The South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Clemson Tigers 4-3 at the Columbia Regional of the NCAA Baseball Tournament on Sunday night at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks advance to the Super Regionals. Clemson ends the season with a record of 35-28.
The Gamecocks busted out of the gate with a Joey Pankake triple to lead off the game. He scored on an Evan Marzilli sacrifice fly. Adam Matthews and Connor Bright followed with RBI singles to put South Carolina ahead 3-0.
South Carolina added another run in the sixth inning. St. James High product Tanner English doubled and scored on a Chase Vergason single to give the Gamecocks a 4-0 advantage.
Clemson rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth on a Thomas Brittle double and a Phil Pohl RBI ground out. The Tigers added a run in the ninth to make it interesting. Brad Felder hit a ball just in front of the warning track to end the game.
South Carolina freshman pitcher Jordan Montgomery (5-1) tossed 6.2 innings, allowed five hits, two runs and struck out six to pick up the win. Tyler Webb got the save after pitching the final 2.1 innings.
Clemson had a 2-2 record at the NCAA Columbia Regional with two wins over Coastal Carolina and two losses to South Carolina. South Carolina swept all three of their games with wins two wins over Clemson and one against Manhattan.
The Gamecocks have now won a record 19 consecutive NCAA Tournament games.
The Gamecocks advance to the NCAA Super Regionals where they will host a best-of-three series against the Oklahoma Sooners at Carolina Stadium in Columbia. A total of 16 teams will be in the Super Regionals. The eight winners of the Super Regionals advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
