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.

Gamecocks are Omaha Bound. The Champs are Back. 5-1 win over Oklahoma in Game 2.

We're in a rain delay.  After playing 5 innings in the rain last night, South Carolina's second game against Oklahoma was stopped for … rain.  An hour later the game was restarted, a half inning was played and the game was again halted for rain.  The hour delay was wholly unnecessary, and was terrible mismanagement by the NCAA.  During the rain delay, the actual amount and intensity of precipitation declined, and the game could have easily continued.  In a statement released after the game the NCAA tried to scapegoat the national weather service.

What now?  The game is scheduled to be resumed at 4:05 pm, but looking at the radar and forecasts that could change one way or another.  If I hear anything, I'll tweet it here, and Flounder is usually up to the minute as well, here.

Who has the advantage?  It's tough to tell, probably nobody.  Both teams had pitchers going well, but Holmes's pitch count was about 18 pitches lower, and he could have probably gone deeper.  On the other hand, the Sooners are facing elimination, and they might have left Gray out there longer than usual.

Sometimes variances favor the underdog.  An underdog is likely to lose because all other things being equal, they aren't as good as the favorite.  A variance, like an extended rain delay, changes all things being equal.

Other times variances favor the favorite.  A rain delay like this can tax the depth of an underdog's pitching staff and team in general.  Which one is right?  We'll know tonight.

Who is going to pitch?  For South Carolina Colby Holmes is finished.  He pitched well, too.  Evan Beal, Tyler Webb and Nolan Belcher are all possibilities.  If healthy, I think Forrest Koumas would be a good idea, but we'll see later.

For Oklahoma, I'm not as sure.  Gray is definitely done.  We could see Saturday's starter Jordan John try to throw a bit, or they could go straight to the bullpen, which likely means Steven Okert, the closer.

If any fans can make it to the 4 pm re-start and recreate a home field advantage that'd be to USC's great benefit.

If South Carolina loses the 4 pm game, the deciding game will happen at 7, weather permitting.

The South Carolina Gamecocks showed again why they are the two-time defending national champions in baseball. They wasted no time in striking first blood against the Oklahoma Sooners with a early three run inning that lead to a eventual 5-0 win for USC in the super regional series Saturday night.

A lot is owed, in many ways, to South Carolina ace Michael Roth for pitching yet-another gem of a game. The win is the 20th straight NCAA tournament game won by USC. Over the last three seasons, USC is 25-1 in NCAA play.

South Carolina (44-17) needs to defeat the Sooners (42-24) once more to reach its third consecutive College World Series.

Here some thoughts related to the game:

The South Carolina Gamecocks play host to the Oklahoma Sooners in NCAA Super Regional play beginning today. The first team to win two-out-of-three goes to the college world series.

The last time these two teams matched up the Gamecocks won and got the CWS ring. So you know the taste of revenge is in the Sooners mouth. This series should be hard-fought and worth watching (or attending) as both teams are similar. Strong pitching, timely hitting and good defense is the formula success.

Here are five things to know about OU:

1. 5 is key. The Sooners are 38-9 on the season when holding opponents to five runs or less and 4-14 when the opposition scores six or more. So know this USC. OU has also limited the opposition to five or less runs in 38 of the last 45 games and hold a 30-15 record in that span.

2.The Sooners are 22-5 when they hit a home run in a game this year and 5-1 with multiple longballs.  Gamecocks pitching must keep the ball down in the zone.

3. The Sooners are 14-11 in one-run games in 2012 after going 4-9 a season ago. This means they play tight and rise to the occasion.

4. The Sooners are 21-6 when collecting 10 or more hits in a game. Don't think this will be a issue for USC.

5. USC is 2-1 all-time vs. OU. Just flash the ring to remind them.

Make sure you read our previews of the OU pitching and the OU hitters.

The winner of the Columbia Super Regional will face the winner of the Gainesville Super Regional between Florida and N.C. State in the College World Series held June 15-26.

Come on Gamecocks!

Here is a preview of the super regionals that SEC schools are in....