gamecocks went to the portal and brought in key pieces for the upcoming season.
Ensley transferred from NC State where she played two years for the Wolfpack. She batted .294 as a sophomore with 12 steals and three home runs.
“Tori has a huge ceiling,” Chastain Woodard said. “Tori is super athletic. She is really powerful and really explosive.”
Ensley is a speedy outfielder and said she always tries to get to difficult balls in the outfield and make plays that most other outfielders wouldn't.
“I’ve got all-out effort all the time," Ensley said. “I’m going to try to make every single play (and) take every bag.”
Ensley stole a combined 21 bases during her two years at NC State, but she said she wants to become more aggressive on the bases and make that a bigger part of her game.
“I want to be a threat on the basepaths. I want to steal as many bases as I can,” Ensley said. “I have high expectations for my baserunning.”
Junior pitcher Emma Friedel pitches for the Gamecocks against Furman at Beckham Field on Oct. 17, 2025. This is the Gamecocks' fifth exhibition game.
Ensley will join sophomore outfielder Nia McKnight, who stole five bases in 2025. Ensley's speed will also help her track down hits to the outfield, helping the Gamecock pitchers.
“I think that she'll be someone that leads in the future,” Chastain Woodard said. “We are lucky that we get her for more than a season.”
The Gamecocks also lost a key piece in the pitching rotation, with All-SEC selection Sam Gress getting drafted to the Florida Vibe after a 2.83 ERA in 2025.
The Gamecocks will look to get that lost value back with transfer portal newcomer Friedel. Friedel played for two years with Kennesaw State, and she posted a 3.42 ERA in 2025.
“She is someone you’re going to see on the field a lot,” Chastain Woodard said. “She has a lot of tools that can compete on this level.”
The lengthy righty will be an electric addition to this 2026 South Carolina rotation. Friedel is a vertical pitcher who has a drop ball and a rise ball in her arsenal, and with 134 strikeouts in 2025, she has proven herself as a strikeout threat.
“I can mix speeds,” Friedel said. “I have a high spin rate, and I have high velocity, so that complements each other really well.”
Friedel also talked about developing a changeup that will add some depth to her pitch arsenal.
“Being able to command a changeup is something that is a really big goal for this season,” Friedel said. “That is exactly what is going to be the next step for me being really great and being really effective against SEC hitters.”
Friedel is coming from Kennesaw State, who went 12-41 in 2025 and 3-24 in C-USA conference play. Friedel was a bright spot on the team, and she said she is excited about the opportunity to play in the top-tier competition that the SEC offers.
“I’m grateful for my time at Kennesaw, it was crucial to my development,” Friedel said.
Similar to past transfer players such as senior catcher Lexi Winters and Sam Gress, who became captains on the team, Ensley and Friedel will look to play key roles in this upcoming season for the Gamecocks as they look to build on the success of last season's 44-win team.
Ensley and Friedel have already shown what they are made of in Friday's exhibition game against Furman, where Tori Ensley went 3-5 with a homerun and three RBIs with a walk, and Friedel struck out three batters in two innings without giving up a hit.
What's next?
South Carolina is set to play USCB at the Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field on Oct. 24 at 6:00 p.m. for their 6th fall exhibition game.