Tagged: Florida Gators

Gamecocks: Back-to-Back Champs!!!

In the second matchup between the Gameocks and Gators, South Carolina sent their trusty starter, Michael Roth to the hill to face off against Karsten Whitson. Flordia gets two on in the first, but leaves them on base. In the bottom of the inning, leadoff man Scott Wingo is hit by a pitch. Jackie Bradley, Jr. strikes out and Chrisitan Walker grounds into a double play to end the inning.

Peter Mooney leads of the third with a double. Mooney and Marzilli are on the corners when Wingo hits a sacrifice fly and scores Mooney. Bradley gets walked and Walker gets a RBI when Nolan Fontana can’t field his hit. Brady Thomas joins the RBI parade and beats out the throw to first. Adrian Morales hits the ball to the pitcher for the last out.

Gators catcher Mike Zunino gets them on the scoreboard with a solo home run in the fourth. In the next inning, the Gamecocks turn their ninth double play of the College World Series. In the bottom of the fifth, Wingo, Walker and Thomas are on base when Morales is walked. Whitson is replaced by Tommy Toledo. Toledo strikes out  Jake Williams  to escape the inning.  Whitson lasted 4 2/3 innings and had four strikeouts. He gave up two walks, four hits and one earned run.

Mooney homered in the sixth. Robert Beary flies out. Toledo is replaced by Brian Johnson. Marzilli hits a double. Wingo flies out to center and Bradley is fanned with no more damage done. John Taylor relieves Roth in the seventh after Tucker advances Zunino. In 7 2/3 innings of work, Roth gave up five hits, two walks, two earned runs while striking out six Gators. After it is announced that Tyler Thompson will pinch hit for Pigott, Matt Price is brought in to face him. Price fans Thompson.

Beary singles to start off the bottom of the eighth. Marzilli lays down a sacrifice bunt. Beary advances on a wild pitch to Wingo. Wingo hits a single, scoring Beary. Bradley bounces one back to Steven Rodriguez, who boots the ball and still throws out Bradley. However, this allows Wingo to advance. Walker is intentionally walked and Thomas is replaced by Adam Matthews at the plate. Greg Larson is brought in to face Matthews. Matthews is out at first to end the inning.

With the Gators down to their final three outs, Johnson flies to center. Jeff Moyer replaces Ramjit at the plate and doesn’t get on base. Ben McMahan flies out to Bradley and the Gamecocks win by a final of 5-2.

Price earns his 20th save of the season. Scott Wingo is named Most Outstanding Player. Michael Roth has the second lowest ERA (1.17) in College World Series history.

The Gamecocks are the first undefeated tournament team since Miami in 2001. They also have the distinction of being the last champions crowned at Rosenblatt and the first champions to christen TD Ameritrade Park.

Enjoy “Wingo and His Yard Cocks” by pdmusic.

Gamecocks battle Gators in 11

Scott Wingo uses the term “battle” a lot when describing how his Gamecock teammates play. The term definitely fit in game 1 of the finals. “Torture”, the word the 2010 MLB World Series San Francisco Giants use to describe themselves, also seems to fit. First baseman, Christian Walker, was a late addition to the lineup, as he played with a BROKEN hambate bone (the same injury SF Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval had surgery on earlier this season). Walker doubled in his first at bat. Unfortunately, he was left stranded.

Forrest Koumas (6-1) got the start for the Gamecocks. It was his first outing in 20 games. Gator Tyler Thompson scored on a wild pitch in the third inning. The game was pretty quiet for a few innings. Tyler Webb replaced Koumas in the 6th. Koumas pitched 5 2/3 innings and only gave up one earned run and three hits. He struck out four and walked one.

The eight inning is where it started to get interesting. Gamecocks catcher, Robert Beary successfully bunted Peter Mooney to second. Mooney makes it to third on a deep flyball with two outs. Wingo singled up the middle and scored Beary. Steven Rodriguez replaced Gator starter Hudson Randall after giving up the tying run. Rodriguez promplty fanned Jackie Bradley, Jr. Randall’s line: 7.2 IP, 6 K, 3 H, 1 ER and 1 BB.

In the top of the ninth, Austin Maddox replaces Rodriguez and gets a double play. In the second half of the inning,Florida has runners on first and third with no outs. Josh Adams is intentionally walked. Tyler Thompson reaches first base on a fielder’s choice. The runner is out when Beary fields a ball by Wingo. Daniel Pigott hits the ball at Wingo who throws out runner at home and Beary then throws Pigott out at first to end the inning.

Jake Williams & Beary get on base in the tenth. Nick Maronde then replaces Maddox with one out. Wingo hit the ball at Adams to end the inning. John Taylor replaced Webb. Cody Dent got a single. Fontana gets Dent to second, but is thrown out at first. Smith flies out to left field. Preston Tucker is intentionally walked. Mike Zunino hits the ball at Williams who guns Dent out at home.

Bradley leads off the 11th and hits a rocket right at Tucker, who quickly knocks it down. Walker follows with a single. During Matthews at bat, Walker steals second and Zunino makes a wild throw, allowing him to advance to third. Another wild throw is made by Smith and Walker comes home to take the lead for South Carolina. Matthews eventually walks. Morales pops up and Williams is fanned to end the inning.

Friday’s savior, Matt Price, comes in to try to earn a save (no pun intended). The first batter he faces, Johnson, singles on the first pitch. Paul Wilson comes in to pitch run. Adams lays down a bunt to get Wilson over. Thompson strikes outs and Pigott flies out to end the game.

The Gamecocks will send Michael Roth on three days rest in Tuesday’s game. If the Gamecocks win on Tuesday, they will be the 2011 College World Series champions. They would be the first team to win back-to-back titles since Oregon State accomplished the feat in 2006-2007.

Let’s battle!