OMAHA, Neb. - For the third straight year, the College World Series championship final will involve South Carolina.
In 2010, the Gamecocks beat UCLA for their first national title. A year ago, they gouged favored Florida for their second consecutive title.
This year? War with the Wildcats.
USC (49-18) will face red-hot Arizona (46-17) in Game 1 of the best-of-three national championship series at 8 p.m. on Sunday on ESPN2. Game 2 is at 8 p.m. on Monday on ESPN. The third and decisive game, if necessary, is set for 8 p.m. on Tuesday on ESPN.
Arizona dominated Bracket One en route to the finals, outscoring its first three opponents 18-6. However, it needed 12 innings to slip past Florida State 4-3 in its CWS opener.
Two days later, Konner Wade spun a complete-game five-hitter in a 4-0 shutout of Pac-12 rival UCLA in a winner's bracket game.
After three days off, Arizona earned its berth in the national championship by trouncing Florida State 10-3 on Thursday, never looking back after scoring six runs in the first inning.
Like USC, Arizona has committed only one error in Omaha. Both schools are on top of the team fielding statistics with USC first (.995) and Arizona second (.992).
"They're very aggressive, but yet they're very picky at the plate," Florida State coach Mike Martin said. "Defensively, they're very impressive. Their fielding percentage is outstanding. (Kurt) Heyer (and Wade) are two outstanding right-handed pitchers. Heyer is a bulldog."
The Wildcats are a complete baseball team, as shown by the updated College World Series statistics through Friday's 3-2 victory by USC. Arizona tops the eight schools in Omaha in team pitching (1.20 ERA, four earned runs in 30 innings) and ranks second in team batting (.277, 31 hits in three games)
"I'm not sure we're invincible. In fact, I'm quite confident we're not invincible," Arizona coach Andy Lopez said following Thursday's convincing win over Florida State. "We're playing good baseball right now. But we've done that for more than just a weekend or so. We've played exceptional baseball (since losing to Oregon 3-1 on May 6)."
USC coach Ray Tanner said, following the thrilling 3-2 victory over Arkansas, that the starting Gamecock pitcher for Game 1 will come from Evan Beal, Forrest Koumas or Nolan Belcher.
Since Arizona No. 1 starter Heyer (12-2, 2.22 ERA, 145.2 innings) threw 123 pitches in the bracket-clinching win over the Seminoles, whoever starts for USC will probably be opposed by Wade, who improved to 10-3 with a 4.17 ERA in 127.1 innings as a result of the shutout over UCLA.
"We came to campus three years ago with a mission," Heyer said. "Coach Lopez recruited my class by saying we were going to play for a national championship. We've been through the ups and downs, yet we've been able to prosper from the last two years and gotten more mature and learned from coach Lopez on his teachings. Every team that comes here wants to win, but they don't know how to win. We've been able to execute and get the job done for the most part."
With his bulldog mentality, left-hander Michael Roth is a virtual lock to start Game 2 on Monday after hurling a complete-game two-hit shutout over Kent State on Thursday. In fact, Tanner all but confirmed Roth would start Monday's game on three days rest after his masterpiece over Kent State.
"It seems like the last few weeks, he goes out there and this could be the last one," Tanner said. "Now we may get a chance to see him again, and that brings a smile to my face and these guys as well. We get a chance to run them back out there one more time."
Within minutes after Friday's game, some Arizona players took to Twitter. Junior Robert Refsnyder tweeted, "You have to beat the best if you want to be the best. South Carolina vs. Arizona for the national championship."
WINNING WHEN IT MATTERS: South Carolina continues to amaze college baseball onlookers with its ability to win close games in the postseason. The Gamecocks improved to 3-1 in one-run games in the NCAA tournament. The only loss was Monday's 2-1 setback to Arkansas.
Naturally, Tanner was quizzed after the game about the Gamecocks' winning secret.
"It's kind of hard to explain, because there's so many good baseball teams that we play throughout the year," Tanner said. "Very rarely do we think that we're so much better than the other team. Our guys have great perspective. They respect the game. They respect their opponents. And we play in a conference that if you feel like you're one of the best seven or eight teams, you feel like you're pretty good."
When Arkansas scored first in Friday's game, the odds seemed to be in its favor. The Razorbacks had been 36-4 this season when they scored first and 24-4 when they scored in the first inning. But USC kept chipping away with a pair of runs in the fifth (an RBI single and walk) and the eventual game-winning run in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk.
