South Carolina upends Florida in Omaha... again.
DAY TWO IN OMAHA.
The SEC took the main stage in Day Two and saw two of its members, Arkansas and South Carolina, forge ahead to the winner’s bracket game in Bracket Two. Florida was roughed up by their Omaha tormentors once again as the Gamecocks stormed from behind to take them down in the featured nightcap game, which ended at the uncomfortable hour of 11:24pm.
Very similar to Friday’s upstart Stony Brook team, the Golden Flashes of Kent State went meekly into the loser’s bracket with an unceremonious 8-1 drumming at the hands of Arkansas. Only two of the last 14 teams that have made their program debut at the College World Series have won their opener here in Omaha.
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GAME THREE.
When people used to ask Nolan Ryan what was the best pitch to throw, he’d come back with, “A strike.” Well that was the big problem for Kent State starter David Starn today. The dude gave up six hits in his 5.2 innings, but more egregious, he issued six walks and tossed just 51 strikes in his 102 pitches of work. The Razorbacks scored five runs in the first six innings as the outcome was never really in doubt.
To the contrary of that, Arkansas starter DJ Baxendale was locked in for most of his 6.1 inning stint, striking out five and holding the dangerous Flash bats to just three hits. The only real shot he gave up was Jimmy Rider’s no-doubter yard call in the 6th inning. The Hogs left just three frames open in picking up the win.
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LINESCORE:
Kent State – 000 001 000 – 1Â 4Â 0
Arkansas – 110 012 03x – 8 10Â 1
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PITCHING:
WP: DJ Baxendale, 8-5
LP: David Starn, 11-4
Save: Brandon Moore, 3
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TOP HITTERS.
KSU:
- Jimmy Rider, 1-for-4, HR
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Arkansas:
- Joe Serrano,
- Jake Wise, 2-for-3, HR
- Bo Bigham, 2-for-4, double
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CONDITIONS:
4:11pm start
79 degrees
Sunny, with intermittent clouds
Duration, 2:28
Attendance: 23,580
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KNEE-JERK REACTION.
I think we’re starting to see the Arkansas team all of us expected to see this year. They may have had some bumps and bruises along the way, but this was an impressive performance which saw their offense start to come around to match their wicked pitching arms. I’m pretty sure the Hogs won’t be scared in any matchups with Florida or South Carolina, who they went 3-3 against this season. On top of that, every one of those games were close too.
The Flashes now have the unenviable task of taking on an angry Florida team, chock-full of high-round draftees and oozing with talent from their pores. That’s a tall task for a MAC team on a stage like this. Aye.
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NOTES:
- Talk about an efficient offense, Arkansas only left five runners stranded on the basepaths. Kent State stranded four runners.
- Winning pitcher D.J. Baxendale made his school-record 19th start, but it was his first win in nearly a month, last getting a W vs. Tennessee on May 17th.
- Bo Bigham was on a big time cold streak, going just 2-for-25 before today’s 2-for-4 effort.
- Speaking of hot-hitting, Arkansas freshman Joe Serrano is now hitting .588 (10-for-17) in this post-season. His only other three-hit game this season also came in the NCAA tournament, vs. Sam Houston.
- Kent State starter David Starn hasn’t been his usual self this post-season, having now issued 13 walks in his last two starts and sporting a numbing 6.50 ERA in his last three starts.
- Hot Hogs: Arkansas’ 45 wins is the second-most for the program since the 1990 team won 47 games.
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GAME FOUR.
Five in five. That Gamecock magic came back once again as South Carolina scored five runs in the 5th inning, all the runs they would need to beat Florida tonight. The Garnet and Black have now won 22 straight NCAA tournament games, going back to the opening game of the 2010 College World Series.
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LINESCORE:
SoCaro – 000 050 002 – 7Â 12Â 0
Florida – 002 010 000 – 3 Â 8Â 3
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PITCHING.
WP: Michael Roth, 8-1
LP: Brian Johnson, 8-5
Save: Matt Price, 12
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TOP HITTERS.
South Carolina:
- Erik Payne, 1-for-4, 3RBI, triple
- Evan Marzilli, 2-for-5, 2doubles
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Florida:
- Preston Tucker, 2-for-4, 3RBI, double
- Justin Shafer, 2-for-4, double
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CONDITIONS:
8:10pm start
81 degrees
Partly cloudy, then under the lights
North Northeast winds at 3mph
Duration: 3-hours, 26-minutes
Attendance: 25,291
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KNEE-JERK REACTION:
Nothing shocking here. The Gamecocks play like champions in Omaha again. Don’t bet against ‘em, people.
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NOTES:
- The Gamecocks played clutch baseball as the game went on, going 4-for-4 with runner’s in scoring position in the five-run 5th inning. Prior to that the Cocks were 0-for-9.
