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OMAHA, Neb. - Monday's 4-1 loss to Arizona may have denied South Carolina a three-peat, but its run to the national championship series demonstrated that the future is exceptionally bright.
USC will have three-quarters of the infield back with second baseman Chase Vergason, third baseman LB Dantzler and shortstop Joey Pankake returning in 2013.
Infielders Erik Payne and Connor Bright could earn expanded roles in 2013, as well.
Kyle Martin was designated Christian Walker's successor at first base early in the campaign as he displayed outstanding hitting skills.
The Gamecocks also appear set behind the plate with catcher Grayson Greiner. Tanner English is expected to move to center field, his more natural position, to replace Evan Marzilli, while TJ Costen figures to have a more prominent role next season in the outfield.
Right field will likely be the biggest question mark when fall practice starts. Sean Sullivan, a rising senior who came up with several clutch hits this season, could compete for that job.
Walker (fourth round by Orioles) and Marzilli (eighth round by Arizona) each have one year of eligibility remaining, but both were selected high enough in the Major League Baseball draft to warrant lucrative signing bonuses.
USC loses the two anchors of the 2012 pitching staff - senior Michael Roth and redshirt junior Matt Price - but returns a talented core of hurlers led by Colby Holmes (wasn't drafted), Jordan Montgomery, Tyler Webb (wasn't drafted), Nolan Belcher, Evan Beal, Forrest Koumas and Joel Seddon.
Of course, USC will bring in a talented 2012-13 signing class, and some of those players could compete for immediate playing time, although a couple of highly regarded prospects have already signed pro contracts.
Roth, already a USC legend for his postseason performances, is optimistic about the future for the Gamecocks.
"They're going to be great. You've got coach (Ray) Tanner and the rest of the staff," Roth said. "Without the talented freshmen we had this year, we wouldn't be in the position we are right now. So they're excellent. And with the guys they're bringing in, I'm sure they're going to be great. I wish them the best of luck."
However, the biggest task facing next year's team is replacing the tremendous leadership shown by the three team captains in 2012 -- Roth, Price and Adam Matthews.
"I'll always be a Carolina baseball fan and it'll always be family to me, so I'll keep in touch with all these guys," said Roth, who made his eighth career CWS start on Monday, setting an all-time record.
WALKER TIES RECORD: It took until his final at-bat (single in the ninth inning) but Walker managed to get the one hit he needed to tie Dustin Ackley (currently a member of the Seattle Mariners) for most career College World Series hits with 28. Walker also tied Garrett Gore and Chad Flack of North Carolina for career most at-bats in the College World Series with 73.
Walker finished the CWS with a .381 batting average (8-of-21) with eight walks, which matched the single-year record accomplished by nine other players. In three trips to Omaha, Walker drew 13 free passes and struck out just four times.
Also, the 12 putouts by Walker in Monday's game gave him 73 in this year's CWS, the third-most in a single CWS.
WHY WAS ROTH LIFTED?: Roth's highly decorated career came to an end when he was lifted with two outs in the top of the seventh with Arizona runners at second and third. His final outing in a Gamecock uniform, which came on just three days rest, was standard Roth: 6.2 innings, one run, three hits, three strikeouts and one walk. He threw 85 pitches and faced 24 batters, retiring 20 of them.
Price came on to get the final out of the inning on a foul pop to first. Tanner acknowledged that he wrestled with the decision to lift Roth in his final game.
"Well, it was a tough call even taking him out of the game," Tanner said. "But, in the back of my mind, I knew that he was out there on three days and his pitch count was probably close to 90 at that point. The matchup said to go to the right-hander, and the numbers were a little better, right on right, vs. Michael against him. So, he was only going to be out there for a few more anyway. So we made the move to try to get out of the inning, and we were able to get out of it."
ARIZONA'S PITCHING DOMINATES: The major story of the national championship series was clearly the pitching by Arizona. In Game 1, Konner Wade threw a complete-game six-hitter at USC before James Farris (the No. 3 starter) and freshman reliever Mathew Troupe combined to limit the Gamecocks to one run on three hits in Game 2. USC batted .145 (9-for-62) in the two-game series with one extra base hit, a double by Greiner in Game 1.
Farris, who hadn't pitched in three weeks, held USC to one run and two hits with four strikeouts and two walks over 7.2 innings. He threw 95 pitches.
"Farris had a great start for Arizona. He kept us off balance," Matthews said. "He was working away most of the night. He was hitting his spots with his fastball and had good (stuff) to go along with it. He pitched tremendous for them. Of course, we wanted to hit better, but you've got to give him credit where credit's due. Unfortunately, we didn't get as many hits as we wanted to, and they ended up with the win."
But USC's offensive woes didn't start in the final series against the Wildcats. After scoring seven runs against the vaunted Florida pitching staff in its CWS opener, USC posted a .181 batting average (33-for-181) and scored 14 runs over the final six games in Omaha, an average of 5.5 hits and 2.3 runs per game. USC went 3-3 in those contests, beating Arkansas 2-0 and 3-2 in the bracket final.
"We did everything possible to win tonight except come up with a few more hits," Tanner said. "They came up with a couple of clutch hits there in the ninth that you've got to give them credit for. We just didn't do enough on the offensive side. We were averaging 3.75 runs in the postseason.
"We were only averaging three runs here in the College World Series, and we're playing in the championship series. Eventually that's going to get you. In the end, if you had to put your finger on one thing, it's run output. We just didn't get enough runs on the board. They pitched really well against us and played defense."
NOTES
* USC finished fifth in batting among the eight CWS teams with a .205 batting average (45-for-219) in seven games with one homer, 10 doubles and two triples. It also coaxed 30 walks, by far the most of any team in the CWS, and fanned 42 times.
* USC pitchers finished with a 2.18 ERA in seven games, third-best among the CWS teams. They allowed 45 hits and 17 runs with 51 strikeouts and 18 walks in 62 innings. Defensively, USC made four errors in seven games for a stellar .985 fielding percentage.
* Tanner on falling to Arizona: "Although we're disappointed tonight, I'm not disappointed with my players. We battled hard. We've worked extremely hard, and we made a run. We got to the postseason and got back out here and got in the loser's bracket and got back to the finals."
* Kyle Martin's game-tying RBI groundout in the bottom of the seventh inning was his first RBI of the NCAA tournament. He had not driven in a run since May 9 against Furman.
* Marzilli's 71 career CWS at-bats and six doubles both rank fourth all-time.
* Roth, who now holds the record for most starts in the national championship series with three (and became the first pitcher to start a national championship series game in three straight years), extended his career record to 60.1 innings pitched in the CWS. His career CWS ERA of 1.49 is the fifth-lowest among all pitchers with at least 30 innings in Omaha.
* Price's 20.1-inning scoreless streak in the CWS was snapped in the ninth inning when Arizona scored three times. Game 2 marked just the second time all season that Price allowed more than one earned run in a single relief outing.
* The SEC now holds a 2-1 edge over the Pac-12 when teams from those conferences meet in the national championship game/series. LSU beat Stanford in 2000 and USC swept UCLA in 2010.
* The combined batting averages of the eight CWS teams was .234, the lowest since 1974.
link: http://southcarolina.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1379176
USC will have three-quarters of the infield back with second baseman Chase Vergason, third baseman LB Dantzler and shortstop Joey Pankake returning in 2013.
Infielders Erik Payne and Connor Bright could earn expanded roles in 2013, as well.
Kyle Martin was designated Christian Walker's successor at first base early in the campaign as he displayed outstanding hitting skills.
The Gamecocks also appear set behind the plate with catcher Grayson Greiner. Tanner English is expected to move to center field, his more natural position, to replace Evan Marzilli, while TJ Costen figures to have a more prominent role next season in the outfield.
Right field will likely be the biggest question mark when fall practice starts. Sean Sullivan, a rising senior who came up with several clutch hits this season, could compete for that job.
Walker (fourth round by Orioles) and Marzilli (eighth round by Arizona) each have one year of eligibility remaining, but both were selected high enough in the Major League Baseball draft to warrant lucrative signing bonuses.
USC loses the two anchors of the 2012 pitching staff - senior Michael Roth and redshirt junior Matt Price - but returns a talented core of hurlers led by Colby Holmes (wasn't drafted), Jordan Montgomery, Tyler Webb (wasn't drafted), Nolan Belcher, Evan Beal, Forrest Koumas and Joel Seddon.
Of course, USC will bring in a talented 2012-13 signing class, and some of those players could compete for immediate playing time, although a couple of highly regarded prospects have already signed pro contracts.
Roth, already a USC legend for his postseason performances, is optimistic about the future for the Gamecocks.
"They're going to be great. You've got coach (Ray) Tanner and the rest of the staff," Roth said. "Without the talented freshmen we had this year, we wouldn't be in the position we are right now. So they're excellent. And with the guys they're bringing in, I'm sure they're going to be great. I wish them the best of luck."
However, the biggest task facing next year's team is replacing the tremendous leadership shown by the three team captains in 2012 -- Roth, Price and Adam Matthews.
"I'll always be a Carolina baseball fan and it'll always be family to me, so I'll keep in touch with all these guys," said Roth, who made his eighth career CWS start on Monday, setting an all-time record.
WALKER TIES RECORD: It took until his final at-bat (single in the ninth inning) but Walker managed to get the one hit he needed to tie Dustin Ackley (currently a member of the Seattle Mariners) for most career College World Series hits with 28. Walker also tied Garrett Gore and Chad Flack of North Carolina for career most at-bats in the College World Series with 73.
Walker finished the CWS with a .381 batting average (8-of-21) with eight walks, which matched the single-year record accomplished by nine other players. In three trips to Omaha, Walker drew 13 free passes and struck out just four times.
Also, the 12 putouts by Walker in Monday's game gave him 73 in this year's CWS, the third-most in a single CWS.
WHY WAS ROTH LIFTED?: Roth's highly decorated career came to an end when he was lifted with two outs in the top of the seventh with Arizona runners at second and third. His final outing in a Gamecock uniform, which came on just three days rest, was standard Roth: 6.2 innings, one run, three hits, three strikeouts and one walk. He threw 85 pitches and faced 24 batters, retiring 20 of them.
Price came on to get the final out of the inning on a foul pop to first. Tanner acknowledged that he wrestled with the decision to lift Roth in his final game.
"Well, it was a tough call even taking him out of the game," Tanner said. "But, in the back of my mind, I knew that he was out there on three days and his pitch count was probably close to 90 at that point. The matchup said to go to the right-hander, and the numbers were a little better, right on right, vs. Michael against him. So, he was only going to be out there for a few more anyway. So we made the move to try to get out of the inning, and we were able to get out of it."
ARIZONA'S PITCHING DOMINATES: The major story of the national championship series was clearly the pitching by Arizona. In Game 1, Konner Wade threw a complete-game six-hitter at USC before James Farris (the No. 3 starter) and freshman reliever Mathew Troupe combined to limit the Gamecocks to one run on three hits in Game 2. USC batted .145 (9-for-62) in the two-game series with one extra base hit, a double by Greiner in Game 1.
Farris, who hadn't pitched in three weeks, held USC to one run and two hits with four strikeouts and two walks over 7.2 innings. He threw 95 pitches.
"Farris had a great start for Arizona. He kept us off balance," Matthews said. "He was working away most of the night. He was hitting his spots with his fastball and had good (stuff) to go along with it. He pitched tremendous for them. Of course, we wanted to hit better, but you've got to give him credit where credit's due. Unfortunately, we didn't get as many hits as we wanted to, and they ended up with the win."
But USC's offensive woes didn't start in the final series against the Wildcats. After scoring seven runs against the vaunted Florida pitching staff in its CWS opener, USC posted a .181 batting average (33-for-181) and scored 14 runs over the final six games in Omaha, an average of 5.5 hits and 2.3 runs per game. USC went 3-3 in those contests, beating Arkansas 2-0 and 3-2 in the bracket final.
"We did everything possible to win tonight except come up with a few more hits," Tanner said. "They came up with a couple of clutch hits there in the ninth that you've got to give them credit for. We just didn't do enough on the offensive side. We were averaging 3.75 runs in the postseason.
"We were only averaging three runs here in the College World Series, and we're playing in the championship series. Eventually that's going to get you. In the end, if you had to put your finger on one thing, it's run output. We just didn't get enough runs on the board. They pitched really well against us and played defense."
NOTES
* USC finished fifth in batting among the eight CWS teams with a .205 batting average (45-for-219) in seven games with one homer, 10 doubles and two triples. It also coaxed 30 walks, by far the most of any team in the CWS, and fanned 42 times.
* USC pitchers finished with a 2.18 ERA in seven games, third-best among the CWS teams. They allowed 45 hits and 17 runs with 51 strikeouts and 18 walks in 62 innings. Defensively, USC made four errors in seven games for a stellar .985 fielding percentage.
* Tanner on falling to Arizona: "Although we're disappointed tonight, I'm not disappointed with my players. We battled hard. We've worked extremely hard, and we made a run. We got to the postseason and got back out here and got in the loser's bracket and got back to the finals."
* Kyle Martin's game-tying RBI groundout in the bottom of the seventh inning was his first RBI of the NCAA tournament. He had not driven in a run since May 9 against Furman.
* Marzilli's 71 career CWS at-bats and six doubles both rank fourth all-time.
* Roth, who now holds the record for most starts in the national championship series with three (and became the first pitcher to start a national championship series game in three straight years), extended his career record to 60.1 innings pitched in the CWS. His career CWS ERA of 1.49 is the fifth-lowest among all pitchers with at least 30 innings in Omaha.
* Price's 20.1-inning scoreless streak in the CWS was snapped in the ninth inning when Arizona scored three times. Game 2 marked just the second time all season that Price allowed more than one earned run in a single relief outing.
* The SEC now holds a 2-1 edge over the Pac-12 when teams from those conferences meet in the national championship game/series. LSU beat Stanford in 2000 and USC swept UCLA in 2010.
* The combined batting averages of the eight CWS teams was .234, the lowest since 1974.
link: http://southcarolina.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1379176
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