"These guys deserve all the credit in the world. They just grind it out," Tanner said. "You try not to let the game get the best of you, because it does. Baseball is a game that sets you back. It will humble you. It will devastate you. It will crush you if you allow it to. We talk about that all the time. There's bad at-bats. There's a bad play. There's a bad pitch. If you dwell on that, it's just too hard."
PANKAKE SNAPS OUT OF SLUMP: When freshman shortstop and leadoff hitter Joey Pankake lined out to right field in the bottom of the first, his College World Series batting average fell to a dismal .053 (1-for-19). But Tanner's continuing faith in the Easley native paid dividends in the bottom of the third when he singled to center, and later in the fifth when he singled to center on the first pitch he saw to drive home USC's first run. Minutes later, Christian Walker drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the score at 2.
"I had kind of struggled early on in the College World Series," Pankake said. "But a couple of the older guys pulled me aside and said, 'Keep battling, keep fighting.' And I got a couple of hits to fall tonight and they were at the right time."
PRICE IS RIGHT AGAIN: Closer Matt Price improved to 5-4 by working the final three innings in Friday's 3-2 win. In the process, Price established a CWS record with his fifth career victory, snapping a tie with 10 other pitchers who each had four career wins.
In addition, Price extended his record in games finished at the CWS to 11 and he now ranks second all-time with 12 career appearances in Omaha. Price has allowed just one run in 24.2 innings at the CWS for an 0.36 career ERA that ranks third all-time (minimum 20 innings). He has fanned 33 batters and carries an 18.2-inning scoreless streak into the national championship series.
Remarkably, Price has allowed just one extra-base hit in his distinguished CWS career.
"Matt's a great pitcher and I think the whole country has seen what he's capable of doing in big time situations and big stage, especially here in Omaha," Adam Matthews said. "He continues to go out there and pitch his game. He's done a great job keeping us in the game and giving us a chance to win. Fortunately, we got a couple of runs like we did today and we still have Matt out there just to compete and battle for us."
UPSET WITH THE UMPIRING: Arkansas pitchers walked nine batters in Friday's game, two of whom eventually scored. Five of the walks, a career-high, were issued by Razorback starter D.J. Baxendale during his 4.1-inning, 84-pitch stint. Arkansas coaches and pitchers expressed their displeasure with plate umpire Perry Costello on several occasions, and Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn took some subtle jabs at the umpiring during his post-game press conference.
"Hats off to my pitchers. I thought they did a great job. I thought they filled up the strike zone all night long," Van Horn said. "I thought they did a great job trying to battle through it, to be honest with you."
When asked to address the "fluctuating strike zone," Van Horn quickly replied, "I would love to, but I can't. Sorry."
NOTES
* USC won the season series over Arkansas, 4-2, by taking two of three games at Fayetteville (May 4-6) and two of three in Omaha.
* So far in the College World Series, the team scoring first is 10-3. All three comeback victories have been by USC. The Gamecocks fell behind Florida 2-0, yet won the game 7-3 on June 16. USC fell behind Kent State 1-0 on June 21, before winning 4-1. On Friday, USC trailed 2-0 in the fifth before rallying.
* In the three-game regular-season series between USC and Arkansas, the teams combined for 44 runs. In three MCWS matchups, the teams managed only 10 runs.
* USC (2010-11-12) joins Texas (2004-05-09) as the only programs to play in three CWS championship series. The Gamecocks will seek to become the first team since Southern Cal (1970-74) to win three straight national championships. The Trojans are the only program to win more than two consecutive national titles.
* USC has won seven straight CWS elimination games dating to 2010, when it beat top-ranked Arizona State.
* Walker had a single in three trips during Friday's game to give him 26 hits in 68 at-bats (.382) for his career at the CWS. He is 6-for-16 (.375) with five walks this year. His 26 hits are second-most in CWS history behind only the 28 from North Carolina's Dustin Ackley (2007-09).
* Walker also moved into a tie for third on the all-time CWS at-bats list with 68. North Carolina's Chad Flack and Garrett Gore share the record with 73 each. Considering USC has at least two more games to play, Walker should break the record by the end of Game 2 on Monday.
* Colby Holmes, Tyler Webb and Price combined to throw 162 pitches on Friday, 107 for strikes. That's a solid strike percentage of 66.1 percent. In other words, two out of every three pitches USC hurlers threw was a strike.
* Arkansas became the 37th team in CWS history to start 2-0 in Omaha but fail to reach the national championship series. The last time that happened was 2010, when Clemson lost back-to-back games to USC.
