COLUMBIA — The Southeastern Conference released the 2025 SEC baseball schedule on Thursday, revealing the first major step in new South Carolina baseball coach Paul Mainieri's campaign in Columbia.

The Gamecocks are in a revising year this season after firing coach Mark Kingston at the conclusion of the 2024 NCAA Regional and hiring Mainieri out of retirement.

This fall, the Gamecocks host Air Force on Oct. 26, and travel to Charleston to play College of Charleston on Nov. 7. Associate head coach Monte Lee coached in Charleston from 2009-15, where he finished with a 276-145 overall record with three NCAA tournament appearances. Lee also played at Charleston.

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South Carolina baseball's 2025 SEC schedule

• March 14-16: vs. Oklahoma

• March 21-23: at Arkansas

• March 28-30: vs. Tennessee

• April 4-6: at Mississippi State

• April 11-13: at Texas A&M

• April 17-19: vs. Ole Miss

• April 25-27: at Kentucky

• May 2-4: vs. Florida

• May 9-11: at Auburn

• May 15-17: vs. LSU

Mainieri coached at LSU for 15 seasons. While he was the coach, the Tigers won the 2009 national championship and were the 2017 runner-up. LSU won nine NCAA Regional championships, five NCAA Super Regional championships, four Southeastern Conference championships, and six SEC Tournament titles under Mainieri. The battle against his old team closes SEC play for the Gamecocks in Columbia from May 15-17.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina baseball, Paul Mainieri's 2025 SEC schedule