The South Carolina Gamecocks have staved off elimination three times over two days to advance to the College World Series championship round for a third straight year. The Gamecocks defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks 3-2 on Friday night in front of 22,184 fans at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. Now, only the Arizona Wildcats stand in the way of the Gamecocks hopes of a third consecutive NCAA Championship.
Arkansas jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Matt Reynolds drove in both runs with a single in the first and a sacrifice fly in the third. Both runs came off Gamecocks starting pitcher Colby Holmes from Conway High. Holmes lasted only two innings. He gave up three hits, two earned runs and struck out two. Holmes did not figure in the decision.
South Carolina (49-18) rallied to tie the game in the fifth. St. James High graduate Tanner English led off the inning with a single and stole second. Joey Pankake singled to score English and cut the Razorbacks lead to 2-1. Christian Walker walked with the bases loaded to tie the game heading to the sixth inning.
The Gamecocks took the lead in the seventh on another bases loaded walk. Adam Matthews earned a free pass to first that forced home Pankake to make it 3-2 South Carolina. It proved to be the game winning run.
Tyler Webb and Matt Price combined to pitch seven shutout innings in relief for the Gamecocks and send Arkansas (46-21) home. Price pitched the final three innings to pick up the win. He now has five career wins in Omaha. A new College World Series record.
The Gamecocks have won their last seven elimination games at the College World Series.
South Carolina will play the Arizona Wildcats (46-17) in a best-of-three series for the NCAA Championship. Game one is scheduled for Sunday at 8 p.m. Game two is set for Monday at 8 p.m. If a third game is needed, they would play at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Gamecocks will try to become the first team since Southern Cal to win three straight College World Series. Southern Cal won five in a row from 1970-74.
