After failing to make the NCAA Tournament last year, losing two starting pitchers and getting a new head coach, the Gamecocks have not received much attention entering the 2018 season. In the latest preseason rankings the Gamecocks were picked to finish fourth in their division, and they remain unranked in national preseason polls.
In their lowest preseason conference ranking in four years, South Carolina received 50 points in the SEC preseason poll. The Gamecocks were picked to finish behind division foes Florida, Kentucky and Vanderbilt, who received 91, 74 and 72 points, respectively.
South Carolina was not ranked in Baseball America's preseason Top 25 poll for just the third time in 10 years. D1Baseball also did not have the Gamecocks in their Top 25 rankings. This is unfamiliar territory for the Gamecock program, but this team is using this to motivate them on opening day.
"We know what we have," junior pitcher Adam Hill said. "We don't really listen to what everybody else has to say. We know what we are, as a team, and we're just excited to get out here and show what we can do."
The Gamecocks aren't focusing on rankings to show they're still a strong team this year, despite their new look. Although there are a lot of new, moving parts, South Carolina still believes there is a lot of success to come this season.
"We're a team that you're going to have to watch out for," junior Jacob Olson said. "Our lineup, we all know each other, we're so close and we all know what we can do. We got most of our position players returning, we got some new pitchers that can go, got some old pitchers that are coming back, so we just feel really good."
Despite not getting much team recognition nationally, one athlete has stood out. Sophomore INF/OF Carlos Cortes was selected for the preseason All-SEC Second team and is ready to exceed preseason expectations.
Cortes, who started 43 games and scored 27 runs last season, did not have an ideal 2017 season, as he went into a slump and ended the season hitting .286. Still, he led the team with 12 home runs. On top of that, he also was named to the SEC All-Freshman team, as well as the SEC All-Tournament team in 2017.
Although not getting much preseason recognition can be disappointing, the team believes they have no time to focus on that. The Gamecocks are ready to let this motivate them to get back to where they, and all the fans, want to be: in Omaha for the College World Series come June.