- Preston Tucker’s two-run double in the 3rd inning gave him 258 career RBI, the most among all active Division I players.
- Michael Roth made his sixth career CWS start which is the 2nd-most in NCAA history. Only Miami assistant coach and former Hurricane J.D. Arteaga has started more games in Omaha, with seven.
- Roth became just the fourth pitcher in CWS history to win a game in three different years. The other pitchers to pull the trick were Carl Thomas of Arizona (1954-1956), Greg Widman of USC (1970-1972) and Allan Westfall of Miami (1994-1996).
- Reliever extraordinaire Matt Price extended his scoreless streak in Omaha to 14.2 innings, while also earning his 42nd career save which is 8th-best in NCAA history.
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THE DAY IN PICS.
Some of the best of today through the lens.
HogsWild. The Razorbacks sprint onto the field for today's first game.
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Jake Wise watches the crowd reaction to his home run as he rounds 2nd base.
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Check out this kid in the Banditos jersey catching Jake Wise's 2nd inning home run... and the dude doesn't even show any emotion about it. Like the li'l bastard KNEW he was gonna catch it. Ho hum.
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One of the few things that went wrong with Arkansas today. Hog 1st baseman Dominic Ficociello gets eaten up by this sharp grounder.
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Kent State may have lost by seven runs but the Golden Flashes turned four double plays in the game, including this pivot and throw from Derek Toadvine.
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Opposites attract?: Kent State coach Scott Stricklin gets his prime time with ESPN's Jenn Brown as both show some interesting body language.
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A fistfull of dirt: KSU's Evan Campbell slides back into 1st base early in the game.
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A small glimmer of hope: Kent State gets a flash of hope after Jimmy Rider gets congratulated from his solo home run.
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Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn (#2) was howling with pride after senior Bo Bigham (#12) broke his cold streak with a pair of hits in today's win.
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Okay, maybe he's a LITTLE biased: Joe Serrano (#10) signals the safe sign for Hog baserunner Derrick Bleeker on a play at the plate.
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Tebowing cameraman: Josh, the man I have tabbed "the hardest working man at ESPN" for about four or five years now, takes a break from lugging his 45-pound camera around in the 90-degree heat.
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I didn't know dogs were allowed in the new stadium?: This unidentified hound dog takes in the late stages of the Arkansas-Kent State game. Woof!
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ZZ Top in the front, Billy Ray Cyrus in the back. This Razorback fan is ready for any situation.
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It ain't funny!: One of the unwritten rules of Stitch-Head Nation is that you're never supposed to mix your teams. Here, a Coastal Carolina hat gets mixed in with a Missouri t-shirt for a volatile combination. Like mixing chlorine tablets and motor oil.
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A fish-eye lens view of the Big Tiddy during the Florida-South Carolina game tonight. Too much foul territory, right?
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Adam Matthews scores the 3rd run off of Erik Payne's 3-run triple, which put the Gamecocks ahead for good.
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ESPN's very affable Jessica Mendoza has a moment with Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan for the cameras.
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South Carolina coach Ray Tanner is surrounded by his body guards Rocco and Knuckles, warding off all who dare to approach.
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One of the best defensive plays of the Series: Florida shortstop Nolan Fontana goes on his canasta to make this backhanded stab at a ground ball, before popping up and throwing out Joey Pankake. Even ESPN color commentator Nomar Garciaparra had to be impressed with this web gem.
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... a half-inning later, Gamecock centerfielder Evan Marzilli laid out for this piece of defensive awesomeness. Well done there Holmes.
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After the crushing loss, Florida head coach Kevin O'Sullivan (it's hard to see but he's in the dark part of the dugout here) rallied his troops around him for a post-game pep talk.
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Okay, it’s getting near three bells. Time to put bald head to pillow.
More from the downtown stadium tomorrow.
G’night.
(4)
Doug says:
Great photos, Eric. The Coastal Carolina-Mizzou shot/caption is classic.
Leoguy says:
The foul territory is too, too much! However, as an architect, I can understand the designer’s wish to create a simple curved shape with the stands around home plate. On the other hand, wiser baseball heads should have resisted the architect’s urge.
Thanks for the wonderful photos, Eric!
Go Gophers says:
-Didn’t realize Greg Luzinski was a hog fan. Glad he’s gone back to his vintage White Sox beard and then some…not sure about the long hair in back though.
-Was hoping one of the “party crashers” would make a run in Omaha but it isn’t looking good for either one of them. Interesting stat about teams making their debut.
-I know the SEC is setting the bar for everyone else to try and match and kudos to that conference for doing such, but, I have to admit, I’m getting a little bored with their domination. South Carolina’s team is hard not to like though.
Tim says:
I didn’t hear, what was the reason O’Sullivan didn’t go with Hudson Randall as his starter in this first game?