The South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team begins the quest for another apperance at the College World Series. As we like to say, the Road to Omaha begins in Columbia. Got two items in the trophy case to prove it.

As you know by now, the Gamecocks play host to the Columbia Regional this weekend. Those pesky Clemson Tigers will be coming to town, as will Liberty and Saint Louis. Safe to say, it will not be easy for USC but we certainly like the chances to win this regional but we will not get cocky as there is plenty of baseball to play. In fact, here is the times for the games...

Friday, May 31
Game 1 – No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Liberty – 1 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 2 – No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 Saint Louis – 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Saturday, June 1
Game 3 – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 – 2 p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3)
Game 4 – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 – 8 p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3)

Sunday, June 2
Game 5 – Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 – 1 p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3)
Game 6 – Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 4 – 7 p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3)

Monday, June 3
Game 7 – If Necessary – 7 p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3)

Stay tuned to LOHD for more reflections on this regional.....the biggest key for USC will be pitching. If they bring it, they will be winners. Also expect lots of Pankake talk, again.

The NCAA Selection Committee, in a display of profound indifference, striking laziness or complete incompetence, has decided to send Clemson to Columbia as the #2 seed.  Like most fans (on both sides) I hate this, and I despise the committee for their opaque process that created this mess.

First, some history.  South Carolina faces Clemson every year in baseball.  Until a few years ago the norm was for the teams to play 4 times a season.  Recently that was changed to a single, three game weekend series.

In 2010 SC and Clemson met in Omaha, twice.  Carolina won both games and a national championship.  The powers that be enjoyed that matchup so much that they set Carolina and Clemson on a collision course to play in the super-regionals in 2011.  UConn upset Clemson, so the Gamecocks played them instead.  To avoid that problem, the committee just put the two teams in the same regional in 2012.  They got their beloved matchup and apparently loved it.  So, they're doing it again.  

The question of whether Clemson should be the 2nd team in South Carolina's regional may not have been asked.  From the outside it appears that whether Clemson should be slotted in Carolina's regional based on the merits of the two teams was an afterthought.  They thought "look at the most intense inter-conference rivalry in the country.  Let's put them together, even if neither want that or deserve it."

I hate this because it is unfair to the players.  South Carolina and Clemson have already played this year.  Carolina won two out of three games.  Apparently those games don't matter, and now the Gamecocks must prove that they are the better team again.  Clemson, having lost the series in the regular season, gets a mulligan.  

It's also the nature of this rivalry that whichever team loses this weekend will probably have their season judged a failure.  That's not fair at all, but when you play your archrival in such an early round, that will be the take away.

I hate this because it is unfair to the coaches.  If South Carolina loses this regional to Clemson in Chad Holbrook's first year, get ready for the (undeserved) accusations that this wouldn't have happened to Ray Tanner.  This is partially true; Tanner beat Clemson in the same situation last year.  

And don't forget about Jack Leggett, Clemson's coach.  Despite the success he has had at Clemson, he is becoming known more and more for his recent lack of success against South Carolina.  He has a very solid program and should be allowed to see if it can grow with a post season run that doesn't include the Gamecocks out of the gate.

I hate this because it is unfair to the fans.  Here's the thing about the South Carolina - Clemson rivalry: it is nasty.  These games bring out the absolute worst in the fanbases.  I see Carolina fans acting terribly to Clemson fans, and I see Clemson fans doing the same.  Of course it's not all fans, but the animosity between the fanbases is incredibly unhealthy.  The atmosphere is charged in a very negative way.  It has become more about hate for the rival than love for the alma mater.  Some fans on both sides are choosing simply not to attend and be a part of this.

It's unfair because no one else has to do it.  It's harder to beat your rival.  Ever heard the trite remark "you can throw out the records when these two play?"  That cliche is referring to the fact that when actual rivals play, the intensity of the rivalry lessens the talent gap.  All things being equal, a rival is more likely to pull an upset.

No one else in the country has to do this.  Don't tell me about Florida and Miami.  That "rivalry" is absolutely nothing compared to Clemson - South Carolina.  Baseball is not a priority for those fanbases, and it shows in their attendance at games.  Plus both of those teams are bigger rivals with Florida State anyway.

The committee did this because it could, and it will vaguely make up BS about why.  They will say the field is set by RPI, or geography, a team's body of work, or how they finished the season.  Conference finishes and tournments matter, and they don't.  And someone will come out of the Columbia regional, and the tournament will go on.  It will happen again next year to someone, maybe SC and Clemson, maybe not.  And it will happen again and again and again because we use a committee with secret meetings picking and choosing the facts to use and disregard as they see fit.  There is no transparency; there is no accountability, and there is no chance this won't happen again.

