COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina baseball team, making its 32nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament, will head to Greenville, N.C., and East Carolina University for the Greenville Regional beginning on Friday, June 1. The Gamecocks open up tournament play against Ohio State at 2 p.m. Host East Carolina and UNC Wilmington will play at 7 p.m. If South Carolina wins on Friday, it will play either ECU or UNCW on Saturday at 5 p.m. If the Gamecocks fall on Friday, they will play either ECU or UNCW at noon.

The game will be televised on ESPN2 with Mike Couzens and Lance Cormier on the call. Every game will be on the IMG Gamecock Radio Network with Derek Scott and Tommy Moody on the call.

The Gamecocks are coming off a 1-2 showing at the SEC Tournament, defeating Missouri 4-2 before falling to Arkansas (13-8) and LSU (6-4 in 12 innings).

SCOUTING OHIO STATE

> Ohio State comes into the NCAA Tournament after going 2-2 at the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha, defeating Iowa and Michigan before falling to Minnesota, 8-1. The Buckeyes are 36-22 overall and finished with a 14-10 Big Ten record. Noah McGowan leads OSU with a .359 batting average and nine home runs while Seth Kinker has a 1.49 ERA and 15 saves in 28 appearances.

SERIES VS. OHIO STATE

> South Carolina has a 13-6 all-time series record against Ohio State, although the two teams have not played since 1988. All but one meeting between the schools took place in the 80’s and all of those games were in Columbia.

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION

Friday
South Carolina Adam Hill (Jr. RHP) 7-5, 4.08 ERA, 75.0 IP, 46 BB, 92 SO
Ohio State Connor Curlis (Jr. LHP) 7-4, 3.81 ERA, 82.2 IP, 29 BB, 73 SO

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY

> South Carolina makes its 32nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament and has an overall record of 132-67 with national titles in 2010 and 2011, a national runner-up in 2012 and 11 overall College World Series appearances. The Gamecocks are making their first tournament appearance since 2016, when they defeated UNC Wilmington twice to advance to Super Regional play before falling in two games to Oklahoma State. The Gamecocks have never faced Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament. South Carolina is 7-2 all-time against East Carolina in the tournament. For full Gamecock NCAA Tournament history and results, turn to pages 8-9 of the game notes.

TOLBERT NAMED TO SEC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

> LT Tolbert was named to the All-SEC Tournament team after hitting .538 (7-for-13) with a double, triple, home run, three runs scored and five RBI in Carolina’s three tournament games. He had career-highs of four hits and five RBI in the game against Arkansas (May 23) and tripled and scored the game-tying run against LSU (May 24) that sent the game to extra innings. Tolbert opened the tournament with a pair of hits and a run scored in the 4-2 win over Missouri (May 22).

GAMECOCKS WIN FIFTH STRAIGHT SEC SERIES

> South Carolina picked up its fifth straight SEC series win, taking 2-of-3 games at Texas A&M on May 17-19. It is the first time the Gamecocks have won five straight conference series since 2012. Carolina is 11-4 in its last 15 league contests, is hitting .308 in those games. Justin Row hit .362 in those 15 games while Carlos Cortes had six home runs and 17 RBI. The Gamecocks swept LSU while taking two games apiece from Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Missouri and Texas A&M.

SC IN SEC LEADERS

> Adam Hill is second in the SEC in opponent’s batting average (.188) and is tied for seventh in strikeouts with 92. Jacob Olson is tied for fourth in the league with 18 doubles. TJ Hopkins is tied for seventh in the conference with 14 stolen bases, while LT Tolbert is tied for fourth with four triples. Eddy Demurias is tied for fifth with 27 appearances on the mound. Madison Stokes is fifth in the league with a .609 slugging percentage. In SEC play, Justin Row is fourth with a .357 batting average.