Paul Mainieri not letting preseason rankings define South Carolina: 'There's talent on this team'

There’s a newfound energy and excitement in the air. People are ready to see South Carolina baseball back in action, maybe more so than years past. Yet there’s always been one constant.

The expectations remain the same. It’s go big or go home. 12 years without a single trip is something many would deem unacceptable. The hunger to see the Gamecocks return to the College World Series is increasingly growing.

But before discussions about booking flights to Omaha can really begin, the season still needs to play out. And for the team, the College World Series isn’t something they are allowed to focus on right now.

“Our players are not allowed to talk about Omaha, not because we don’t think we can go there. The only thing we’re talking about is Sacred Heart on Feb. 14,” head coach Paul Mainieri said. “One game at a time. Midnight rule. When the day is over, midnight signifies the end of one day and the beginning of a new day. So whether you won or lost, or whether you had a good game or a bad game, if we had a good game you celebrate it until midnight. And then you know what, the next day it starts all over again at 0-0.”

[Join GamecockCentral: $1 for 7 days]

In a little under three weeks, a new era officially begins at Founders Park. After years of coming up short of the end goal, many are hopeful Mainieri, entering his first season with the program, can be the right man to captain the ship. But for as much hope and optimism as there is, there are still those who aren’t sure of what South Carolina will do just yet.

Entering the 2025 campaign, the Gamecocks will be sitting outside D1 Baseball’s Top 25, going into a season unranked for the first time since 2022. Even for Mainieri, this is uncharted territory. The last time he coached an unranked team going into a season, it was LSU in 2008.

For being picked to finish fifth in the SEC West, that team ended up being pretty good. The Tigers won 49 games, ending their season with a trip to the College World Series. So, Mainieri knows as well as anyone the current rankings don’t define what a team like South Carolina can do.

“The only negative about not being ranked is I don’t want our fan base to be down in the dumps about it,” he said. “Everybody likes to see the University of South Carolina’s name out there everywhere. But I’m pleading with our fanbase to believe in these kids like I do and to believe that they can come out to Ray Tanner field at Founders Park and really enjoy themselves and watch a really good team scratch and claw and battle every day.

“If we get that kind of fan support … it makes a difference. It inspires our players. It intimidates the other team a little bit. It’s just more fun.”

[Win tickets: South Carolina-Auburn WBB]

As the season begins, the Gamecocks will have their share of opportunities to assert themselves. The SEC has nine teams ranked inside the top 20, with South Carolina facing six of those teams once conference play begins. That’s not including in-state rival Clemson, who it plays in a three-game series from Feb. 28-March 2.

Knowing there hasn’t been much respect for his team going into the season, Mainieri understands they will have to earn what they want. There are going to be ups and downs, that much will be true. But he believes taking this season one game at a time, not looking down the road, will greatly help them be successful.

“You don’t take anybody lightly. You respect all of your opponents, but you’re not in awe of any of them. You can’t be afraid of any of them,” Mainieri said. “The teams that win national championships and go to Omaha, they’re still just 18- to 22-year-old kids and they put their pants on one leg at a time just like everybody else does.

“Nobody’s worked harder than our team, I can assure you of that. There’s talent on this team. Now we may not have 20 players that are on the top 100 list of pro prospects or anything, but I’ve had some very successful teams over the years that didn’t have a lot of pro prospects on them. You just got to find a way to get the most out of them. Put them in situations that accentuate the strengths that they have and kind of hide away the limitations a little bit.”

Discuss South Carolina baseball on The Insiders Forum!