First look, top storylines for South Carolina-Florida super regional matchup
Andddd exhale.
After a wayward final month of the 2023 campaign, South Carolina bludgeoned its way into a super regional date with Florida following its 16-7 win over Campbell on Sunday night.
“We just had to weather the storm,” head coach Mark Kingston said. “We’ve said it a million times. But I thank everybody along the way that stuck with us. I thank everybody that stayed here tonight and helped celebrate with us winning the regional.”
For a team that’s been anything but consistent the last month, South Carolina found its world-beating self over its three games in Columbia. The Gamecocks offense came alive once more, bashing 41 runs over its three games. A balanced effort on the mound — outside of a bit of an erratic outing from starter Matthew Becker on Sunday — also paced USC to its first super regional since 2018, Kingston’s first year at the helm.
It’s been 11 years since South Carolina last made the College World Series. That’s a dry spell that feels decades longer for a program with the third-most super regional appearances in college baseball (14).
The textbook march through the Columbia regional was a start in forgetting that dismal close to the regular season in which the Gamecocks dropped 15 of 18 games. Win two games against Florida in Gainesville this weekend, and a whole lot else will be forgiven.
Here are the key storylines for this weekend:
Will Sanders may finally be finding his stride
Lost some in the offensive explosion over the weekend, ex-ace Will Sanders flashed the poise and precision that made him South Carolina’s No. 1 arm entering the year.
It’s no secret Sanders had struggled in 2023. His ERA had ballooned to 5.73 ahead of the postseason. He’d allowed three or more runs in six of his eight starts against Power Five competition. Sanders also hadn’t appeared in a game since May 5 at Kentucky, sidelined by an ankle injury.
This weekend felt like a turn.
Sanders was dominant out of the bullpen in matchups against Central Connecticut State and Campbell, allowing just one hit and striking out eight in four innings of relief work. Those numbers may have been inflated given he entered with leads of 18 and nine runs, respectively.
That said, it was impossible to ignore the fervor and energy that bubbled off of Sanders’ exterior as he bobbed and bounced off the bump Sunday night en route to the save.
“I think (Sanders) just deserves a lot of credit,” Kingston said. “He could have easily just said ‘Coach, I’m done for the year.’ But this team and this program is so important to him that he wanted to be a part of this and because he knew he could be a very important component of it. To see him out there pitching so well twice this weekend, that’s huge for him.”
It’s not clear what South Carolina will do with Sanders come super regional time. He looked comfortable coming out of the pen, but when he’s on, he’s among the best starting arms in the country.
Expect the 6-foot-5 righty to be a key part of what happens this weekend regardless of when he takes the mound.
South Carolina offense clicking at the right time
Perhaps the Gamecocks just needed the calendar to flip to June.
South Carolina was a mess at the dish over the final month of the season, stumbling to an average of just 3.7 runs per game in May. That tracked with a 4-11 record between the end of the regular season and the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Someone forgot to tell the Gamecocks about those struggles this weekend.
USC finished its romp over the Columbia regional with 41 runs on 41 hits in three games. It clobbered five home runs, recorded eight extra base hits and drew 0.85 walks for every strikeout over the course of the weekend. That. in and of itself, is a winning formula.
“Hitting is definitely contagious,” third baseman Talmadge LeCroy said Sunday. “It makes the ball look a little bit bigger when you see somebody else go up there and hammer it. It’s what we did at the beginning of the season. I guess we kind of got away from it a little bit. That’s baseball. Things aren’t always gonna go your way, but things are going our way right now.”
South Carolina has looked like an offensive juggernaut at times this season — and has been at its best when doing so. The numbers bear it out. The Gamecocks are averaging 10.1 runs over their 42 wins compared to 3.3 runs per game in 19 losses.
USC takes on a Florida staff that boasted a 5.33 ERA in SEC play. If the offense clicks like it did during the regional, South Carolina may well be on its way to Omaha at this time next week.
USC baseball has had success against Florida
It may feel like years ago, but South Carolina rolled to a series sweep of Florida in late April that pushed the Gamecocks to the No. 3 national ranking.
USC piled up 25 runs over three days in Columbia, including a 13-3 run-rule in the Friday game. That, coincidentally, is also the last SEC series the Gamecocks won during the regular season.
South Carolina holds a a 54-51 all-time edge over Florida, though the teams have only met twice in the NCAA Tournament — the 2012 CWS and the first game of 2011 CWS championship series. The Gamecocks won all three of those meetings.
Gainesville super regional schedule
Friday
Game 1: No. 15 South Carolina (42-19) vs. No. 2 Florida (48-15), 6 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday
Game 2: No. 15 South Carolina vs. No. 2 Florida, 3 p.m. (ESPN2)
Sunday
Game 3: No. 15 South Carolina vs. No. 2 Florida, if necessary (Game time and channel TBA)
