Even for a program like South Carolina, not every season ends in Omaha. The Gamecocks came up just short in Chapel Hill, falling 5-4 to North Carolina in the third and final game of the Super Regional series, ending a run of three consecutive trips to the College World Series.
With their backs against the wall, the Gamecocks showed why they’ve been one of college baseball’s most successful programs over the past three seasons, shutting out North Carolina for the first time in more than two years.
Redshirt senior has faced injury, bad play from teammates For Nolan Belcher, it was a familiar experience. Once again, the senior pitcher got little help in a start and wound up without the result he had hoped for, as the Gamecocks dropped a 6-5 decision to North Carolina on Saturday afternoon.
North Carolina may be the top-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament, but the Tar Heels were not South Carolina’s toughest opponent on Saturday afternoon. Instead, USC proved to be its own worst enemy.
Of their opponents, the Gamecocks may have their most complex relationship with the Tar Heels.
South Carolina’s final obstacle to a fourth consecutive trip to Omaha is, perhaps, the toughest opponent they will face all year. The North Carolina Tar Heels may also be the foe that has the most complex relationship with the Gamecocks. USC has played 25 different teams in 60 games this season, ranging from bitter rival Clemson, to SEC powers like LSU and Vanderbilt, to in-state squads like Wofford and Presbyterian.
South Carolina’s baseball team finds itself in a familiar situation this week. The Gamecocks are two victories away from advancing to the College World Series for a school-record fourth consecutive year.
New coach, new roster. Same expectations, same result. For the fourth consecutive year and the 11th time in 14 seasons, the South Carolina Gamecocks head into a weekend series needing just two wins to advance to the College World Series.
In the end, only Mother Nature could delay South Carolina’s march to the Super Regionals. The Gamecocks needed two days to knock off the Liberty Flames by a score of 6-4, thanks to a rain delay that halted Sunday night’s contest in the fifth inning and forced the game to be postponed until Monday afternoon.
In their regional opener on Friday night, the Gamecocks made things exciting. South Carolina allowed Saint Louis to erase a three-run deficit and tie the game in the eighth inning before pulling away. Facing a confident Liberty squad in the winners’ bracket, the Gamecocks wasted no time draining the suspense out of the contest.
South Carolina fought off a pesky Saint Louis team and pulled out a 7-3 victory Friday night at Carolina Stadium to move into the winner’s bracket avoid an elimination matchup with the Tigers. South Carolina’s bats jumped on Saint Louis early, as the Gamecocks scored in the first, second and fourth innings to open up a 3-0 lead.
The Gamecocks will play at home for yet another bid to travel to Omaha for the 2013 College World Series. The team, which finished second to Arizona for last year’s national championship, will face off against Saint Louis, which has been seeded fourth of the four teams which will play at Carolina Stadium.
Sophomore Thiago Pinheiro, the MVP of the men’s tennis team, was one of three USC players selected for the second team All-SEC.
USC’s men’s basketball team will be almost unrecognizable when it takes the court this fall.
Michael Roth serves as an example of what a college baseball career can do to develop a prospective Major Leaguer and the rapid path it can carve through the Minors.
After passionately voicing our criticisms of the new football ticketing system all year, we are relieved to hear that USC has switched back to the trusty old system that, although flawed, seemed to work better than the new one did.
Entering Wednesday’s doubleheader at Beckham Field, coach Beverly Smith and her South Carolina softball team knew that they still had an outside shot at an SEC tournament berth, but a loss could crush those aspirations in an instant.