College World Series: South Carolina Wins Second Straight Baseball Championship

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South Carolina beat Florida 5-2 Tuesday night in Game 2 of the best-of-three College World Series Finals in Omaha to clinch its second straight national championship.

After winning Game 1 in 11 innings Monday night, the Gamecocks needed only 9 Tuesday.

South Carolina (55-14) got to work in the third inning, taking a 3-0 lead that they would not relinquish.

Trey Wingo's sacrifice fly gave South Carolina a 1-0 lead before more costly Florida fielding errors allowed Evan Marzilli and Jackie Bradley, Jr. to cross the plate for the defending national champions later in the inning to give the Gamecocks a 3-0 lead.

Florida (53-19) looked as if it might make a comeback in the next inning after Mike Zunino's single home run to left field, but the Gators would be unable to erase the deficit.

Peter Mooney's insurance home run in the sixth gave South Carolina a 4-1 lead and all but erased any hope for a Florida comeback.

Josh Adams' RBI single in the eighth made it 4-2, but the Gamecocks would increase their lead to three again later in the inning off Wingo's RBI single.

South Carolina pitcher Michael Roth, called the team's anchor by several teammates, struck out 6 Gators in 7.2 innings in the championship-clinching win.

"We battled, that's all I can say," said Roth. "We’re just a bunch of Average Joes. We love each other and love the game."

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College World Series Scores: South Carolina Beats Florida 2-1 in Game One of Finals

The South Carolina baseball team is one win away from its second straight national championship.

Back-to-back throwing errors by Florida allowed Christian Walker to score in the top of the 11th to break a 1-1 tie and give defending national champion South Carolina the go-ahead run in a 2-1 win over the Gators Monday night in game one of the best-of-three College World Series Finals.

Game two between the Southeastern Conference rivals is Tuesday night.

The defenses shined in the first two innings, but in the third, Florida (53-18) chalked up the first run of the evening.

After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Tyler Thompson scored on a sacrifice fly by Cody Dent to give the Gators a 1-0 advantage.

The bats remained cold due to near picture-perfect pitching by both staffs until the eighth inning, when South Carolina (53-14) finally found some magic of its own.

With two outs, Scott Wingo's RBI single to center tied the score at one. The hit also sent Gator starting pitcher Hudson Randall, who struck out six Gamecocks in eight innings, to the Florida dugout.

The Gators would load the bases in the bottom of the ninth with one out, but a double play by South Carolina sent the game to extra innings.

In the bottom of the 11th, Walker stole second, then advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Another throwing error by the center fielder allowed Walker to score.

Game two from Omaha's TD Ameritrade Park starts Tuesday night at 8 ET on ESPN.

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South Carolina Baseball Beats Virginia 3-2, Advance to CWS Finals to Face UF

South Carolina's Adrian Morales, right, is tagged out at home plate by Virginia catcher John Hicks, in the fourth inning of an NCAA College World Series baseball game in Omaha, Neb., Friday, June 24, 2011. South Carolina's Peter Mooney flied out in the play and Morales was tagged out at home for the double play. (AP Photo/Eric Francis)

Virginia's comeback effort came up short Friday night at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha as defending national champion South Carolina beat the Cavaliers 3-2 in 13 innings to eliminate them from the College World Series and set up an all-SEC CWS Finals next week. Florida advanced to the finals with a 6-4 win over Vanderbilt Friday afternoon.

With runners at first and second, South Carolina's Adam Matthews reached home in the 13th inning on a throwing error by Virginia pitcher Cody Winiarski to break a 2-2 tie and lift the Gamecocks over the Cavaliers in a game that lasted more than 4.5 hours.

Virginia (56-12) started the scoring in the second inning when Kenny Swab's sacrifice ground-out sent Steven Proscia home to give one-seeded Virginia the 1-0 lead.

Playing with an unknown illness, Virginia pitcher Danny Hultzen struck out eight of his first nine batters before leaving the game after three innings.

Freshman Kyle Crockett, undefeated on the season, relieved Hultzen and struck out his first batter.

But South Carolina (53-14) wasted no time taking advantage of the young pitcher soon after.

Christian Walker doubled on the next at bat, then Jackie Bradley, Jr. hit an infield single to put South Carolina runners on first and second.

Crockett hit Adrian Morales later in the inning to load the bases before Brady Thomas sent Walker and Bradley, Jr. home on a deep double to left-center to give the Gamecocks a 2-1 lead heading into the fifth.

The Gamecocks held their lead until the eighth, when the Cavaliers mounted their comeback.

Virginia's John Hicks reached on a fielding error by Gamecock shortstop Peter Mooney that allowed Chris Taylor to score, tying the game at 2.

With the bases loaded and one out for the Gamecocks in the bottom of the eighth, Cavalier closer Branden Kline, who threw 107 pitches on the night, struck out Bradley, Jr. and Morales to send the game to the ninth still tied.

The Cavaliers loaded the bases in the 10th, 12th, and 13th innings but were unable to produce any runs.

The first game of the 2011 CWS best-of-three finals starts Monday night at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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Florida Gators Beat Vanderbilt 6-4, Clinch Spot in 2011 CWS Finals

Vanderbilt's Tony Kemp, bottom, is caught stealing by Florida first baseman Preston Tucker (25) following a rundown between first and second base in the third inning of an NCAA College World Series baseball game in Omaha, Neb., Friday, June 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Eric Francis) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The University of Florida baseball team has advanced to the 2011 College World Series Finals.

Florida (53-17) held on to beat Vanderbilt 6-4 in a CWS rematch between the two teams. The Gators beat the Commodores 3-1 on Tuesday.

But the win didn't come easy for the second-seeded Gators, who will play either South Carolina or Virginia in next week's best-of-three finals series.

Vanderbilt (54-12) started the scoring in the first inning when Aaron Westlake homered to right field.

The Gators tied the game at one in the third on Preston Tucker's sacrifice ground-out.

Florida would add three more runs to its lead in the fourth inning.

Josh Adams and Tyler Thompson came across the plate on Nolan Fontana's RBI single.

Daniel Pigot scored on a fielder's choice later in the inning to make the score 4-1.

Vanderbilt mounted a comeback in the seventh and eighth innings, tying the game at four.

Mike Yastrzemski scored off Connor Harrell's RBI single to make the score 4-2 before Florida's bullpen almost cost the Gators a berth in the finals.

With the bases loaded, Vanderbilt's Tony Kemp walked to make the score 4-3.

In the eighth inning with the bases again loaded, Florida's Austin Maddox hit batter Conrag Greggor to force the tying run.

But the Gators bounced back in the bottom of the eighth thanks to Tucker's RBI single that drove in Pigott to regain the lead.

Cody Dent added another run later in the inning thanks to a wild pitch to close out the scoring.

The first game of the 2011 College World Series best-of-three finals airs Monday night at 8 ET on ESPN.

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College World Series: Cal Bears Eliminated by Virginia Cavaliers

Virginia's David Coleman (9) avoids the tag by California catcher Chadd Krist (27) at home plate on a single by Keith Werman in the sixth inning of an NCAA College World Series elimination baseball game in Omaha, Neb., Thursday, June 23, 2011. Photo: Ted Kirk / AP

The Cal Bears baseball team was California dreaming in Omaha for the last week and a half, but the remarkable run has ended.

Virginia (56-11) beat Cal 8-1 Thursday night to advance to face South Carolina tomorrow night in a series that could contain this year's national champion.

After it was announced at the start of this season that the baseball program would be cut in 2012 for budgetary reasons, the players banded together and begged for support for the program.

ESPN aired a clip of several Bears taking part in a hip hop music video put together by the players several months ago, complete with rhymes sending out musical messages of "SOS" for the program's future.

The supporters listened, or watched the baseball team advance through the NCAA Tournament this season, donating $9.7 million towards the program through philanthropic efforts.

Thursday night's game failed to showcase the true luster of the players in what has been a tumultuous season filled with adversity.

The start of the night seemed to foreshadow woes to come for the Bears, when the first pitch of the game hit Virginia's Chris Taylor.

The Cavaliers gained the initial lead in the third inning when Jared King scored on a wild pitch by Cal's Dixon Anderson.

Keith Werman made it 2-0 later in the inning off a sacrifice-fly.

The Cavaliers perhaps put the game out of reach in the sixth inning, scoring adding four runs to its lead.

Kenny Swab scored on a fielding error before Werman sent David Coleman home with a single to make it 4-0.

Werman crossed the plate for the second time of the night off a double by Chris Taylor to make it 5-0 before John Barr's single sent Taylor home to give the Cavs a 6-0 lead.

More errors haunted Cal in the eighth inning, allowing Virginia two more unearned runs to round out the Cavs' scoring.

Cal (38-23) managed just one run in the elimination game, coming in the eighth inning when Darrel Matthews came home on a single by Tony Renda.

Virginia's Tyler Wilson (10-0) took home the win to remain undefeated, while Anderson took home the loss.

The Cavaliers will send overall No. 2 draft pick Danny Hultzen to the mound to face South Carolina Friday night as they look to avenge a 7-1 loss to the Gamecocks just two days ago. -TS

College World Series: Vanderbilt Eliminates North Carolina with 5-1 Win

Photo Courtesy AP Photo / Nati Harnik

The Vanderbilt baseball team continued its dream season Wednesday night by eliminating North Carolina with a 5-1 win to set up a match with SEC foe Florida on Friday.

Competing in the program's first-ever College World Series, Vanderbilt (54-11) beat North Carolina (51-16) for the second time in the 2011 edition of the CWS to advance.

The Commodores dropped the Tar Heels to the loser's bracket in the opening game in Omaha last week with a 7-3 victory, and a second loss for the Tar Heels eliminated them Wednesday night in front of a large crowd at TD Ameritrade Park.

As if North Carolina's exit wasn't hard enough to swallow for the Carolina Blue-clad fanbase, a few post-elimination statistics provided insult to injury.

The Tar Heels, whom many thought would make a run to the championship series, left 34 runners on base in its three CWS games and were just 7-39 with runners in scoring position.

Vanderbilt got off to a quick start in the bottom of the first inning when Tony Kemp tripled to deep right center.

Anthony Gomez's sacrifice pop-fly sent Kemp home to give the Commodores a 1-0 lead.

Mike Yastrzemski singled to right center in the bottom of the third and stole second base before Conrad Gregor walked, leaving runners at first and second.

Connor Harrell then belted a three-run homer to left field to give Vanderbilt a 4-0 lead.

The Commodores' Curt Casali brought the crowd from Nashville to its feet with a single home run to left field in the next inning to close out Vanderbilt's scoring.

Despite threatening a comeback in the fifth inning, North Carolina managed just one run, and it would be its only run all night.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the fifth, senior Tar Heel Ben Bunting grounded out to first, but not before freshman Brian Holberton tagged and scored from third to wipe the goose egg off the scoreboard for the Tar Heels.

Vandy's Taylor Hill (6-1) picked up the win, while North Carolina's Greg Holt (7-2), who left the game in the third inning after Casali's home run made it 5-0, took home the loss.

The Commodores face SEC foe Florida (52-17) Friday afternoon for the second time in this year's CWS, hoping to avenge a 3-1 loss to the Gators yesterday.

Vanderbilt must beat Florida twice to advance to next week's best-of-three finals series. -TS