Carolina Set To Host Columbia Regional Starting Friday
May 17, 2018
No. 11 South Carolina vs. UNCG
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 11 South Carolina softball opens the Columbia Regional on Friday at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN3 against UNCG. The winner will move on to face the winner of the Liberty and Hofstra game while the losing team will play in the elimination game on Saturday following the winner’s bracket game.
Where to Park
Fans are encouraged to park in the Heyward Street Parking Garage for all home games this season.
The upcoming weekend
The Gamecocks (No. 11/12) stay home to host the Columbia, S.C. Regional starting with UNCG at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN3. The Gamecocks also welcome Hofstra and Liberty to the regional.
Carolina comes into the weekend with an impressive 45-14 record, including a 15-9 mark in SEC play. Carolina closed the regular season winning eight of its last 10, including four wins over ranked opponents.
Carolina is set to be on TV for the 44th time this season with the first game of the Columbia Regional.
South Carolina’s opponents come in with a 178-49 record. It’s the most wins in any regional this year, and the only regional with more than two 40+ win teams in it.
The postseason schedule ââ’¬” Columbia to OKC
The 2018 Columbia Regional starts at 5:00 PM ET on Friday on ESPN3 with the Hofstra Liberty game. The regional is set to run through Sunday. The winner of the regional would go on to face the winner of the Tempe Regional (Arizona State Regional) starting 5/25. The winner of that super regional would go on to OKC and the WCWS starting 5/30.
Brad Muller and South Carolina legend Dr. Megan Buning will be on the call for all the games in the Columbia Regional on ESPN3. The pair has routinely called Carolina home games over the year and are widely consider two of the more popular SEC Network announcers for games on SEC Network Plus. When she’s not found on TV, Buning can also be found all over the South Carolina softball record book.
ESPN3 will cover every game of the Columbia Regional. Fans can find ESPN3 on ESPN.com.
Fans can purchase tickets for the regional on gamecocksonline.com or by calling the South Carolina ticket office. Parking/ticket/tournament information can be found on the tournament main page on gamecocksonline.com, as well.
The SEC Tournament… Not a bad run
The Gamecocks made some noise in the SEC Tournament, posting a 2-1 record as Carolina fell to Florida in its first SEC Tournament Championship game since 2001.
As a team the Gamecocks posted a 1.40 ERA with 12 strikeouts and just four walks. The Gamecocks were nearly perfect in the field with just one error and a .988 fielding percentage.
Home sweet home
Home is where the heart is, and it’s also where plenty of success has been found for the Gamecocks with an 25-2 record thus far.
Carolina is batting .305 in home games, outscoring opponents 157-56 (+101) in 27 games. The Gamecocks pitching staff has produced with a 1.91 ERA with 130 strikeouts and just 54 walks.
Things that have been lost in all the magic
How about that Carolina pitching staff? The Gamecocks have posted their lowest ERA since their 1.79 staff ERA in 2007. As of now, the staff has allowed the fewest hits (300) since only allowing 279 in 2008. The 132 runs allowed up to this point are the least amount given up since only having 123 in 2004. The 114 ERA runs are also the lowest since 101 in 2008.
Don’t forget about the defense, which as the best fielding percentage in school history and the most double plays turned in a season for Carolina. The 33 errors are the least Carolina has allowed since 1982 while the Gamecocks have turned 20 or more double plays for the sixth-straight year.
Talk about the last 10 games of the regular season
Carolina closed the last 10 games of the regular season on fire, posting an 8-2 record while outscoring teams 71-31 (+40) with an incredible 18 home runs.
The offense was rolling, posting a .634 slugging percentage, .426 on-base percentage and 66 RBI. Kennedy Clark led the way, batting .484 with 15 hits, seven runs and eight RBI. Total, Carolina had had three people (Clark, VanDerveer and Boesel) hit above .400.
