Rivalries Rekindled in Columbia Regional

The University of South Carolina will host its third straight NCAA College Baseball Regional this coming Friday with two very familiar opponents joining the Gamecocks in the Capital City. The number two seed in the Columbia Regional will be Clemson University and the Tigers will square off against the number three seed Coastal Carolina University Chanticleers. The fourth team to round out the Columbia Regional will be the Manhattan Jaspers. The Gamecocks are the number eight national seed in the 64-team field announced on ESPNU tearlier this afternoon. The Gamecocks have now earned back-to-back national seeds and it's the sixth time under Head Baseball Coach Ray Tanner that USC has been named a top eight national seed (Carolina has only lost once as a Super regional host back in 2000 versus Louisiana-Lafayette). If the Gamecocks win their regional South Carolina would play the winner of the Charlottesville, VA Regional comprised of UVA (#1 seed), Oklahoma (#2 seed), Appalachain State (#3 seed) and Army (#4 seed). A tidbit regarding the Charlottesville Regional, back in the 2010 Charlottesville Regional Oklahoma swept UVA and subsequently went on to face USC twice in Omaha defeating Carolina in the first game and then coming within one strike on JBJ of eliminating the Gamecocks from the 2010 NCAA College World Series. But we all know Jackie Bradley Jr. came up with a clutch two-out hit versus Oklahoma which propelled South Carolina to its first ever National Championship. The Columbia Regional gets started on Friday June 1st, with Clemson battling Coastal Carolina at Noon followed at four o'clock by South Carolina versus Manhattan. All of the Columbia Regional will be televised on ESPNU. Go Gamecocks! Here is the Columbia Regional schedule: DATES/TIMES/FORMAT Friday, June 1 Game 1 - No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Coastal Carolina – Noon p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3) Game 2 - No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 Manhattan – 4 p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3) Saturday, June 2 Game 3 - Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 – Noon p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3) Game 4 - Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 – 4 p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3) Sunday, June 3 Game 5 - Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 – Noon p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3) Game 6 - Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 4 – 4 p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3) Monday, June 4 Game 7 - If Necessary - 7 p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3)