May 20, 2003

Birmingham, Ala. – The University of South Carolina baseball team opens up SEC Tournament play on Wednesday afternoon at approximately 2 p.m. ET with an opening round game vs. Alabama. The second seed in this year’s tournament, South Carolina heads into the week with a 38-18 record including three wins this season vs. the Crimson Tide. Alabama is seeded seventh this week with a 33-22 overall record. Wednesday’s game will also be broadcast on CSS-TV.

South Carolina’s three wins vs. the Crimson Tide came in Tuscaloosa, the first series victory for Carolina at Alabama and only the second series sweep by a SEC opponent vs. Alabama since Jim Wells became coach. Last year Carolina won of two of three from Alabama in Columbia during the regular season but lost to the Tide in the championship game of the SEC Tournament at Hoover. The Gamecocks lead the overall series 16-15.

The Gamecocks will start senior LHP Steven Bondurant. Bondurant is 5-3 with a 3.73 ERA and leads the Gamecock staff in strikeouts with 80 in 89 1/3 innings pitched. Bondurant earned a win in last Friday’s 5-2 victory vs. Georgia that clinched Carolina’s fourth SEC Eastern Division title in the last five seasons. Bondurant is one of many on a Gamecock pitching staff that owns a 3.33 team ERA, the best staff ERA in Carolina history since the 1982 squad finished with a 3.28 ERA. The 1982 team ended up in the postseason and advancing to the College World Series.

The SEC Tournament begins tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET with the sixth seed Vanderbilt facing third seeded Auburn. Fifth seed Ole Miss will meet fourth seed Mississippi State and the eighth seed Arkansas and top seed LSU will close out the first day of action. Each game will be broadcast on CSS-TV.