Link: http://southcarolina.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1378267
In 2010, the Gamecocks beat UCLA for their first national title. A year ago, they gouged favored Florida for their second consecutive title.
This year? War with the Wildcats.
USC (49-18) will face red-hot Arizona (46-17) in Game 1 of the best-of-three national championship series at 8 p.m. on Sunday on ESPN2. Game 2 is at 8 p.m. on Monday on ESPN. The third and decisive game, if necessary, is set for 8 p.m. on Tuesday on ESPN.
Arizona dominated Bracket One en route to the finals, outscoring its first three opponents 18-6. However, it needed 12 innings to slip past Florida State 4-3 in its CWS opener.
Two days later, Konner Wade spun a complete-game five-hitter in a 4-0 shutout of Pac-12 rival UCLA in a winner's bracket game.
After three days off, Arizona earned its berth in the national championship by trouncing Florida State 10-3 on Thursday, never looking back after scoring six runs in the first inning.
Like USC, Arizona has committed only one error in Omaha. Both schools are on top of the team fielding statistics with USC first (.995) and Arizona second (.992).
"They're very aggressive, but yet they're very picky at the plate," Florida State coach Mike Martin said. "Defensively, they're very impressive. Their fielding percentage is outstanding. (Kurt) Heyer (and Wade) are two outstanding right-handed pitchers. Heyer is a bulldog."
The Wildcats are a complete baseball team, as shown by the updated College World Series statistics through Friday's 3-2 victory by USC. Arizona tops the eight schools in Omaha in team pitching (1.20 ERA, four earned runs in 30 innings) and ranks second in team batting (.277, 31 hits in three games)
"I'm not sure we're invincible. In fact, I'm quite confident we're not invincible," Arizona coach Andy Lopez said following Thursday's convincing win over Florida State. "We're playing good baseball right now. But we've done that for more than just a weekend or so. We've played exceptional baseball (since losing to Oregon 3-1 on May 6)."
USC coach Ray Tanner said, following the thrilling 3-2 victory over Arkansas, that the starting Gamecock pitcher for Game 1 will come from Evan Beal, Forrest Koumas or Nolan Belcher.
Since Arizona No. 1 starter Heyer (12-2, 2.22 ERA, 145.2 innings) threw 123 pitches in the bracket-clinching win over the Seminoles, whoever starts for USC will probably be opposed by Wade, who improved to 10-3 with a 4.17 ERA in 127.1 innings as a result of the shutout over UCLA.
"We came to campus three years ago with a mission," Heyer said. "Coach Lopez recruited my class by saying we were going to play for a national championship. We've been through the ups and downs, yet we've been able to prosper from the last two years and gotten more mature and learned from coach Lopez on his teachings. Every team that comes here wants to win, but they don't know how to win. We've been able to execute and get the job done for the most part."
With his bulldog mentality, left-hander Michael Roth is a virtual lock to start Game 2 on Monday after hurling a complete-game two-hit shutout over Kent State on Thursday. In fact, Tanner all but confirmed Roth would start Monday's game on three days rest after his masterpiece over Kent State.
"It seems like the last few weeks, he goes out there and this could be the last one," Tanner said. "Now we may get a chance to see him again, and that brings a smile to my face and these guys as well. We get a chance to run them back out there one more time."
Within minutes after Friday's game, some Arizona players took to Twitter. Junior Robert Refsnyder tweeted, "You have to beat the best if you want to be the best. South Carolina vs. Arizona for the national championship."
WINNING WHEN IT MATTERS: South Carolina continues to amaze college baseball onlookers with its ability to win close games in the postseason. The Gamecocks improved to 3-1 in one-run games in the NCAA tournament. The only loss was Monday's 2-1 setback to Arkansas.
Naturally, Tanner was quizzed after the game about the Gamecocks' winning secret.
"It's kind of hard to explain, because there's so many good baseball teams that we play throughout the year," Tanner said. "Very rarely do we think that we're so much better than the other team. Our guys have great perspective. They respect the game. They respect their opponents. And we play in a conference that if you feel like you're one of the best seven or eight teams, you feel like you're pretty good."
When Arkansas scored first in Friday's game, the odds seemed to be in its favor. The Razorbacks had been 36-4 this season when they scored first and 24-4 when they scored in the first inning. But USC kept chipping away with a pair of runs in the fifth (an RBI single and walk) and the eventual game-winning run in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk.
