Box Score

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South Carolina completed a treacherous journey Saturday night that saw the Gamecocks play four straight games in the College World Series with no margin for error.

They won all four, the latest coming in a hard-fought, 4-3 battle with in-state rival Clemson in the Bracket Two championship game before 12,593 fans at Rosenblatt Stadium. Their reward? A spot opposite Bracket One champion UCLA in the best-of-three championship shootout that begins Monday.

“It’s nice to get to Omaha, but we just didn’t want to get here,’’ South Carolina outfielder Whit Merrifield said. “We wanted to do something here, and now we’re in a position to do something South Carolina has never accomplished before.

“We’re going to have to play well to beat UCLA, but we’re looking forward to hopefully scrapping together two more wins.’’

South Carolina (52-16) was forced to claw its way through the losers bracket after a 4-3 loss to Oklahoma a week ago. The Gamecocks rebounded with a win over Arizona State but found themselves on the brink of elimination in a Thursday rematch with the Sooners.

“A couple of days ago, we were down to our last strike and planning a trip back home,’’ South Carolina coach Ray Tanner said. “A couple of days later, we’re getting ready to play for a national championship. That’s incredible.’’

The Gamecocks were down to their last strike against Oklahoma before Jackie Bradley Jr. singled to tie the game. They went on to win 3-2 in 12 innings, then rode the dominating pitching of Michael Roth to a 5-1 win over Clemson on Friday’s bracket championship game.

That forced Bracket Two into a winner-take-all scenario Saturday, and it was South Carolina that walked away with a ticket to the championship series by showing just a tad more grit and determination than the 45-25 Tigers.

“We played well tonight,’’ Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. “We couldn’t quite string together a big inning, but we battled all night long. It was a heck of a game. Both teams are very good baseball teams.’’

The decisive inning proved to be the seventh. Clemson used a throwing error to tie the game at 2 and had runners at first and third with two outs before reliever Matt Price struck out Kyle Parker to end the threat.

“He’s a great hitter, 20 bombs,’’ Price said. “I just had to locate my pitches, and he chased a couple that were in.’’

The Gamecocks regained the lead in their half of the seventh after Leggett, with Evan Marzilli on third and two outs, decided to intentionally walk Jackie Bradley Jr., South Carolina’s best hitter, to face Christian Walker.

Walker’s three-run homer in the second game of the super regional clinched the Gamecocks’ spot in Omaha. He had homered early in the tournament and again in the fourth inning Saturday to give his team a 2-1 lead.

Facing Clemson reliever Alex Frederick, Walker worked the count to 3-1 before lashing a single to center to score Marzilli and send Bradley to second.

“They walked Jackie before me, so I knew I something to prove,’’ Walker said. “In that situation, I wanted to show them I can get the job done.’’

Adrian Morales followed with a single to score Bradley to make it 4-2. Clemson got a run back in the eighth, but Price retired five straight hitters before Mike Freeman singled with two outs in the ninth.

Walker, the Gamecocks’ first baseman, then came up with a slick play on Jeff Schaus’ hot shot to end the game.

Price pitched the final 2.1 innings after throwing three shutout innings in the Thursday win over Oklahoma. The Gamecocks got a solid start from Sam Dyson, who gave up five hits and two runs in 6.2 innings while pitching on three days’ rest.

“Sam was terrific,’’ Tanner said. “He battled his heart out. And Matt gave us everything that he had left in the tank.’’

Clemson also got a solid start from Casey Harman, also pitching on short rest. Harman went 6.1, allowing seven hits and three runs in taking the loss that dropped him to 8-4.

“The numbers were almost identical,’’ Tanner said. “We left about the same number they did on base. Had about the same number of hits. Guys competing all over the place.’’

But in the end, it’s South Carolina that gets a chance to play for a title, just like in 2002. Clemson also won its first two games that year only to be denied with it lost two straight to the Gamecocks. South Carolina then lost the title game to Texas.

“I don’t think it matters who we lose to to end our season,’’ Clemson second baseman Mike Freeman said. “They’re a really good team. They’re going to represent our region, represent our state well.

“All we can do now is cheer for them and hope they bring it back for South Carolina. The fact that there were two South Carolina teams in the College World Series speaks about the quality of our baseball.’’

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

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