COLUMBIA — Ashley Chastain is coming back home.

South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner is reportedly set to hire Chastain, who played for the Gamecocks and is currently the coach at Charlotte, as the new coach of the softball program.

TheBigSpur reported the news Monday night, saying the hire is pending approval by the board of trustees.

Beverly Smith was fired on Saturday after 14 seasons with South Carolina softball. She is the second-winningest coach in program history, going 461-323 overall. In SEC play, she was 102-219. South Carolina lost in the NCAA regional this season, the team's ninth NCAA appearance under Smith.

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Chastain has been the coach at Charlotte since 2019. She played softball for South Carolina from 2009 to 2011 and was a graduate assistant in 2012.

Since taking over the 49ers program, Chastain has a 154-96 overall record, with trips to the NCAA regionals the past two seasons.

South Carolina defeated Charlotte 7-2 in the Gamecocks Invitational on Feb. 25. Charlotte beat South Carolina 9-1 to start the 2023 season.

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

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina softball reportedly hiring Ashley Chastain as next coach