South Carolina didn't clinch their regional while in Hoover, and there has been talk that they could lose it to Arkansas. Early on Saturday the twitterverse consensus was that an Arkansas win over LSU would move the Columbia Regional to Fayetteville.  The rationale was that Arkansas's RPI would move up into the 20s which coupled with a third place finish in the SEC would be enough to earn a host site.

Of course, Arkansas did not beat LSU on Saturday, and it looks like their RPI will remain in the 30s.  That alone should be enough to deny them a host site, but they are still in the conversation.  For the most part the narrative has been South Carolina or Arkansas.  If that is the option the committee is looking at, Carolina should still host.  

In fairness, the Hogs have two very good arguments:

1. They finished 3rd in the SEC, in front of South Carolina.
2. They swept South Carolina in their regular season series.

Those arguments are relevant, but they are not conclusive.  First, conference finish.  Conference finish is relevant but it is incomplete.  Arkansas played 29 regular season conference games and 28 games outside of the conference.  You have to consider all those games. 

The same is true of the head to head results.  Three games are too few to compare teams for the season.   Head to head results are relevant when the teams are very close in other metrics, but in the key metric, RPI, the teams aren't close.

Arkansas is going to finish about 30th in the RPI; South Carolina is going to finish 13th.  The two aren't close, and RPI has historically been important to the selection committee.

RPI aside, the Gamecocks still finished with more wins and fewer losses against a harder schedule.  USC finished 39-18 against the nation's 14th toughest schedule.  Arkansas finished 37-20 against the 48th toughest schedule.

Bottom line: Over the course of the season South Carolina won more games and lost fewer against a harder schedule.  How can you discount that?

• RPI and SOS numbers come from Warren Nolan's website, which you can find here.

Hoover wasn't kind to the Gamecocks again this year.  After putting themselves in an early 3-0 hole, Carolina clawed back to tie the game at 3.  They created many opportunities to score more runs, but as in the last few games there weren't enough clutch hits.

It seems Carolina has fizzled down the stretch losing 4 of 5 and 2 of the last 3 series, and there is some truth in that.  While the pitching has been steady the hitting is in a collective slump.  Most notably, timely hits aren't coming.

There is a belief that timely hits are a matter of luck and that they come and go without explanation.  While there certainly is a measure of chance that comes and goes, fortune is not the key factor for timely hitting.  Quality at bats and consistent approaches create timely hitting.  Some Gamecocks routinely put together quality approaches while others need to work on that in the regionals.

It wasn't all bad news Thursday.  USC showed a ton of fight and battled back against an outstanding Vanderbilt team.  The kind of battle was reminscient of past championship teams.

Kudos to Jordan Montgomery on an outstlanding pitching performance.  He looked like Montgomery from the beginning of the season.  If he's back to form, Carolina has a real shot to beat anyone when he's pitching.

So what about the regional?  South Carolina should still be hosting, but if someone makes an incredible run, the committee could give away the Gamecocks site.  However, most South Carolina beat writers seem confident there will be a Columbia regional.  Watch out for Virginia Tech, South Alabama and Arkansas.  Pull against them.

The SEC tournament has a new format, but the Gamecocks are having a very familiar experience.  In Carolina's first game of the 2013 tournament they got off to a rough start and ended up in the losers' bracket.

Nolan Belcher clearly didn't have his best stuff and he didn't get enough run support to overcome it.  After giving up 2 in the first and another in the third Belcher battled into the 7th inning.  The offense showed some life in the fourth and tied the game at three.  That was about it.

For the rest of the game the offense squandered every opportunity it generated.  In the 5th, Carolina had runners on 1st and 3rd with one out; they got no runs.  In the 6th they couldn't move a lead off single.  In the 7th, they got a runner in scoring position to no avail.  The 8th started with a lead off walk, which can so often be a team's undoing, but it also went for naught.

One clutch hit and the Gamecocks are probably still in the winners' bracket.  Sometimes those hits come; last night they didn't.  Now Carolina gets to play Vanderbilt in the losers' bracket.

There has been some talk about how solid Carolina's hosting resume is.  Overall it is strong.  Losing 3 of 4 to Mississippi State and 4 of 5 overall wouldn't be ideal, but the Gamecocks should be fine.  They might be punished with a very strong regional field, but they probably aren't going to have to leave Columbia until the Supers, assuming they get that far.

Side Note:  Does anyone know why Hoover has been so unkind to the Gamecocks?  I used to think that the power hitting teams of the mid 2000s didn't do well in the cavernous park, but even Carolina's national championship teams don't seem to do well there.  

