The most beautiful host site of them all.

It’s almost too good to be true.

For the second straight year, the Gamecocks were chosen as one of the top eight national seeds and will host a Regional. This year, Manhattan, Coastal Carolina, and our pals from TigerTown will travel to the famously hot capital as part of the Columbia Regional.

The No. 1 Yardcocks will take on the No. 4 Jaspers, while the No. 2 Tigers will face off against the No. 3 Chanticleers.

The guys from Manhattan may feel like the odd men out, considering Carolina, Clemson, and Coastal are no strangers to each other. There isn’t really any bad blood with the Chants, but between the Gamecocks and the Tigers, therre’s more than enough.

CU coach Jack Leggett has become a target recently after him comments about USC having heated bats and other nonsense, so it’ll be interesting to see if any other shenanigans arise, should these two teams meet. It wouldn’t be the first time the Cocks and Tigers have met in the postseason, and if they were to meet up again, there would be plenty of…excitement, shall we say, from fans and players on both sides.

South Carolina coach Ray Tanner spoke today following the announcement. He and a few players will talk with the media again this afternoon.

“Our fans our great, tickets are hard to come by, but it takes it to another level right now with ticket sales,” Tanner said. “It’s an exciting time for college baseball and we look forward to getting under way.”

Single game tickets go on sale Monday, May 28, at 10 a.m. Single game tickets will be sold for $15, but availability isn’t guaranteed (and if you want to buy me a ticket and fly me down to Cola, I won’t protest).

All the games from the Columbia Regional will be shown on ESPNU and ESPN3. The schedule is as follows (all times Eastern):

Friday, June 1 
Game 1 – No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Coastal Carolina – Noon
Game 2 – No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 Manhattan – 4 p.m.

Saturday, June 2 
Game 3 – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 – Noon
Game 4 – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 – 4 p.m.

Sunday, June 3 
Game 5 – Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 – Noon
Game 6 – Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 4 – 4 p.m.

Monday, June 4 
Game 7 – If Necessary – 7 p.m.