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Things are going well for the South Carolina baseball team. A 7-0 start, 5 consecutive shutouts, no runs allowed in 51 innings, and the best OBP among SEC teams—Chad Holbrook's got his squad humming in the early going. Unsurprisingly, the Gamecocks moved up to #3 in the Baseball America's top 25 poll, the highest among SEC teams.
Baseball America Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virginia Cavaliers | 6-1 | 1 |
| 2 | Florida St. Seminoles | 6-0 | 4 |
| 3 | South Carolina Gamecocks | 7-0 | 5 |
| 4 | Oregon St. Beavers | 5-2 | 2 |
| 5 | Cal State Fullerton Titans | 4-3 | 3 |
| 6 | N.C. State Wolfpack | 5-1 | 6 |
| 7 | LSU Tigers | 7-0 | 8 |
| 8 | Vanderbilt Commodores | 7-0 | 9 |
| 9 | Oregon Ducks | 7-0 | 11 |
| 10 | Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns | 7-1 | 14 |
| 11 | Clemson Tigers | 5-1 | 13 |
| 12 | Rice Owls | 6-2 | 15 |
| 13 | Cal Poly Mustangs | 6-1 | 22 |
| 14 | Miami Hurricanes | 4-3 | 16 |
| 15 | Texas Longhorns | 5-3 | 18 |
| 16 | TCU Horned Frogs | 6-1 | 19 |
| 17 | Indiana Hoosiers | 2-5 | 10 |
| 18 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | 4-4 | 7 |
| 19 | UCLA Bruins | 4-3 | 12 |
| 20 | Louisville Cardinals | 5-2 | 20 |
| 21 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 4-2 | 21 |
| 22 | UNC Tar Heels | 3-3 | 21 |
| 23 | Texas A&M Aggies | 6-1 | 24 |
| 24 | Arkansas Razorbacks | 6-0 | 25 |
| 25 | Florida Gators | 3-2 | 23 |
A big reason the Gamecocks are ranked so highly is starting pitching. Two weeks ago, if I'd told you that Gamecocks starters would have earned a pair of conference honors after two weeks, you might have believed me. But you probably wouldn't have believed it if I told you freshman Wil Crowe earned them both. Well, too bad, because that's exactly what he did. After garnering SEC Pitcher of the Week honors a week ago, Crowe was named SEC Freshman of the week after going 6.1 scoreless innings and giving up just 4 hits and 1 BB.
Next, the Gamecocks face the season's first test in the form of #11 Clemson. The three game series begins this Friday at Carolina Stadium. First pitch is at 7:00 PM.