South Carolina will host a four-team field full of new teams this weekend as the NCAA Tournament returns to Columbia. The Gamecocks (42-15) will play No. 4 seed Rhode Island on Friday. No. 2 seed UNC Wilmington and No. 3 seed Duke will meet us as the other two teams in the Columbia Regional.
Friday's game is set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN3.
The Gamecocks, under fourth-year head coach Chad Holbrook, was not selected as a top eight national seed, and is matched up with No. 7 national seed Clemson. If both teams win their respective Regional, the Gamecocks will travel to face the Tigers.
The Rams (30-25) have won 11 of their last 14 games after sweeping through the Atlantic 10 Championship with a perfect record. This is just the school’s second NCAA Tournament appearance with the other coming in 2005, the only other year it won the conference tournament. The Rhodys won the regular season conference championship in 2013 but were denied an at-large bid.
Rhode Island hits .259 as a team with two players - Jordan Powell (.348) and Martin Figueroa (.329) - hitting over .300. They’ve hit 95 doubles and 30 home runs on the season but do have a player, Chris Hess, who has 10 triples. As a team, they have a 4.23 earned run average and a closer, Tyler Barass, who has 12 saves.
The team’s typical Friday night starter is left-hander Tyler Wilson, who holds a 12-1 record with a 2.08 earned run average. He has three complete games this season and has thrown 95 1/3 innings giving up 47 hits, 28 walks and 111 strikeouts. Opponents hit just .141 against him.
UNC Wilmington went 39-17 on the season and 16-6 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Seahawks went 1-1 against both North Carolina and N.C. State this season but lost both games against Coastal Carolina and went 0-1 against East Carolina. They were beaten twice by William & Mary to lose the CAA tournament title.
The Blue Devils finished 33-22 overall and 14-15 in the ACC. Duke had two signature series wins on the season knocking off both Clemson and Florida State two games to one. They also won a series against Georgia Tech.
Complete Regional schedule
Friday, June 3
Game 1 - No. 2 UNC Wilmington vs. No. 3 vs. Duke - 1 p.m.
Game 2 - No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 Rhode Island- 7 p.m.
Saturday, June 4
Game 3 - Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 – 12 noon
Game 4 - Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 – 6 p.m.
Sunday, June 5
Game 5 - Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 – 12 noon
Game 6 - Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 4 – 6 p.m.
Monday, June 6
Game 7 - If Necessary - 6 p.m.
Friday's game is set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN3.
The Gamecocks, under fourth-year head coach Chad Holbrook, was not selected as a top eight national seed, and is matched up with No. 7 national seed Clemson. If both teams win their respective Regional, the Gamecocks will travel to face the Tigers.
The Rams (30-25) have won 11 of their last 14 games after sweeping through the Atlantic 10 Championship with a perfect record. This is just the school’s second NCAA Tournament appearance with the other coming in 2005, the only other year it won the conference tournament. The Rhodys won the regular season conference championship in 2013 but were denied an at-large bid.
Rhode Island hits .259 as a team with two players - Jordan Powell (.348) and Martin Figueroa (.329) - hitting over .300. They’ve hit 95 doubles and 30 home runs on the season but do have a player, Chris Hess, who has 10 triples. As a team, they have a 4.23 earned run average and a closer, Tyler Barass, who has 12 saves.
The team’s typical Friday night starter is left-hander Tyler Wilson, who holds a 12-1 record with a 2.08 earned run average. He has three complete games this season and has thrown 95 1/3 innings giving up 47 hits, 28 walks and 111 strikeouts. Opponents hit just .141 against him.
UNC Wilmington went 39-17 on the season and 16-6 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Seahawks went 1-1 against both North Carolina and N.C. State this season but lost both games against Coastal Carolina and went 0-1 against East Carolina. They were beaten twice by William & Mary to lose the CAA tournament title.
The Blue Devils finished 33-22 overall and 14-15 in the ACC. Duke had two signature series wins on the season knocking off both Clemson and Florida State two games to one. They also won a series against Georgia Tech.
Complete Regional schedule
Friday, June 3
Game 1 - No. 2 UNC Wilmington vs. No. 3 vs. Duke - 1 p.m.
Game 2 - No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 Rhode Island- 7 p.m.
Saturday, June 4
Game 3 - Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 – 12 noon
Game 4 - Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 – 6 p.m.
Sunday, June 5
Game 5 - Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 – 12 noon
Game 6 - Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 4 – 6 p.m.
Monday, June 6
Game 7 - If Necessary - 6 p.m.
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