South Carolina beat Kent State today by the score of 4-1 thanks to Michael Roth, on just four days' rest.

Roth (9-1) struck out eight and retired 22 in a row after giving up a RBI single in the second inning. Roth also became the first CWS pitcher to throw a complete game with two hits or fewer since June 6, 1993, and he became the CWS' all-time leader in innings pitched, with 53 2/3 over three years, and tied a CWS career record for starts with his seventh.



Next up for USC is Arkansas at 9 pm.

South Carolina is now in the position of playing must win games.  The Gamecocks dropped a close 2-1 game to a very talented and very hot Arkansas team on Monday night.  Now they face Kent State in the losers' bracket.

What must the Gamecocks do?  South Carolina needs to beat Kent State on Wednesday night to get another shot at Arkansas.  If they can do that, they'll play Arkansas on Thursday night.  If they can beat Arkansas they'll play them again on Friday night.  If they win that, they'll go to the championship series on Monday.  If they lose any of the games, the season is over.

Where did Kent State come from?  Ohio.  The Golden Flashes ran through the MAC tournament without losing to qualify for the NCAA tournament.  They earned a 3 seed in the Purdue regional.  Then they beat Kentucky twice and Purdue once to advance to the Super Regionals.

Next they traveled to Eugene, Oregon to play the Ducks.  The won the first game, lost the second and won the third to punch their ticket to Omaha.  All three games were one run games.  They lost to Arkansas in their CWS opener and then beat Florida to face the Gamecocks.

Can they hit?  Yes.  They are hitting .301 for the season as a team.  They knocked Hudson Randall around on Monday and scored 4 very quick runs.  Jimmy Rider and George Roberts are getting most of the publicity, but most all of the line up can hit.  The Gamecocks will have to be on their game to keep this offense down.

What about pitching?  The Golden Flashes have had three regular starters.  Starn and Bores have already thrown.  That means Tyler Skulina will probably be the starter.  The 6'6" righty has an 11-2 record and a 3.63 ERA.  He has struck out 97, but he has also walked 41.

If Skulina doesn't go the distance Casey Wilson and Brian Clark are likely to see action out of the bull pen.  Wilson is a righty with 7 saves and a 3.63 ERA.  Clark is a left handed freshman.  Opponents are only batting .184 against him.  Both Clark and Wilson pitched against Florida but threw very few pitches each.

Who will we pitch?  It's Jordan Montgomery's turn in the rotation, but that doesn't necessarily mean he will pitch.  In an elimination game don't be surprised if Coach Tanner decides to go with Michael Roth.  Roth threw less than 100 pitches and will probably be ready to go if asked.  On the other hand Montgomery has proven himself to be very capable and would be a fine choice as well.

Is it all over now that the streaks are broken?  Of course not.  The same resolve that allowed this program to come back in so many games will serve them well in trying to come through the losers' bracket in Omaha.  It was the  route they took two years ago and that turned out ok.  They have nothing to prove but everything to play for.

Don't flush the fish, or get down on the South Carolina Baseball team. Arkansas beat South Carolina 2-1 at the College World Series on Monday night. It was the Gamecocks' first loss in the national tournament in 23 games.

The streak had to end sometime. Twenty-two postseason wins in a row is something to be celebrated.  Back-to-back National Championships is an accomplishment that should be praised. There is still a lot of baseball to play in Omaha and the talent Ray Tanner has assembled could take us to the title series again.

Some might say luck has a lot to do with winning 12 straight games in Omaha but I say talent and good coaching has more to do with it. On some nights the ball just doesn't find a hole or a opposing pitcher just has it working. Well, tonight wasn't the Gamecocks night.

USC will now play Kent State on Wednesday and get a chance to redeem themselves; heck, start a new streak.  

We never thought after losing to Oklahoma two years ago the Gamecocks could win the National Championship and a first baseman named Michael Roth would emerge from the crowd to lead the way.  Lets see what happens this year. Keep the faith.

I have a feeling a team coached by Ray Tanner is never down and out until the finial pitch of the last out.

The "3 peat" journey is still on and the fish is angry so you better "Fear the Fish" for real now....Go Gamecocks!  

Side note....ESPN just make sure Orel Hershiser is not in the booth for the game, he is terrible at his job. 

 

Hey fans of the South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team, you should by now know all about Reptar (#FearTheFish, right?) so check out the video:

Here is video of the LOHD Gamecocks blog crew on WACH Fox this moring giving their NCAA College World Series analysis and talking South Carolina Baseball. Please check out the first video and check this one out too after you read our predictions:

Special thanks to WACH Fox for having LOHD on the TV this morning. Hopefully, we did a good job and you like it as we will be on each week this fall talking football. Do pay WACH Fox a visit at www.midlandsconnect.com .


The LOHD empire is growing as we have TV apperances, a podcast, twitter, facebook so now it is time for a movie, right?   

The LOHD blogging crew made a guest apperance on Columbia's WACH FOX this morning to talk about the South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team as they march towards a third national championship and get a chance to talk about this Gamecocks blog site, check it out:

Thanks to WACH Fox for having us on. Visit them at www.midlandsconnect.com . Seems @MooseLOHD and @GeneralLOHD did a good job representing.  

It's another game day in the College World Series.  After Saturday night's win against Florida, the Gamecocks will take on Arkansas tonight.

Where can I watch?  The game will be on ESPN2 and should start about 9 pm Eastern.  It could be a little later if the Kent State - Florida game is a long one.  Orel Hershiser will be one of the announcers, so Gamecock fans might want to listen to Andy Demetra and Tommy Moody on the Gamecock Radio Network.

We've already played these guys, right?  Yes, USC traveled to Fayetteville for the regular season match up with the Razorbacks.  South Carolina won Friday and Sunday, but lost on Saturday.  All 3 games were extremely close, and this one should be as well.

