South Carolina Baseball: Super regional preview vs. Florida
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina baseball will travel about five hours south to Gainesville for a super regional matchup with the Florida Gators. The trip to college baseball’s step-before-Omaha will be the first for each program since 2018, something that is a bit of a surprise considering the proud tradition and fan support that exists in both Columbia and Gainesville.
After being controversially included as a top-16 host site, South Carolina baseball absolutely dominated the Columbia regional. The Gamecocks beat Central Connecticut State 19-1, NC State 6-3, and Campbell 16-7 to finish the sweep of college baseball’s opening round.
Florida, on the other hand, had to battle to advance. The Gators dropped their second game of their regional to Texas Tech before fighting back through the loser’s bracket. Kevin O’Sullivan’s team got revenge on the Red Raiders with two big victories to advance to the supers.
In the regular season, Carolina knocked off Florida in a decisive three-game sweep at Founders Park in Columbia. The rest of the regular season saw the two teams head in drastically different directions.
The Gamecocks struggled mightily the last month and a half of the season as injuries, sloppy play, inconsistent pitching, and quiet bats were to blame for a 5-13 finish to the year. The Gators, though, went 13-4 down the stretch leading up to the regionals.
The super regional matchup will be the Gamecocks’ and Gators’ first postseason matchup since South Carolina baseball defeated Florida in the College World Series final for the team’s 2011 National Championship.
This meeting between the two squads will feature two of the best offenses in college baseball.
An advantage for the Gamecocks, free bases could be a key to the series. South Carolina ranks 4th nationally in walks drawn and 15th in hit-by-pitches. Florida has struggled with walks at times this season (about 4 per game) and has also hit 68 batters (more than 1 per game).
The Gators do not take nearly as many free bases as the Gamecocks but were one of just nine teams to club more home runs than USC. If Carolina gives up extra base runners to Florida, the Gators will make Mark Kingston’s club pay for it by knocking the ball over the fence with runners on base.
A major advantage for Florida is strikeouts. The Gator pitchers are 7th in the country in K/9 (strikeouts per nine innings) and have fanned 644 opponents in 539 innings. South Carolina baseball has struck out 602 times in 506 innings, making them extremely susceptible to high strikeout totals.
Pitcher/designated hitter/first baseman Jac Caglianone was recently named a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award as college baseball’s best player. The big left-hander will draw a start on the mound against Carolina (potentially in game 1) and is the most dangerous bat in the Gator order as he has smacked a nation-leading 31 home runs.
Florida catcher BT Riopelle, middle infielders Josh Rivera and Cade Kurland, DH Luke Heyman, and outfielder Wyatt Langford are all dangerous bats, as well. Big strikeout threats Hurston Waldrep and Brandon Sproat round out the starting rotation with Caglianone, and Brandon Neely is a finalist for the Stopper of the Year award given annually to the country’s top reliever.
South Carolina baseball, now close to fully healthy, has a roster that can rival the talent in Gainesville. Braylen Wimmer has returned to his spot at shortstop after missing some time and then being relegated to DH-only duties with a hamstring pull. Third baseman Talmadge LeCroy is also back from his own hamstring issue, and power-hitting second baseman Will McGillis returned for the regional as the team’s designated hitter.
Possibly the super regional series’ biggest wildcard is Carolina pitcher Will Sanders. A projected first-round pick before the season, Sanders really struggled at times in 2023 and dealt with an undisclosed lower body issue that caused him to miss about three weeks. The 6’6″ hurler returned for the Columbia regional and was utilized out of the bullpen to dominant results. Pitching coach Justin Parker now has the option to start Sanders or use him as a bullpen weapon this weekend.
The Gamecocks likely will start James Hicks in Friday’s series opener. Hicks started both game 1 of the Columbia regional and the first game of the SEC Tournament. Combined against Georgia and Central Connecticut State, Hicks went 11 and 2/3 innings without surrendering a run. He struck out 12 batters while only walking 2.
Jack Mahoney is expected to be the game 2 starter. Mahoney was good against NC State in the regional and LSU in the SEC Tournament but had one bad inning in each game that sabotaged his numbers.
Starters are often used in relief in college baseball’s postseason, so any potential game 3 starters could also be used in relief in games 1 and/or 2. Eli Jones, Matthew Becker, and Will Sanders are the most likely candidates to start a third game, but all three have had success as relievers at different times in 2023.
Condron Family Ball Park will play host to the super regional festivities this weekend. Game 1 will start at 6:00 on Friday and will be broadcast on ESPN2. Game 2 will also be on ESPN2 with first pitch set for 3:00 on Saturday. Sunday’s if-necessary finale would have its times and television information announced later if the first two games of the series are split.