George Callil still remembers his first year at South Carolina and where the Gamecocks were entering the final weekend of the regular season.

He remembers how much of a struggle the season was as the Gamecocks won just eight league games and needed a win against Mississippi State just to make the SEC Tournament.

Now, as Callil gets ready for his final regular season series in a Gamecock uniform, South Carolina has a lot more to play for as they take on No. 4/5 Tennessee trying to build their hosting resume.

“To see where we’re at now with the quality of players and how far we’ve come as a whole group with the coaching staff and how things have flipped around has been fun to be a part of,” Callil said. “It’ll be exciting to see what we can do over the next couple weeks and see where we can get this program back to.”

Also see: A look at where things stand from a RPI, SEC Tournament seed perspective

South Carolina was named one of 20 potential regional sites two weeks ago and has done what it’s needed to the last seven days to stay in the conversation, winning four straight games including a three-game sweep over Kentucky.

The Gamecocks (32-18, 15-12 SEC) have metrics worthy of top 16 seed, sitting currently at No. 11 in the RPI with a 12-16 record against Quad I opponents and a perfect 6-0 mark against teams in Quad II.

One of their biggest remaining chances to earn a top 16 seed in the tournament comes this weekend against the Vols, ranked No. 9 in the RPI, but playing in big games is nothing new for this South Carolina team.

“For the last couple weeks I’ve been telling the guys every game is a big game right now. If you want to be one of the teams at the end you have to approach it that way,” Mark Kingston said. “That’s what you want. You want to be playing in big games and have it serve as motivation.”

Also see: Latest with Eamon Smalls

Two weeks ago, though, a host site would have been hard to imagine with South Carolina dropping three straight league series and floating around .500 in SEC play.

But, the Gamecocks responded with a series sweep over Kentucky while outscoring the Wildcats by 20 runs over three games to fight their way back into the conversation.

“This is a team that I’ve been fortunate when I challenge them they rise to the occasion. That’s something as a coach you need to learn your team as the season goes on,” Kingston said.

“Some teams you have to be a little more hands off and some team you have to be over the top with discipline and some teams you have to have a balance. This a team because it has some big time competitors and some of our leaders are older guys we’ve been able to challenge and they generally respond in a good way.”

Also see: Baseball signee Cooper Kinney talks senior season

Two wins against Tennessee makes hosting a regional even more of a possibility while a series loss means there’s likely more work to do in Hoover for the Gamecocks to host postseason games.

The good news for South Carolina is they’ll have potentially a packed house to cheer them on this weekend with the university announcing Founders Park will operate at full capacity for the regular season finale as the Gamecocks have a lot on the line to fight for.

“It’s so exciting. I can’t wait to see all the fans in here just really cheering us on and getting loud,” Wes Clarke said. “Everyone on the team is just so excited for full capacity. That’s something we’ve been waiting for all season and we finally got it. They’re going to help us and be our 10th player on the field. We’re just excited.”