South Carolina learns NCAA Tournament draw
A few hours after earning the program’s third regional host since 2016, South Carolina now knows its path through the NCAA Tournament.
The full field of 64 got announced Monday afternoon with the Columbia regional getting three more teams in it. South Carolina is officially the No. 15 overall seed in the tournament.
The Gamecocks will open the NCAA Tournament against No. 4-seeded Central Connecticut State Friday, most likely at night, at Founders Park.
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They’ll then play either No. 2 seed Campbell or No. 3 seed NC State Saturday. That game time will be determined based on Friday’s results.
If South Carolina were to advance out of its regional, it would play the winner of the Gainesville regional, which was also announced Monday.
That includes No. 2 overall seed Florida, Texas Tech, UConn and Florida A&M.
After a 34-6 start the Gamecocks won just five games over their next 18 and went 1-2 in the SEC Tournament but earned a top 16 seed regardless.
South Carolina’s hot start helped build a top 10 RPI and strength of schedule as of Sunday, which undoubtedly helped weather the tough end to the regular season.
They lost four straight series to end the regular season and will need to regain some of that mojo heading into the postseason.
This is the third postseason in six full seasons for Mark Kingston and the first with the Gamecocks as a true top 16 host.
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The Gamecocks were the No. 2 seed in an East Carolina regional they ultimately won without taking a loss. South Carolina lost in a Super Regional at Arkansas, falling one game shy of Omaha to the eventual national runners-up.
South Carolina hosted as a No. 2 seed in 2021 as part of COVID protocols with Old Dominion as the top seed in the regional.
The Gamecocks won the first game of the regional before losing the next two games by one run apiece to be eliminated from the postseason.
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They did not make the tournament in either 2019 or 2022.
South Carolina hasn’t announced its pitching rotation yet but any one of Eli Jones, Jack Mahoney, James Hicks, Matthew Becker or Will Sanders could start a game this weekend.
Jones, Mahoney, Hicks and Becker have all flashed down the stretch while Sanders has missed his last two starts dealing with a lower-body injury.
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Mark Kingston said he expects Sanders to be available for a regional and pitch in some capacity.
Mahoney is pitching arguably his best ball of the year right now and Hicks is coming off a 6.2 scoreless performance against Georgia in the SEC Tournament.
