The Gamecocks were shouting mad to get this game going tonight.

DAY EIGHT IN OMAHA

The showdown is now set. With South Carolina’s 3-2 win over Arkansas on Friday night at the new downtown stadium, we’re now set for the Gamecocks attempt at a three-peat. But their opponent standing in their way is a formidable one, the Arizona Wildcats. Heavily-armed, highly-offensive and well-rested, these desert denizens will be SoCar’s biggest test of the season. The best of three begins on Sunday night at 7pm Omaha time. This one will make history either way it goes.

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GAME THIRTEEN.

Like Godzilla rising from the sea, once again at the College World Series we see the Walk Monster emerge over the horizon and haunt a team into a loss. Arkansas played a pretty solid baseball game all the way around, but made the unfortunate error of issuing two bases loaded walks, one to tie the game and allowed Carolina to take the lead, handing the Garnet and Black a nip-and-tuck 3-2 win in the Bracket Two title round.

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LINESCORE:

Arkansas – 101 000 000 – 2  6  0

So. Carol – 000 020 10x -  3  5  0

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PITCHING:

WP: Matt Price, 5-4

LP: Colby Suggs, 7-1

Save: None

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TOP HITTERS:

Arkansas:

- Matt Reyolds, 1-for-3, 2RBI, SB

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South Carolina:

- Joey Pankake, 2-for-3, RBI, Walk

- Evan Marzilli, 0-for-1, 3Walks

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KNEE-JERK REACTION.

Again, nobody in the entire college baseball community can be all that surprised here. South Carolina does whatever it has to in order to get another W in Omaha; get out of bases-loaded, no-out jams, get a no-name to have the game of his life or get a couple of bases-loaded walks. It’s becoming a strange phenomenon no one can explain. If Robert Stack were still alive, he’d be featuring it on Unexplained Mysteries.

As I said on a Phoenix radio station today (and repeated it on an Oxford, Mississippi station an hour later), putting your money on anyone other than South Carolina is a sucker’s bet right now. These guys have that intangible known at “it”.

And tonight’s “it” was pretty impressive. Only five hits, the Cocks relied on pressure to get their runs, including coaxing those nine walks with a little help from Perry Costello’s floating strike zone. Huge. Just, huge.

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NOTES:

- With tonight’s win, South Carolina finishes the season with a 4-2 mark vs. Arkansas, having won two of three in Fayetteville back in early May and now two of three here in Omaha.

- The Gamecock reliever nonpareil, Matt Price, picked up his 5th career CWS win of his career. That sets the new standard for most career wins by a pitcher in the CWS.

- For his CWS career, Price has allowed just one run in 24.2 innings for a 0.36 career ERA, which ranks third all-time. He also now ranks second all-time with 12 career appearances and has an active streak of 18.2 innings of scoreless pitching.

- For the second game in a row Michael Roth, the All American Friday night starter, was given a chance to bat in the CWS, and for the second straight at-bat, he harmlessly bounced back to the pitcher for an easy out. Don’t worry though, the dude is still All-Universe on the mound.

- Despite not getting a win, D.J. Baxendale set an Arkansas single season record by making his 20th start of the year. On the down side of things, D.J. also allowed a career-high five walks in his 4.1 innings of work.

- Arkansas freshman Joe Serrano finished the NCAA tournament hitting .461, by going 12-for-26 in the Hogs’ 10 games. Prior to the NCAAs, Serrano had just 11 hits all season prior to the beginning of the Big Dance.

- The Arkansas bullpen had not allowed a run in its last 26.0 innings before walking in the winning run in the 7th inning tonight.

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PICS:

A few images from tonight’s game.

The Mendoza Line: ESPN sideline reporter Jessica Mendoza (the one wearing yellow here) has the attention of the Arkansas bench... not surprisingly.

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After getting on-base with an infield single, Hog leadoff man Tim Carver (18) gets high-fives for giving Arkansas its first score of the game.

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Like this 1st-and-3rd situation here, D.J. Baxendale found himself in trouble all day long, leading to his short 4.1 inning stint.

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Bo Bigham's day didn't get off to a ringing start either, with this 2nd inning ring-up from home plate umpire Perry Costello.

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"Can we tawk? Can we tawk? Oh mah gaw-wed!": Just like the L.A. Lakers had the well-coiffed Dyan Cannon at their games at the Great Western Forum, the Big Tiddy has these two Dyan Cannon wanna-bes sitting in the front row too.

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Got this shot of Michael Roth on the bench with a tube force-feeding his bad-assness into his pitching arm... and a menacing scowl thrown in for good measure. No wonder opposing hitters are batting something like .125 or so off this dude. Like Drago, he's a remorseless killing machine.

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Evan Marzilli and Tanner English both mis-play this single to right-center, having to give chase after coming up off the ground here.

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Tim Carver looks for the "safe" sign from 3rd base umpire Frank Sylvester after stealing 3rd base.

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Tanner English barely beats the tag on this 5th inning steal of 2nd base.

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... which eventually led to this safe call at home, beyond the out-stretched reach of Arkansas catcher Jake Wise, from a single by leadoff man Joey Pankake.

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Arkansas reliever Colby Suggs did NOT give up a hit in his 2.0 innings of work tonight. But, oh boy!... those three walks came back to haunt him as he picked up the loss tonight.

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His being a baseball magician aside, Matt Price was so impressive tonight he gave off two distinct shadows while on the mound. Awe-inspiring to say the least.

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So tomorrow (Saturday) will be an official “Off Day” for the CWS. Game One of the championship series will be Sunday night at 7pm.

Can’t wait to get there and see what happens.

G’night.