OMAHA, NE – Sophomore right-hander Konner Wade tossed a six-hitter, leading Arizona to a 5-1 victory over South Carolina Sunday night in the first game of the best-of-3 College World Series Championship Series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha.
Arizona (47-17) broke out in front with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning off Carolina starter Forrest Koumas. Johnny Field stroked a one-out single to left and scored on Robert Refsnyder’s two-run homer into the rightfield bullpen, his eighth round tripper of the season.
The Wildcats scored single runs in the third and fifth to grab a 4-0 lead, which was more than enough for Wade, who improved to 11-3 this season.
Carolina (49-19) finally got on the board in the sixth when Grayson Greiner led off with a double into the left-centerfield alley and scored on Evan Marzilli’s two-out RBI single to center.
The Gamecocks had an opportunity to inch a little closer in the seventh when Adam Matthews and Kyle Martin opened the frame with back-to-back singles, but Matthews was gunned down trying to advance to third on Martin’s hit to right to stymie the rally.
Arizona added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh.
Koumas (2-3), who was making his first start and just his second appearance since May 18, was saddled with the loss after allowing four hits and three runs, two earned, with one walk and three strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings.
Evan Beal turned in a solid performance in relief, keeping the Gamecocks in the contest. He worked five innings, allowing seven hits and two runs, one earned, with four walks and three strikeouts. Nolan Belcher finished up, working out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth by retiring the final two batters he faced.
Game two of the best-of-3 championship series will be played Monday night at 8 p.m. ET. ESPN will televise the contest live. South Carolina will be the home team. The Gamecocks will be facing their fourth elimination game of the tournament and need a win to force a deciding game 3 on Tuesday night.
(USC Sports Information contributed to this report.)
