South Carolina baseball, leading SEC East, surges into national Top 5 rankings
South Carolina baseball continues to move up in the national rankings following a weekend sweep of Florida.
The Gamecocks (34-6) moved up three spots to No. 3 in D1Baseball.com’s Top 25 rankings that were released Monday. LSU was No. 1 and Wake Forest was No. 2. Coastal Carolina was ranked No. 6.
USC was No. 2 in Baseball America’s new poll.
South Carolina went 4-0 last week, including a sweep of the then No. 3 Gators. The Gamecocks also moved in first place in the Southeastern Conference standings. USC is 13-4, a half-game ahead of Vanderbilt in the SEC Eastern Division.
The Gamecocks have the best conference game winning percentage (76.5%) and are a game ahead of LSU (12-5) for best record in SEC play. USC also is No. 1 in the RPI metric that helps determine postseason rankings.
The sweep over the Gators ends arguably the toughest stretch of the season schedule for the Gamecocks. South Carolina played LSU, Vanderbilt and Florida in consecutive weekends. All three teams were ranked in the Top 5 at the time.
“We’ve known we’re a top-three team in the country, and we’re going to be that on Monday. We didn’t shy away with it. We went out and handled business,” USC’s Braylen Wimmer said after Saturday’s win. “... There is not a team we have faced that we don’t think we can beat. It is still the SEC and we are going to be ready to go for the rest of the stretch.”
The Gamecocks don’t have a midweek game this week and host Auburn in a three-game series beginning Friday at Founders Park.
▪ Ethan Petry was been named Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Week on Monday for the fourth time this season. Petry set the school’s RBI record for a freshman over the weekend against Florida and has 64 on the season.
Petry had five hits, including two homers against the Gators.
Next South Carolina baseball games
Friday: vs. Auburn, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Saturday: vs. Auburn, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Sunday: vs. Auburn, noon (SEC Network)
May 3: at Winthrop, 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
D1Baseball Top 25
- 1. LSU 32-7
- 2. Wake Forest 34-6
- 3. South Carolina 34-6
- 4. Florida 31-10
- 5. Vanderbilt 29-11
- 6. Coastal Carolina 26-12
- 7. Arkansas 30-10
- 8. Stanford 25-12
- 9. Campbell 31-8
- 10. Connecticut 29-11
- 11. Boston College 27-12
- 12. East Carolina 29-11
- 13. Virginia 32-9
- 14. Texas Tech 29-13
- 15. Kentucky 30-9
- 16. Miami 25-15
- 17. Arizona State 27-12
- 18. West Virginia 29-11
- 19. Dallas Baptist 31-9
- 20. Duke 27-12
- 21. Louisville 26-13
- 22. Oregon State 26-13
- 23. Oregon 26-12
- 24. Tennessee 26-14
- 25. UTSA 30-10
Dropped Out: Texas, North Carolina, UCLA, Southern Miss
This story was originally published April 24, 2023 at 9:09 AM.