What is Arkansas's strength?  Their pitching.  The Hogs have two very, very good starters in D.J. Baxendale and Ryan Stanek.  Baxendale pitched on Saturday, so Stanek gets the call tonight.  He is a hard throwing pitcher who can get into the mid to upper 90s.  Barrett Astin, who is a very good closer, will be available in relief.

Who will we pitch?  Colby Holmes will get the start.  He has had two dynamite starts in the NCAA tournament against Manhattan and Oklahoma.  He was injured when the Razorbacks and Gamecocks first met, so he will be a little new to some of the Arkansas hitters.

If Holmes doesn't last?  Matt Price could be available for about an inning or maybe two.  Tyler Webb could get a call, and Evan Beal would be a possibility as well.

So, what's next?  If South Carolina wins, they won't play again until Thursday night against whomever survives among Florida, Kent State and Arkansas.  If they lose, they will play the winner of the Florida - Kent State game on Wednesday night.

The South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Florida Gators, 7-3, in the first round of the College World Series, held at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska Saturday night.

The Gamecocks extended their NCAA record winning streak in the postseason to 22 straight games, including 12 in a row at the College World Series, in front of an announced attendance of 25,291.

It was just the start that USC needed as they are looking to defend their "back-to-back" national championships. To make it three times, much easier to get to the final round via the winners bracket.

It concerned most when UF got the 2-0 lead but the champs responded like champs do. It was a solid win in a big time game situation. No doubt UF is a good team but USC was a better team on Saturday night.

Here is some other thoughts on the game:

The Good
Gamecock starter Michael Roth (8-1) worked 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits and three runs, all earned, with three walks and three strikeouts. He threw 98 pitches, 54 for strikes. Roth became the fourth pitcher to win a game in three different College World Series.

Another "good" mark was the bases-loaded triple by designated hitter Erik Payne. That was a big time hit at the right moment.

The Bad
Freshman catcher Grayson Greiner, out since suffering a knee injury in practice prior to the NCAA Regional, came in as a pinch-hitter for Dante Rosenberg in the third inning and struck out. Not sure that was the best move but I trust Tanner.

The Ugly
Tanner English misjudged a shot right at him that led to two runs being scored. He is better than that and hopefully nothing like that in the future will be seen.


Next up....The Gamecocks (46-17) will return to action Monday night at 9 p.m. ET in a winner's bracket game against Arkansas (45-20).

South Carolina is returning to Omaha for the third year in a row.  They've traveled half way across the continent and they get to play someone two states away.  USC plays Florida in each team's first game in the college world series.

We've previously previewed the Gators here and and gave a postgame recap here.

Florida and South Carolina are two perennial powers in the SEC.  Over the last three seasons they have constantly found themselves competing with each other for championships.  In 2010 Florida came to Carolina Stadium for the last series of the season.  The winner of the series would be the SEC East champ and the SEC regular season champ.  Florida won the series 2 games to 1, and became SEC champs.

In 2011, the SEC race came down to a three way tie between South Carolina, Florida and Vanderbilt.  All 3 finished with 22-8 conference records, but South Carolina beat Florida 2 games to 1 in Gainesville, so they were the #1 seed in the SEC tournament and SEC Champs.  Later that season, South Carolina and Florida met in Omaha for a best of three series to determine the national champion.  South Carolina won 2 games and the national title.

In 2012, Florida came to Columbia for the second series of the year.  The Gamecocks won the first game, but they lost the next two.  Nonetheless on the final weekend of the season, South Carolina and Florida were both in the running for a SEC Championship and a SEC East crown.  South Carolina lost to LSU early on the last day to lose the title to the Bayou Bengals.  Florida lost their game to Auburn later that same day (on a play at the plate) to give the SEC East title to South Carolina.  Florida got some measure of revenge by knocking USC out of the SEC Tournament in Hoover.

This will be the 10th meeting between the two teams in two seasons.

The away team has been 6-3 over those 9 games.  South Carolina will be away Saturday night.

What can you expect:  You can expect an extremely competive game.  Many people think Florida's team is as talented as any in the country.  They've certainly seemed that way most of the season, but they haven't been invincible.

Pitching:  Michael Roth will start for the Gamecocks.  Against Florida during this latest stretch, this is how he's done:

Expect Ray Tanner to use any and all of the bullpen to try to win this first game.  If USC has a lead in the 7th or later, expect Matt Price to enter the game.

Florida will probably throw Hudson Randall, their ace. Brian Johnson.  Johnson has been the #2 starter for at least two years and has been relatively successful against the Gamecocks.  Of the 4 Gator starting pitchers (Randall, Whitson and Crawford being the others), Johnson is the only one who didn't pitch last weekend.  This is not a slight.  Florida coach O'Sullivan thinks Johnson gives his team the best chance to win.

The take away:  Like all of the last 27 NCAA tournament games USC has played, this game will come down to who gets the big hits and who can make the big pitches.  If Roth is on, and USC gets a few timely hits, you have to like the Gamecocks chances.

South Carolina won their super regional against Oklahoma and is on their way to Omaha for a third straight year.

Game 1:  USC resumed their normal rotation this weekend which meant ace Michael Roth was on the hill on Saturday night.  Roth did what we've all come accustomed to Roth doing: he was great.  He walked two and only struck out three, but he didn't allow a run and pitched deep into the 8th inning.

Oklahoma's starter didn't fare as well.  Jordan John worked a perfect first, but he ran into trouble in the second.  He issued a lead off walk to Adam Matthews.  Erik Payne followed with a single, and L.B. Dantzler followed with a double to score Matthews.  A wild pitch scored Payne, and Dantzler came home on Chase Vergason's sac fly.  When the inning was over, John's day was as well.