NEWS DIGEST, SEPT. 26

USC one of "Eight for Omaha"
Kendall Rogers of PerfectGame.org has South Carolina as one of his eight teams predicted to make the 2014 College World Series.

The others are Cal State Fullerton, Florida State, Virginia, Indiana, Mississippi State, UCLA and Oregon State.

Rogers has N.C. State, Oregon, LSU, North Carolina and Vanderbilt  as five others to watch.

Clemson is listed as one of his three potential surprises, along with Texas and Kansas State.

My take: I think Clemson has an excellent chance to make it to Omaha. I think South Carolina has more unanswered questions than the Tigers do at this point. There are several openings for USC newcomers.
PG CWS

Faris joins Clemson staff
Former Clemson pitcher Stephen Faris has joined the Tigers' staff as a volunteer assistant and will help pitching coach Dan Pepicelli with Clemson's talented young pitching staff. Faris replaces Michael Johnson.
Faris

USC sets scrimmages
South Carolina has set weekend scrimmages for Friday, Saturday (10:45 a.m.) and Sunday (1:30 p.m.) at Carolina Stadium. Weekdays scrimmages and practices are closed to the public because of repair work at the facility.
Gamecocks

Pacers have Scout Day
USC Aiken held its annual Scout Day on Wednesday. Representatives of 19 Major League teams attended.
Scout

Voorhees announces schedule
Voorhees has posted its 2014 schedule. The Tigers have 12 games against other state teams. Robert Platts enters his second season as head coach. Last season the Tigers broke a losing streak of at least 41 games
Tigers

More 2014 schedule news
Thanks to Brian Foley at CollegeBaseballDaily.com for making me aware of these:
* Georgia's schedule includes home games against Furman (Feb. 25), Presbyterian (March 18) and Clemson (March 25), a game at Clemson (April 8) and a home series against South Carolina (May 2-4). Former Kent State coach Scott Stricklin is in his first season with the Bulldogs. Earlier this  year Georgia announced plans for renovations to Foley Field and began efforts to raise $10 million for the project. Foley Field is a nice place to watch a game, but doesn't have some of the bells and whistles newer stadiums do.
Bulldogs
* Ball State begins its season with four games in the weekend tournament co-hosted by USC Upstate and Wofford.
Cardinals
* Oklahoma's schedule includes a game against The Citadel in Orlando in a tournament hoted by Central Florida.
Sooners
* Michigan's schedule includes an appearance in a tournament at College of Charleston.
Wolverines
* Liberty's schedule includes a Big South Conference home series against Coastal Carolina, a conference road series at Presbyterian and, probably, a trip to the conference tournament in Rock Hill. The Flames are coached by former USC assistant Jim Toman and earned an NCAA bid in 2013.
Flames

Recruiting
TheDiamondProspects.com reports the following commitments:
* Hanna IF Hunter King has selected North Greenville.
King
* James Island RHP Daniel Willcutt has decided to attend the College of Charleston.
Willcutt
* Flora SS Madison Stokes has announced intentions to play for South Carolina.
Stokes

National notes
* Florida State pitcher Brandon Leibrandt will miss the remainder of the Seminoles' fall work after suffering a broken right ankle.
Leibrandt
* PerfectGame.org has an interview with Damani Leech, the new director of baseball for the NCAA. Leech discusses several issues, including ways to increase offense and fall games counting toward the spring schedule.
Leech