South Carolina drops from Top 25 and NCAA host projections ahead of SEC Tournament
South Carolina’s baseball postseason outlook is officially murky.
USC is projected as a No. 2 seed in a regional at Coastal Carolina, per D1Baseball’s latest NCAA Tournament projections that were released on Monday afternoon. The potential regional is also projected to include UNC-Wilmington and N.C. State.
South Carolina also is no longer ranked in D1Baseball’s weekly Top 25 poll, dropping out after a weekend series loss to Tennessee. USC climbed as high as the No. 3 ranking the poll following a sweep of Florida in late April, but the Gamecocks have fallen off since then.
South Carolina dropped its fourth consecutive Southeastern Conference series this past weekend against No. 18 Tennessee. The Gamecocks are now 3-9 in their last 12 league games and have lost 11 of their last 15 games overall — including dropping midweek contests to North Florida and Charlotte.
USC begins its march toward the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday against No. 11 seed Georgia in the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama. The Bulldogs announced on Monday that lefty Jaden Woods will start the contest after he missed the previous five SEC series with bicep tendinitis. Woods faced the Gamecocks in the teams’ series earlier this year in Athens, giving up three earned runs on seven hits, while striking out 11 over seven innings.
South Carolina will turn to right-hander James Hicks on the mound Tuesday. Hicks has spent the bulk of this season pitching out of the bullpen, but headed into the 2022 season as the projected No. 2 starter before suffering a season-ending injury in just his second appearance. The Arkansas native boasts a 4.09 ERA and has struck out 42 batters over his 50.2 innings pitched this spring.
“You’ve got to try to make sure that by next week we’re healthy in all the spots we need to be healthy — especially with the key guys that have been there when we’re at our best — but you also want to play the game to win,” head coach Mark Kingston said Monday of how South Carolina will balance competing in Hoover while preparing for the NCAA Tournament. “As (longtime NFL coach) Herm Edwards said, ‘You play to win the game.’ We’re going to play to win the games and just try to do the best we can to win games, but also make sure the guys are 100% next week.”
The 16 regional hosting sites will be officially known sometime Sunday night, with the full NCAA Tournament field revealed via an ESPN selection show at noon Monday, May 29.
D1Baseball projections
The D1Baseball website projects the eight national seeds for the NCAA Tournament as Wake Forest, Florida, Arkansas, LSU, Stanford, Clemson, Vanderbilt and Virginia. All eight would host regionals and have the upper hand for hosting super regionals.
The other eight projected regional hosting sites are Kentucky, Coastal Carolina, Miami, Auburn, Oklahoma State, Alabama, Boston College and Texas.
How to watch South Carolina in SEC tournament
Who: No. 6 South Carolina vs. No. 11 Georgia
When: 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 23
Where: Hoover Metropolitan Stadium
Television/Streaming: SEC Network
The State’s Michael Lananna contributed reporting to this story
This story was originally published May 22, 2023 at 1:36 PM.
