South Carolina baseball opens 2021 ranked for first time in nearly two years
Around a month out from the start of the 2021 season, South Carolina baseball is back in the rankings.
D1Baseball.com released its preseason poll Monday, and coach Mark Kingston’s Gamecocks came in at No. 18, sixth-highest among SEC teams.
That’s the highest ranking USC has had in the D1Baseball poll since the end of the 2018 season, when the Gamecocks finished No. 14. It’s also the highest ranking South Carolina has had in any of the five major polls since March 2019.
In addition to their appearance in the D1Baseball rankings, the Gamecocks checked in at No. 21 in Collegiate Baseball’s preseason poll.
When the 2020 season was abruptly ended because of the COVID-19 pandemic, South Carolina was 12-4 and about to start conference play. The Gamecocks had been looking to bounce back from a disappointing 26-26 campaign in 2019 and return to the NCAA tournament.
Heading into 2021, the Gamecocks return the vast majority of at-bats and innings from last year’s squad — USC had just one player, ace Carmen Mlodzinski, and one incoming recruit taken in the 2020 MLB Draft.
On the offensive side, Kingston returns a power-hitting trio of sophomore infielder Wes Clarke, sophomore outfielder Brady Allen and junior outfielder Andrew Eyster. Clarke was named a third-team All-American last spring, finishing the abbreviated season first in the SEC and third nationally with eight home runs. Allen led the squad with a .327 batting average, and Eyster led the team with 18 hits in 16 games.
On the mound, USC brings back two-thirds of its weekend rotation in junior Brannon Jordan and redshirt sophomore Thomas Farr. Jordan and Farr, both junior college transfers, impressed in their first action last spring, combining to go 5-0 with a 1.72 ERA. The Gamecocks also feature sophomore Brett Kerry, a freshman All-American and the team’s closer.
To that returning corps, Kingston will add a consensus top-10 class of newcomers featuring highly-rated pitchers in Will Sanders, Magdiel Cotto and Jackson Phipps, as well as impact bats such as outfielder Brandon Fields.
D1Baseball.com 2021 Preseason Rankings
1. Florida
2. UCLA
3. Texas Tech
4. Vanderbilt
5. Louisville
6. Ole Miss
7. Mississippi State
8. Arkansas
9. Texas
10. TCU
11. UC Santa Barbara
12. LSU
13. NC State
14. West Virginia
15. Georgia Tech
16. Virginia
17. Wake Forest
18. South Carolina
19. Tennessee
20. Oklahoma State
21. Miami
22. Arizona
23. Auburn
24. Florida State
25. East Carolina
This story was originally published January 18, 2021 at 11:53 AM.
