Jan. 16, 2003

Columbia, S.C. – The University of South Carolina baseball team ranks eighth in the nation in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Top 25 Preseason College Baseball Coaches Poll, released Thursday afternoon. The poll is selected by 41 Division I coaches representing the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). South Carolina is also ranked eighth by Collegiate Baseball and 14th by Baseball America.

Other SEC teams ranked in the poll include, LSU (7), Mississippi State (17) and Auburn (21). Texas is ranked first, followed by Georgia Tech, Florida State, Rice and Stanford, rounding out the Top 5.

The University of South Carolina began practice Thursday afternoon at Sarge Frye Field. Carolina will open the 2003 season on Feb. 7 at 3 p.m. in the first of a three-game series with Charleston Southern. South Carolina will play 34 games at home this season, including two games vs. in-state rival Clemson and SEC contests vs. Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Kentucky and Georgia.

South Carolina head baseball coach Ray Tanner is entering his seventh season at the helm for the Gamecocks. Over the past three seasons under Coach Tanner, South Carolina has won more games than any team in Division I baseball, with 162 wins. The 2002 Gamecocks set a single-season record for wins finishing with a 57-18 record, reaching the championship game at the College World Series.

The Gamecocks have won two of the last three SEC Championships (2002, 2000) as well as three of the last four SEC Eastern Division Titles (2002, 2000, 1999). Carolina has also made three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Regional and NCAA Super Regional.

1.TEXAS (57-15) Poll points: 965 (19 No. 1 votes)
2. GEORGIA TECH (52-16) Poll points: 923 (15)
3. FLORIDA STATE (60-14) Poll points: 909 (2)
4. RICE (52-14) Poll points: 881 (3)
5. STANFORD (47-18) Poll points: 837 (1)
6. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (37-24) Poll points: 826 (1)
7. LSU (44-22) Poll points: 724
8. SOUTH CAROLINA (57-18) Poll points: 652
9. ARIZONA STATE (37-21) Poll points: 640
10. CAL STATE FULLERTON (37-22) Poll points: 617
11. HOUSTON (48-17) Poll points: 594
12. WAKE FOREST (47-13-1) Poll points: 582
13. BAYLOR (36-26) Poll points: 496
14. NOTRE DAME (50-18) Poll points: 465
15. CLEMSON (54-17) Poll points: 444
16. LONG BEACH STATE (39-21) Poll points: 410
17. MISSISSIPPI STATE (34-24-1) Poll points: 389
18. RICHMOND (53-13) Poll points: 310
19. NEBRASKA (47-21) Poll points: 239
20. MIAMI (34-29) Poll points: 234
21. AUBURN (34-26) Poll points: 168
22. SOUTH ALABAMA (42-19) Poll points: 158
23. STETSON (42-19) Poll points: 139
24. NORTH CAROLINA (43-21) Poll points: 98
25. FLORIDA ATLANTIC (46-21) Poll points: 87

Others receiving votes: Tulane (67), Wichita State (56), Oklahoma (38), Southwest Missouri State (37), Florida (36), Texas Tech (34), California (32), Alabama (29), San Diego State (20), James Madison (20), Central Florida (19), Ohio State (19), Oklahoma State (19), Arizona (16), Virginia Commonwealth (13), Florida International (12), Mississippi (12), Oregon (10), Louisiana-Lafayette (7), Tennessee (6), Georgia (5), Washington (5), New Orleans (5), Arkansas (5), Cal State Northridge (5), Nevada-Las Vegas (3), Rutgers (2), UCLA (1), Kent State (1), Louisville (1), Texas A&M (1), San Diego (1), UC-Irvine (1).