"These guys deserve all the credit in the world. They just grind it out," Tanner said. "You try not to let the game get the best of you, because it does. Baseball is a game that sets you back. It will humble you. It will devastate you. It will crush you if you allow it to. We talk about that all the time. There's bad at-bats. There's a bad play. There's a bad pitch. If you dwell on that, it's just too hard."
PANKAKE SNAPS OUT OF SLUMP: When freshman shortstop and leadoff hitter Joey Pankake lined out to right field in the bottom of the first, his College World Series batting average fell to a dismal .053 (1-for-19). But Tanner's continuing faith in the Easley native paid dividends in the bottom of the third when he singled to center, and later in the fifth when he singled to center on the first pitch he saw to drive home USC's first run. Minutes later, Christian Walker drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the score at 2.
"I had kind of struggled early on in the College World Series," Pankake said. "But a couple of the older guys pulled me aside and said, 'Keep battling, keep fighting.' And I got a couple of hits to fall tonight and they were at the right time."
PRICE IS RIGHT AGAIN: Closer Matt Price improved to 5-4 by working the final three innings in Friday's 3-2 win. In the process, Price established a CWS record with his fifth career victory, snapping a tie with 10 other pitchers who each had four career wins.
In addition, Price extended his record in games finished at the CWS to 11 and he now ranks second all-time with 12 career appearances in Omaha. Price has allowed just one run in 24.2 innings at the CWS for an 0.36 career ERA that ranks third all-time (minimum 20 innings). He has fanned 33 batters and carries an 18.2-inning scoreless streak into the national championship series.
Remarkably, Price has allowed just one extra-base hit in his distinguished CWS career.
"Matt's a great pitcher and I think the whole country has seen what he's capable of doing in big time situations and big stage, especially here in Omaha," Adam Matthews said. "He continues to go out there and pitch his game. He's done a great job keeping us in the game and giving us a chance to win. Fortunately, we got a couple of runs like we did today and we still have Matt out there just to compete and battle for us."
UPSET WITH THE UMPIRING: Arkansas pitchers walked nine batters in Friday's game, two of whom eventually scored. Five of the walks, a career-high, were issued by Razorback starter D.J. Baxendale during his 4.1-inning, 84-pitch stint. Arkansas coaches and pitchers expressed their displeasure with plate umpire Perry Costello on several occasions, and Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn took some subtle jabs at the umpiring during his post-game press conference.
"Hats off to my pitchers. I thought they did a great job. I thought they filled up the strike zone all night long," Van Horn said. "I thought they did a great job trying to battle through it, to be honest with you."
When asked to address the "fluctuating strike zone," Van Horn quickly replied, "I would love to, but I can't. Sorry."
NOTES
* USC won the season series over Arkansas, 4-2, by taking two of three games at Fayetteville (May 4-6) and two of three in Omaha.
* So far in the College World Series, the team scoring first is 10-3. All three comeback victories have been by USC. The Gamecocks fell behind Florida 2-0, yet won the game 7-3 on June 16. USC fell behind Kent State 1-0 on June 21, before winning 4-1. On Friday, USC trailed 2-0 in the fifth before rallying.
* In the three-game regular-season series between USC and Arkansas, the teams combined for 44 runs. In three MCWS matchups, the teams managed only 10 runs.
* USC (2010-11-12) joins Texas (2004-05-09) as the only programs to play in three CWS championship series. The Gamecocks will seek to become the first team since Southern Cal (1970-74) to win three straight national championships. The Trojans are the only program to win more than two consecutive national titles.
* USC has won seven straight CWS elimination games dating to 2010, when it beat top-ranked Arizona State.
* Walker had a single in three trips during Friday's game to give him 26 hits in 68 at-bats (.382) for his career at the CWS. He is 6-for-16 (.375) with five walks this year. His 26 hits are second-most in CWS history behind only the 28 from North Carolina's Dustin Ackley (2007-09).
* Walker also moved into a tie for third on the all-time CWS at-bats list with 68. North Carolina's Chad Flack and Garrett Gore share the record with 73 each. Considering USC has at least two more games to play, Walker should break the record by the end of Game 2 on Monday.
* Colby Holmes, Tyler Webb and Price combined to throw 162 pitches on Friday, 107 for strikes. That's a solid strike percentage of 66.1 percent. In other words, two out of every three pitches USC hurlers threw was a strike.
* Arkansas became the 37th team in CWS history to start 2-0 in Omaha but fail to reach the national championship series. The last time that happened was 2010, when Clemson lost back-to-back games to USC.
Link: http://southcarolina.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1378267
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