Gamecock baseball is back, and with high hopes. Now can they get back to Omaha?
South Carolina baseball is back, set to take on Dayton on Friday at Founders Park exactly 346 days since it last played a competitive game.
Now comes an inevitable next question: Can the Gamecocks get all the way back to the postseason — or even Omaha?
When the 2020 season ended abruptly last March because of COVID-19, USC was 12-4, unranked and on the verge of starting SEC play. Whether Carolina could have returned to the NCAA tournament after missing it in 2019 will never be known.
Heading into 2021, many things have changed, including expectations for this team. The Gamecocks are ranked No. 18 in D1Baseball’s preseason rankings. They’ve been included in NCAA tournament projections from D1Baseball and Baseball America. There’s buzz around coach Mark Kingston’s program, even preseason chatter about a possible Super Regional.
“We have a really strong team,” junior designated hitter/catcher Wes Clarke said. “I think, personally, this is our best pitching staff, our best lineup, hitting-wise, our best defense. I think this is our best team here so far with me being here, so I think we’re gonna have a really successful year.”
Junior Brady Allen was even more direct when asked Thursday how far he thinks the Gamecocks can go.
“Omaha, for sure,” Allen said.
It’s been nine years since South Carolina played in the College World Series, but given the program’s history of success, making it that far is often considered the standard. And knowing that has tempered any excitement coaches and players might have felt in seeing the preseason hype.
“The expectation here is to win a national championship. If our guys are getting too excited about being ranked in the top 20 right now, they’re not in the right head space,” Kingston said during the preseason. “We make sure guys know what the expectation is here. We want to go to Omaha and we want to win a national championship. That’s what I want our guys to feel like. I want them to feel like 18 is underrated for us right now.”
There’s also the challenge of being ranked in the top 20 to start the season. USC is staring down a gauntlet of a schedule featuring series with seven teams ranked above them, not to mention three other projected tournament teams.
“We still got to compete out there and show that we are worthy to be a top-ranked team in the country,” redshirt sophomore starting pitcher Julian Bosnic said. “We can be ranked whatever we are, but if we don’t win, then it means nothing. Our ultimate goal is to get to Omaha and win it.”
Which makes this opening series against Dayton especially key. The Flyers are one of just two weekend opponents the Gamecocks will face not from the Power 5, and they last made the NCAA tourney in 2012, the first appearance in program history. Racking up wins early will be crucial before the margin for error significantly tightens.
“We can’t get ahead of ourselves — every team we play is going to be a team that you need to respect, and that starts opening weekend. Mid-major teams ... have never been older and more experienced than they ever been because of COVID, so you’re gonna see mid-major teams that are much better and experienced and playing the game at a high level than you’ve ever seen,” Kingston said.
“So, we will respect everybody we play because of that, and we’re gonna play some very old teams that maybe the name recognition isn’t there, but this team we’re playing this weekend does some really good things. They’ve got a Friday starter that’s ranked in the top 150 pitchers in the country in D1Baseball.”
That Friday starter for Dayton is senior lefty Hunter Wolfe, who went 1-1 last season with a 3.10 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings. The Gamecocks will counter with redshirt junior Thomas Farr, who drew the nod from Kingston and pitching coach Skylar Meade for his first Opening Day start.
“We just felt like experience-wise and how he’s been pitching and in everything he does, it just screams that he can be a Friday night guy,” Kingston said.
USC BASEBALL OPENING WEEKEND
Who: No. 18 South Carolina vs. Dayton
Where: Founders Park
When: 4 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday, noon Sunday
Watch: All three games streaming online on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN
Starters: Friday — USC Thomas Farr (R-Jr. RHP) vs. UD Hunter Wolfe (Sr. LHP)
Saturday — USC Brannon Jordan (Sr. RHP) vs. UD Ben Olson (Gr. LHP)
Sunday — USC Julian Bosnic (R-So. LHP) vs. UD Cole Pletka (Sr. RHP)