A few quick facts: 

• Since winning the SEC Tournament in 2004, Carolina has not had a winning record in any tournament since.  in fact, they've only finished .500 once.
• Since 2000 South Carolina is the winningest program in the SEC.  They've won 13 more games than second place LSU. (excluding the SEC tournament, of course)
• Since 2000 Carolina's SEC regular season winning percentage is .616
• Since 2000 Carolina's SEC tournament winning percentage is .468
• Since the 2004 SEC Championship the winning percentage is only .320

All that being said, this team isn't responsible for that long term trend.  They play #1 Vanderbilt today, and if they win, not only will they lock in their regional, but they will have something positive to build on for the rest of the tournament and the post season.

Carolina starts the SEC tournament tonight against Mississippi State. You may recall that the Gamecocks just played a three game set against the Bulldogs and lost two of three. Tonight's game will be on CSS or ESPN3 and will start 30 minutes after the Vandy - Texas A&M game concludes. The Dores and Aggies play at 5:30 eastern. USC will send their #1 pitcher, Nolan Belcher, to the mound.

This year's SEC tournament has a new format. On the first day 8 teams play 4 games. The losers are eliminated, and the winners join the top 4 seeds in the main bracket. The 8 teams that remain are divided into two (predetermined) sides of 4. Those 4 teams play a traditional double elimination tournament with one exception. Usually the winner of the losers' bracket must beat the winner of the winners' bracket twice. In this tournament the winners of the brackets play once and that winner moves to the final. Clear as mud?

What the Gamecocks have to Win

What the Gamecocks have to Lose

• Trail the season series with Miss State 1-3
• Move to the Losers' Bracket
• End their national seed hopes
• Threaten their hosting position. (They may have this sewn up, but if they go 0-2 and the other teams in consideration do well, they could conceivably lose their site.)

Posted with Blogsy

Darius Rucker gave the commencement speech at the recent University of South Carolina, here is a snipit of his pep talk and as he states, through all of what life provides - Be A Gamecock....

South Carolina dominated Georgia this weekend and won by scores of 7-2, 7-1 and 8-3. The Gamecocks appear to be putting all the pieces together at the right time. Starting pitching was excellent all three days, and the bullpen continues its late surge. Adam Westmoreland and Tyler Webb continue to pitch like All-SEC pitchers, and players like Colby Holmes appear to be stepping up out of the pen. This team has needed another bullpen option, and if Holmes is returning to form, they've found it.

Carolina's bats also had a productive weekend. Joey Pankake and Grayson Greiner are striping the ball. Chase Vergason and Max Schrock are putting together good approaches, and struggling Graham Saiko is getting back on track. English and Bright have had better weekends, numbers wise, but they'll be fine.

After DH'ing Friday and Saturday LB Dantzler took Sunday off because of continued discomfort in his shoulder. He should be back soon, but I wouldn't mind seeing him sit Tuesday to make sure he's healthy for the stretch run.

SEC Standings and Tournament

The Gamecocks are 16-10 in conference. They can't catch Vanderbilt, and Florida can't catch them, so they'll finish 2nd in the East.

The top 4 SEC finishers will get first round byes in the SEC tournament. After the two division champs take spots one and two, three and four are determined by overall conference record without reference to division. Carolina is in 4th with a 2.5 game lead on Miss State and Ole Miss. USC can clinch 4th with just one win this weekend.

The Gamecocks can still get the #3 seed by catching Arkansas. The Hogs have a one game lead and hold the tiebreaker, so Carolina will essentially have to make up two games. If USC sweeps, Arkansas can win no more than two. If USC wins the series but drops a game, Arkansas must be swept. The Hogs are playing Auburn, so I don't expect them to lose the series.

NCAA Tournament

The Gamecocks are in. It's just a question of seeding. Barring a complete collapse Carolina will be one of the 16 regional hosts. They are not now in a position for a national seed. The difference is that a national seed will play all of their games at home until the College World Series; a regional host would play on the road in the super regionals against the national seed.

If Carolina beats Presbyterian and takes the series at Mississippi State, they'll be squarely on the national seed bubble. The finishes of other teams with good resumes and the Gamecocks performance in Hoover will determine who gets the last national seeds.

Posted with Blogsy

Here is the reaction from the graduate assistants for the South Carolina Gamecocks football team after getting the email from quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus about losing out on Drew Barker....

Somewhere we missed that former South Carolina standout Eric Norwood was exploring his options in the Arena Football League. He recently signed a one-year contract with the San Jose SaberCats.

We knew last season, Norwood played for the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League and seemed to be doing well since his Panther playing days with the goal of getting back to the NFL. We hope that happens for him again.

As a member of the SaberCats, he has recorded two tackles in playing just one game thus far. Good luck in the future Eric.