USC baseball picked third in SEC East; 4 Gamecocks honored

South Carolina baseball is predicted to finish third in the SEC East, according to an annual preseason poll of league coaches.

Defending NCAA Champion Vanderbilt was predicted to win the SEC in 2015. Vanderbilt was predicted to win the SEC Eastern Division, while LSU was the favorite to win the SEC Western Division.

For the first time, two 12-person Preseason All-SEC Teams were selected by the SEC head coaches, and ties were not broken.

South Carolina's DC Arendas and Max Schrock were selected preseason first-team All-SEC, while Kyle Martin and Taylor Widener earned preseason second-team honors from coaches. Widener was selected in a utility role, though he is more likely to pitch as a closer.

Points were compiled on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for each division. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. Each coach also voted for one team as an overall conference champion.

SEC East

SEC West

SEC first team

C - Gavin Collins, Mississippi State

1B - Sikes Orvis, Ole Miss

2B - Kyle Overstreet, Alabama *

2B - Max Schrock, South Carolina *

SS - Alex Bregman, LSU

3B - DC Arendas, South Carolina

OF - Christin Stewart, Tennessee

OF - Bryan Reynolds, Vanderbilt

OF - Andrew Stevenson, LSU

DH/UT - A.J. Puk, Florida

SP - Carson Fulmer, Vanderbilt

SP - Logan Shore, Florida

RP - Hayden Stone, Vanderbilt

SEC second team

C - Kade Scivicque, LSU

1B - Kyle Martin, South Carolina

2B - Nick Senzel, Tennessee

SS - Dansby Swanson, Vanderbilt

3B - Josh Tobias, Florida

OF - Nick Banks, Texas A&M

OF - Mark Laird, LSU

OF - Harrison Bader, Florida

DH/UT - Taylor Widener, South Carolina

SP - Walker Buehler, Vanderbilt

SP - Robert Tyler, Georgia

RP - Thomas Burrows, Alabama *

RP - Jacob Stone, Arkansas *

* - Ties were not broken

This story was originally published February 12, 2015 at 11:04 AM with the headline "USC baseball picked third in SEC East; 4 Gamecocks honored."