South Carolina baseball earns preseason ranking

OMAHA, Neb. - The University of South Carolina baseball team is ranked No. 23 in the D1Baseball.com preseason poll, the publication announced on Tuesday.

Carolina, one of nine SEC teams ranked in the D1 preseason poll, returns 17 players, 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 return 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, who comes to USC from Southern Mississippi. 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.

D1BASEBALL.COM PRESEASON POLL

1. LSU

2. Tennessee

3. Stanford

4. Ole Miss

5. Texas A&M

6. Wake Forest

7. Florida

8. Arkansas

9. Oklahoma State

10. Vanderbilt

11. East Carolina

12. North Carolina

13. Maryland

14. Virginia Tech

15. TCU

16. Louisville

17. UCLA

18. Southern Miss

19. Virginia

20. Alabama

21. NC State

22. Miami

23. South Carolina

24. Texas Tech

25. Oregon