USC not giving up hope of hosting NCAA regional

COLUMBIA — You wouldn't think South Carolina baseball coach Ray Tanner would find a positive word for his team again hitting the road, this time for the SEC Tournament.

After all, the Gamecocks were a stunningly bad 4-11 away from Sarge Frye Field in conference play this year.

But, given that they very nearly failed to make the Hoover (Ala.) field of eight, Tanner and the Gamecocks will take what they can get with a smile.

"We're ecstatic to be going on the road," USC coach Ray Tanner said. "We were in a position where we might not be going at all. There was a lot of pressure."

The same South Carolina team that was expected to compete with Vanderbilt for the Eastern Division crown wound up needing to win on the regular season's final day to even get to the SEC tourney.

And the Gamecocks had to have Reese Havens' ninth-inning homer Saturday against Tennessee to get that vital 15th SEC victory.

"We dug our own hole," said Havens, referring to three SEC series sweeps (Georgia, LSU and Arkansas) away from Columbia. "We had to figure a way to get out of it."

Havens also said it was a "big relief" for the Gamecocks to have the pressure of the Tennessee series behind them.

Without that single victory in the 56-game season, South Carolina (37-19, 15-15) would have been sitting at home wondering if it had won enough games to make the NCAA field. Now, it'll have a chance to prove itself on the field in Alabama.

The Gamecocks open the SEC tourney on Wednesday at noon at Regions Park against Louisiana State.

All the Tigers (39-16-1) have done is win a nation's best 16 games in a row, including a sweep of the Gamecocks, to storm back and take the West title.

"There's two ways to look at it," Tanner said. "Yeah, they've got that long winning streak. But maybe they're due to lose one, too."

Even though it seems to be a longshot, South Carolina still hasn't given up on the notion that it could host an NCAA regional if it fares well in the conference tournament.

"I've heard a few things," said Havens, the Sullivan's Island product who's hitting .357 with 16 homers this season. "I don't think it's out of the question."

Tanner added his team would have to do "very, very well" in suburban Birmingham to host the first-round tournament.

Boydsworld.com, a reputable college baseball analysis Web site, still has USC No. 22 in its RPI tabulations.

But this is a Gamecocks team that wanted intently to host a super regional. Its path to Omaha has been made tougher and rougher by the fact that it will likely be on the road throughout the postseason.

Tanner said he's even "cautiously optimistic" about USC's chances of being in the NCAA field at all.

"With 37 wins, I'd like to think we're in," he said, "but you don't know until your name is called."

If South Carolina doesn't wind up hosting, Coastal Carolina and North Carolina State could be viable first-round options.

Coastal hosted last year and was ousted by Clemson. The Wolfpack traveled to Columbia last season. USC went on to lose in the super regional at North Carolina.

Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com and check out the new South Carolina blog at charleston.net/blogs/gamecocks.