Sunday, May 22, 2016

Palmetto State Baseball team of the week, May 16-22: South Carolina

South Carolina(4-0 for the week)
(beat The Citadel; went 3-0 at Alabama)

I considered making this a four-way tie this week because Clemson, Coastal Carolina and Lander also were worthy, but South Carolina's closing kick to win the SEC Eastern Division title pushed the Gamecocks ahead.

The Gamecocks had lost two of their last three SEC series (splitting the rain-shorted Florida series) and Alabama was coming in off two hot SEC weekends.

But USC showed resiliency by taking every punch the Crimson Tide threw. With help from LSU against Florida, the Gamecocks won the No. 2 seed for the SEC Tournament and came within an Arkansas defensive meltdown at Mississippi State of winning the overall title.

The weekend may have helped clinch a Top Eight national seed for the NCAA Tournament, especially if they don't go two-and-out at Hoover.

Also considered
Clemson (4-0) -- went 3-0 at Notre Dame to clinch ACC Tournament spot
Coastal Carolina (4-0) -- beat CAA regular-season champ UNC Wilmington, swept Campbell to finish 21-3 in the Big South
Lander (3-0) -- Advanced to championship game of NCAA Division II Southeast Regional
Presbyterian (3-1)

 Past winners
Jan. 29-31: Newberry
Feb. 1-7: Southern Wesleyan
Feb. 8-14: Francis Marion
Feb. 15-21: USC Aiken
Feb. 22-28: Wofford
Feb. 29-March 6: North Greenville
March 7-13: Lander
March 14-20: (tie) Clemson, South Carolina
March 21-27: South Carolina
March 28-April 3: USC Sumter
April 4-10: Erskine
April 11-17: USC Beaufort
April 18-24: Furman
April 25-May 1: Claflin
May 2-8: Coastal Carolina
May 9-15: Furman

No comments: