South Carolina Baseball: Gamecocks fly back up in the polls following Vandy sweep

The reports of South Carolina baseball's death were greatly exaggerated.

Mark Kingston's team roared back with a sweep of the top-5 Vanderbilt Commodores after a disappointing showing in Oxford, Mississippi last weekend that resulted in a series loss. The bats were better, the pitching was good, and the mood around the fanbase couldn't be much different now than it was at this point last week.

The national polls reflect an improved vibe around the Gamecocks, as well. After falling out of several polls last week, the Gamecocks are back inside every major top-25 this week and were bumped up at least 6 spots in each poll, putting them inside every outlet's top-18.

D1Baseball, after dropping South Carolina baseball completely out of their top-25 last week, ranked the YardCocks #18 in their updated poll.

Perfect Game matched that same trajectory, also ranking USC 18th after removing them from the rankings altogether last week.

One of the higher outlets on the Gamecocks last week (21st), Baseball America shot the boys from Columbia all the way up to 10th in their rankings, the high point for the team this week.

Carolina was ranked 14th by USA Today, a notable jump after being unranked after the Ole Miss series.

The NCBWA (National College Baseball Writers Association) voted South Carolina baseball as the #16 team in America, a jump of 9 spots after being ranked 25th a week ago.

The highest ranking for the Gamecocks last week came courtesy of College Baseball Central (17th), but CBC will have to settle for 2nd-highest this week as they slotted South Carolina into the #11 spot in their top-25 rankings.

The suddenly hot South Carolina Gamecocks will travel to Tuscaloosa for a 3-game series with the Alabama Crimson Tide that will be played Thursday, Friday, and Saturday instead of the usual Friday, Saturday, and Sunday format due to the Easter holiday. First, though, Carolina will play the Presbyterian Blue Hose on Tuesday night at Founders Park. The 6:30 game will be broadcast on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.