Baseball . January 17, 2023

Baseball Ranked No. 23 in D1Baseball Preseason Poll

OMAHA, Neb. – The University of South Carolina baseball team is ranked No. 23 in the D1Baseball.com preseason poll, the publication announced this morning (Tuesday, Jan. 17).

Carolina, one of nine SEC teams ranked in the D1 preseason poll, returns 17 letterwinners, six position starters and nine pitchers from last year’s squad, including preseason All-American Will Sanders, who was 7-3 with a 3.43 ERA in 2022. The Gamecocks also returns three players – James Hicks, Braylen Wimmer and Noah Hall – who were drafted in the 2022 MLB First Year Player Draft.

The Gamecocks bring in the No. 9 (Baseball America) and No. 16 (D1Baseball) transfer class, including No. 36 transfer (D1Baseball) Will McGillis. Carolina’s full recruiting class is ranked in the top 25 by three separate organizations and the freshman class is No. 18 in the country according to D1Baseball.

LSU tops the D1Baseball.com poll, with Tennessee, Stanford, Ole Miss and Texas A&M rounding out the top five.

The Gamecocks open the 2023 season on Friday, Feb. 17 against UMass Lowell. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.