South Carolina baseball: Columbia regional rated 14th most difficult

South Carolina baseball could have an easier path to the super regionals than most No. 2 seeds.

South Carolina baseball will kick off its regional round of the postseason on Friday, when they face third-seeded Virginia. Despite not earning the bracket’s top overall seed, the Gamecocks earned the opportunity to host due to being placed with No. 1 seed Old Dominion. ODU did not submit a hosting bid to the NCAA back in May, leaving South Carolina as the field’s only No. 2 seed to play a regional in their home venue.

All in all, there are 16 different regional brackets, consisting of four teams each. Which is the most difficult? Which has the easiest path to the super regional round? Where does the Columbia regional rank in comparison to others?

NCAA Baseball recently rated the sites from toughest to easiest. The Columbia regional came in at No. 14 out of 16, seemingly meaning that the Gamecocks could have an easier path to the super regional round than most.

Check out the full list below.

1. Knoxville (Tennessee)
2. Starkville (Mississippi St)
3. Lubbock (Texas Tech)
4. Tucson (Arizona)
5. Ruston (La Tech)
6. Palo Alto (Stanford)
7. Oxford (Ole Miss)
8. South Bend (Notre Dame)
9. Fayetteville (Arkansas)
10. Eugene (Oregon)
11. Gainesville (Florida)
12. Fort Worth (TCU)
13. Nashville (Vanderbilt)
14. Columbia
15. Austin (Texas)
16. Greenville (East Carolina)

It’s not surprise that the Tennessee regional top the list. The Vols finished ranked in the top five after winning the SEC Eastern division crown. They’ll have the task of taking down maybe the hottest team in the country in Duke, as well as two top 40 RPI teams in Liberty and Wright State.

The Columbia regional, in comparison, sees three top 40 RPI squads but the fourth-seeded Jacksonville Dolphins come in at No. 202 in the nation after finishing the year at 16-32. The only reason for their getting into the tournament field was a late season run to a conference tournament championship. That RPI ranking is the third lowest of any team in the entire field of 64.

What makes things more intriguing is that the regional is essentially a toss up between Old Dominion, South Carolina, and Virginia. There’s not a clear cut favorite, and each team has a legitimate shot at taking home the crown.

The Gamecocks and Cavaliers do it with strong pitching staffs, while the Monarchs win with high-powered offense. Both South Carolina and Virginia rank among the field’s top 10 teams in striking out opposing hitters, while Old Dominion leads the country in home runs.

It will truly be a battle between the three programs, and many key players will be called upon to give their teams a leg up in the race to the super regional round. While NCAA.com rated each regional based on toughness, it also went further to break down to top performers from each individual site.

Columbia regional superlatives

• Most exciting player: Zack Gelof (UVA)
• Best hitter: Kyle Battle (ODU)
• Best pitcher: Brett Kerry (SC)
• Best defender: Tommy Bell (ODU)
• X-factor: Wes Clarke (SC)
• Best pitching staff: UVA
• Best lineup: ODU

The site then went on to list the chances that the No. 1 seeded Monarchs would advance. On a scale of 1-10, the site gave Old Dominion a win probability of just four.

"This one feels like a true toss-up between Old Dominion, South Carolina and Virginia. Since the Gamecocks and Cavaliers must throw their shutdown aces against each other in the opener, let’s make ODU a slight favorite, with a 40 percent probability compared with 30 percent for South Carolina and 30 percent for Virginia. At 16-32, Jacksonville does not feel like a real threat here, even though it is coming off two great weeks."

As we said before, this one really feels like it could go to any of the top three seeds. We should have a fun weekend in store, and here’s to hoping the Gamecocks can make a run.