Gamecocks fill out baseball schedule with powerhouse opponent, report says
South Carolina baseball has filled the last remaining gap in its schedule in a major way, according to reports.
Coach Mark Kingston’s Gamecocks will travel to face the Texas Longhorns in a three-game on March 12-14, Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.com reported Monday.
Kingston hinted at the news shortly before Rogers’ report, tweeting that fans should be on the lookout for “a BIG schedule agreement announcement coming soon. Almost two decades in the making.”
Texas and South Carolina have not faced off since 2002, when they met in the College World Series championship game. The Longhorns defeated the Gamecocks, 12-6, to claim the national title and deny USC what would have been its first championship.
The two programs have more history in the CWS. They met twice in 1975 in Omaha, with the Longhorns winning both matchups to claim the national championship. South Carolina finished as runner-up, at the time its best finish ever.
This meeting will be the first series between the two storied programs, who have combined for eight national championships and 47 College World Series appearances. And both teams are expected to be strong in 2021. The Longhorns ranked No. 9 in D1Baseball’s preseason top 25 rankings, while the Gamecocks were No. 18.
South Carolina had released most of its schedule last Friday, but coach Mark Kingston said a COVID-19 related cancellation left the team with a free weekend before conference play the team was still searching to fill.
This new series, alongside the program’s annual rivalry series with Clemson, will highlight a nonconference slate that kicks off Feb. 19 at home against Dayton. Texas will mark the lone non-SEC series South Carolina will play entirely on the road.
SOUTH CAROLINA BASEBALL 2021 SCHEDULE
Game times and broadcast info will be announced at a later date, as will any series that shifts to be played Thursday-Saturday
Home games in bold, neutral site games in italics
▪ Feb. 19-21 Dayton
▪ Feb. 23 Winthrop
▪ Feb 26 at Clemson
▪ Feb 27 vs. Clemson — Fluor Field in Greenville
▪ Feb 28 Clemson
▪ March 2 at Winthrop
▪ March 5-7 Mercer
▪ March 10 at The Citadel
▪ March 12-14 at Texas
▪ March 16 Davidson
▪ March 19-21 at Vanderbilt
▪ March 23 The Citadel
▪ March 26-28 Florida
▪ March 30 Gardner-Webb
▪ April 2-4 at Georgia
▪ April 6 vs. North Carolina — BB&T Ballpark in Charlotte, N.C
▪ April 9-11 Missouri
▪ April 13 Charleston Southern
▪ April 16-18 at LSU
▪ April 27 The Citadel
▪ April 23-25 Arkansas
▪ April 30-May 2 at Ole Miss
▪ May 4 North Florida
▪ May 7-9 Mississippi State
▪ May 14-16 at Kentucky
▪ May 18 Appalachian State
▪ May 20-22 Tennessee
This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 12:03 PM.
