South Carolina baseball fans are counting down the days until first pitch (it's just 7, by the way). The Miami (OH) Redhawks are coming to town for a three-game set to open the season as Mark Kingston and his team hope to build off of a strong 2023 campaign in which they made it to the Super Regionals.
On Thursday, the SEC coaches' poll was released, and the Gamecocks were picked lower than some fans would have hoped. South Carolina baseball comes in as the 4th-best team in the SEC East and 7th-best in the entire Southeastern Conference according to the poll.
The entire preseason standings can be seen below:
SEC EAST
Florida Gators (11)
Tennessee Volunteers (2)
Vanderbilt Commodores (1)
South Carolina Gamecocks
Kentucky Wildcats
Georgia Bulldogs
Missouri Tigers
SEC WEST
Arkansas Razorbacks (9)
LSU Tigers (5)
Texas A&M Aggies
Alabama Crimson Tide
Auburn Tigers
Ole Miss Rebels
Mississippi State Bulldogs
The coaches also released their All-SEC ballots, and, after getting shut out of last year's preseason All-SEC squads, two Gamecocks were selected to the teams. Both catcher Cole Messina and right fielder Ethan Petry were picked as 1st-team selections. The junior Messina and sophomore Petry were 1st-team selections at the end of last year, as well.
The entire coaches' preseason All-SEC team can be seen below:
FIRST TEAM
C- Cole Messina, South Carolina Gamecocks
1B- Jac Caglianone, Florida Gators
2B- Cade Kurland, Florida Gators
3B- Tommy White, LSU Tigers
SS- Colby Shelton, Florida Gators
OF- Jace LaViolette, Texas A&M Aggies
OF- Ethan Petry, South Carolina Gamecocks
OF- Kendall Diggs, Arkansas Razorbacks
DH/UTIL- Ike Irish, Auburn Tigers
SP- Hagen Smith, Arkansas Razorbacks
SP- Drew Beam, Tennessee Volunteers
RP- Brandon Neeley- Florida Gators
SECOND TEAM
C- Devin Burkes- Kentucky Wildcats
1B- Charlie Condon- Georgia Bulldogs
2B- Christian Moore- Tennessee Volunteers
3B- Billy Amick- Tennessee Volunteers
SS- Jonathan Vastine- Vanderbilt Commodores
OF- Braden Montgomery, Texas A&M Aggies
OF- Dakota Jordan, Mississippi State Bulldogs
OF- Bobby Peirce, Auburn Tigers
DH/UTIL- Hayden Travinski, LSU Tigers
SP- Jac Caglianone, Florida Gators
SP- Carter Holton, Vanderbilt Commodores
RP- Alton Davis, II, Alabama Crimson Tide