For the second time in a matter of hours, South Carolina is closing in on a new coach on the diamond.

After reports surfaced earlier Monday the university is nearing a deal with former LSU head baseball coach Paul Mainieri, multiple outlets reported on Monday night that South Carolina will go up I-77 for its new softball coach and hire Charlotte head coach Ashley Chastain.

Chastain is a South Carolina alum, playing for the Gamecocks for 2009-2011 and starting her coaching career as a graduate assistant on Beverly Smith’s staff in 2012. Stops at College of Charleston, Michigan State and Ole Miss led her to her first head coaching job at Charlotte.

She spent five seasons at the helm for the 49ers, taking the program to the NCAA Tournament in 2023 and 2024 and winning three games across the two years in regionals at Duke and Georgia respectively. She finished her time at Charlotte with a final overall record of 152-98, and a 65-32 clip in AAC play.

South Carolina has a board of trustees meeting with the item “approval of athletic contracts” listed on the agenda tomorrow at 4 p.m., although this could pertain to the coaching vacancies in baseball, softball or men’s golf.

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