More baseball for Founders Park: South Carolina chosen as host site for 2021 NCAAs
Postseason baseball will return to Columbia after all.
In somewhat of a surprise, South Carolina was among the 16 host schools announced by the NCAA on Sunday night, setting up the first NCAA regional at Founders Park since 2016.
Though the Gamecocks (33-21, 16-14 SEC) rank No. 18 in RPI and third in the country in the strength of schedule, they struggled during the final month of the season, dropping four of their last five SEC series and lasting just one game in the SEC tournament in Hoover, Alabama.
“No one will be more prepared” for the postseason, USC coach Mark Kingston said after the Gamecocks were eliminted from the SEC tournament. “No one has played a harder schedule. ... We’re battle tested.”
USC might or might not be the No. 1 seed in the Columbia regional even though they’re the host school. Baseball America’s final NCAA tournament projections released Sunday night have Conference USA tournament champion Old Dominion as the No. 1 seed in the regional to be played at Founders Park. That prediction has the Gamecocks as the No. 2 seed, with Virginia the No. 3 seed and Samford No. 4.
It’s an unusual — but not unprecedented — situation if South Carolina isn’t the top seed in its own ballpark. There has not been a traveling No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament since 2010.
“I still think that we’re one of the top 16 teams in the country,” Kingston said.
Only the 16 hosts were announced Sunday night. The teams and bracket announcement for the tournament will be revealed in a selection show that starts at noon Monday on ESPN2.
2021 NCAA baseball tournament regional sites
The 16 regional sites, with host institutions and records:
- Austin, Texas - Texas (42-15)
- Columbia, South Carolina – South Carolina (33-21)
- Eugene, Oregon – Oregon (37-14)
- Fayetteville, Arkansas – Arkansas (46-10)
- Fort Worth, Texas – TCU (39-17); through games played 5/29/2021
- Gainesville, Florida – Florida (38-20)
- Greenville, North Carolina – East Carolina (41-15)
- Knoxville, Tennessee – Tennessee (45-16)
- Lubbock, Texas – Texas Tech (36-15)
- Nashville, Tennessee – Vanderbilt (40-15)
- Oxford, Mississippi – Ole Miss (41-19)
- Ruston, Louisiana – Louisiana Tech (40-18)
- South Bend, Indiana – Notre Dame (30-11)
- Stanford, California – Stanford (33-14)
- Starkville, Mississippi – Mississippi St. (40-15)
- Tucson, Arizona – Arizona (40-15)
This story was originally published May 30, 2021 at 8:31 PM.
