South Carolina baseball: Founders Park moving to 100% capacity

All fans on deck for South Carolina baseball’s final SEC series.

The University of South Carolina announced today that Founders Park, the Gamecocks’ beautiful baseball venue, would be at full capacity for the final SEC series of the year. The news comes just two days before the team takes on No. 4 Tennessee in its regular season finale.

The Gamecocks are battling for an opportunity to host the first round of postseason play, and having a large crowd could prove to be a huge home field advantage. The school sent out a press release on Tuesday afternoon, detailing that fans will be able to resume tailgating with no COVID restrictions. It also notes that masks will be encouraged but not required.

Here’s what athletic director Ray Tanner had to say about the decision.

"“In working with our medical task force, they have advised our department that it is not necessary to cut back on stadium attendance.”"

We’re seeing this as a trend around baseball venues at both the collegiate and professional levels. It’s sure to be a packed house for this particular series, which begins on Thursday. The Gamecocks are fresh off of a three-game sweep of SEC East foe Kentucky, and a couple of victories over the Volunteers could push them into regional host contention. South Carolina was selected as one of the 20 possible host sites last week, of which 16 will be selected as the top overall seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

The Gamecocks are also trying to position themselves for the upcoming SEC Tournament, which will begin next week. We’ll see if the crowd noise is a factor against Tennessee this weekend. If so, we could see more sold out contests this Summer during regional play.