South Carolina On Pace for Worst SEC Finish in Decades

South Carolina have never finished below eight wins in the SEC.

May 25, 2024; Hoover, AL, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks players watch from the dugout in the tenth inning against the LSU Tigers during the SEC Baseball Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Things haven't gone according to plan for South Carolina baseball in 2025. Sitting at just 5-19 overall in the SEC, the South Carolina Gamecocks are on pace for their worst SEC record in program history.

Expectations were high when Paul Mainieri came out of retirement. During his introductory press conference in June 2024, Mainieri spoke on the Gamecocks' ability to win now.

"I don't see why we can't compete for everything right out of the gate," Mainieri says. "I didn't come here to lose. I didn't come here to be mediocre. In my opinion, Carolina baseball represents excellence. I think we need to win now."

Now nearly a year later, South Carolina has fallen off from its visit to the Raliegh Regional in 2024. The Gamecocks sit at 26-23 overall, 5-19 inside the SEC. With six games remaining against Auburn and LSU, South Carolina is on pace for its worst in-conference record since joining the conference.

Mainieri, on air with 107.5 the Game, said this season could be chalked up to conference teams being better than expected.

“I had just underestimated the strength of the conference and how much better the conference has gotten in the last couple of years,” he said. “The players are so much bigger and stronger and more experienced, older. We just have not been able to match up in some cases with them.”

Right now the record sits at eight wins (2019). South Carolina will need to win three out of the next six to tie the eight win mark from 2019. As a university, the worst all-time came in 1969 where the Gamecocks finished with three conference wins in the ACC.

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