The Gamecocks received their 28th overall bid to the postseason and, more importantly, clinched home-field advantage throughout the tournament by earning the No. 8 national seed, ensuring South Carolina will play in the confines of Carolina Stadium through the Super Regionals.
In order to host a Super Regional, however, the Gamecocks will have to navigate a Columbia Regional full of familiar foes and conference tournament champions. Here's how this weekend's regional breaks down:
The Gamecocks grabbed the last national seed despite losing five of their final seven contests and coming off a 1-2 showing in the SEC tournament. They enter the regional with a strong record at Carolina Stadium, as they are 27-7 at home, but only 13-10 away from Columbia. The Gamecocks may also be without the services of sophomore pitcher Forrest Koumas, who suffered an injury to his pitching arm in South Carolina's SEC tournament loss to Florida. The pitching rotation for South Carolina is expected to be Michael Roth, Jordan Montgomery and Colby Holmes, the same rotation used at the conference tournament. However, the order of the starting pitchers has not yet been determined. The Gamecock bullpen boasts one of the top closers in the nation in junior Matt Price, who needs one more save to tie the all-time SEC career record of 41.
Just like South Carolina, Clemson has dropped five of their last seven games. Last weekend, the Tigers came within a game of playing for the ACC tournament championship, losing to Georgia Tech on the final day of pool play. Clemson is familiar with both the Gamecocks and Coastal Carolina, having already played both schools earlier in the season. The Tigers lost the regular season series against South Carolina but won the third game on a walkoff single from Steve Wilkerson. Clemson also fell at home against Coastal Carolina in a mid-week game in April. The Tigers are hoping to have pitcher Kevin Brady, who leads the starting rotation with a 2.52 ERA but has been limited by a groin injury, back at full strength. He made two appearances in relief roles in the ACC tournament.
The Chanticleers roll into Columbia fresh off of their sixth consecutive Big South tournament championship. Coastal is riding a seven-game winning streak and has won eight of its last 10 contests. Besides owning the best record of any squad in Columbia this weekend, Coastal also brings a formidable group of pitchers to Carolina Stadium. Heading into the Big South conference tournament, the Chanticleers' pitching staff had the lowest ERA of any group in the country, and have a combined ERA of 2.53 coming into the weekend. The Chants have been to six NCAA Regionals in a row and have made the NCAA Tournament 11 of the past 12 seasons. Coastal Carolina has not faced South Carolina since losing twice to the Gamecocks in the 2010 Myrtle Beach Super Regional.
The Manhattan Jaspers enter the weekend as the back-to-back Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) tournament champions. The Jaspers made history by becoming the first team in MAAC history to capture the tournament title after losing their opening game in the conference tournament. Manhattan has won 13 of its previous 15 games and has won four consecutive one-run games. The Jaspers have counted on the right arm of starting pitcher Taylor Sewitt, who was named the "Louisville Slugger" National Player of the Week after his performance in the MAAC tournament. Sewitt threw 22 scoreless innings, striking out 20 while allowing only 10 hits over three consecutive days. The senior has not allowed a run in his previous 33.2 innings of work.