South Carolina will look to bounce back in their final series of the regular season after being swept at home in their previous series against No. 15 Georgia this past weekend. Faced with the daunting task of hitting the road to take on No. 1 ranked Tennessee in a series that starts on Thursday.
The Volunteers have been the class of the SEC and have rightfully earned their top ranking in the country this year, entering the weekend with 12 wins in their last 15 games and an impressive 32-3 record at home in Knoxville this season. Leading the conference in a majority of hitting categories like batting average, hits, runs scored, RBIs, and slugging percentage.
But despite the impressive play that Tennessee has displayed this season, the Gamecocks are not fearful of the Vols. Which South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston expressed ahead of the series.
“It feels like we’ve played top one, two, or three teams all year,” Kingston said. “So this is nothing new to us. We have played now after this weekend the top seven RPI teams in the country, every single one of them. All seven.”
There’s no question that SEC has been a gauntlet this season per usual, with five teams taking up the top six slots in the most recent RPI rankings and four teams in the top five of DI Baseball’s top 25 rankings.
South Carolina has secured wins against several of the nation’s top teams, highlighted by a recent series win over Kentucky and a non-conference victory over North Carolina. Moments that have prepared them for their regular season finale and given them the confidence to stand toe toe-to-toe with the nation’s best in a massive opportunity.
“So we’re used to playing the best of the best, we’re used to winning games against the best of the best, and this will probably be as big a challenge as we’ve had because it’s now on the road to finish the season,” Kingston said. “So it’s a challenge, it’s an opportunity, and it’s up to us to take advantage of it.”
The Gamecocks will have to improve compared to their last outing if they want to make a statement against Tennessee, outscored 39-21 in their latest series against the Bulldogs in a weekend South Carolina will look to put behind them. As game one of their series against the Volunteers starts at 6:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.
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