South Carolina ousts CWS top seed Arizona St.
South Carolina uses 8-run second inning to knock off No. 1 seed ASU
OMAHA, Neb. — Usually, Ray Tanner is cautioning his team about the perils of the huge inning.
This time, the South Carolina coach was celebrating one.Jackie Bradley and Adrian Morales homered during an eight-run second inning that propelled the Gamecocks to an 11-4 victory over No. 1 national seed Arizona State on Tuesday, knocking the Sun Devils out of the College World Series.”That second inning for us — eight runs — and eight hits is the most we have had in one inning the entire season,” Tanner said. “We do not score runs like that very often, but we had some big, huge at-bats in that inning and gave us an opportunity to get some great runs.”The Gamecocks were able to give starter Sam Dyson a wide comfort zone and hold off an Arizona State team that left 10 runners on base and always seemed on the verge of breaking out.Another Early Exit
Arizona State’s 0-2 finish in the College World Series added to the woes of the top dog in the tournament. A No. 1 overall seed hasn’t won the CWS since Miami in 1999.
“They kept fighting back,” Tanner said. “I state many times to our team that we will give up some runs, let’s not give up the huge inning. They tried to make it a huge inning a number of times, but we were able to get some pitches or a play to stay out of it. I knew you were going to have to get 27 hard outs, and that is what it ended up being.”The Gamecocks (49-16) play either Oklahoma or Clemson on Thursday in another elimination game. Those teams played a Bracket 2 winners’ game Tuesday night.The Sun Devils (52-10) lost consecutive games for the first time this season and went two-and-out at the CWS for only the third time in 22 appearances. The other 0-2 years were 1987 and 1993.With Arizona State gone, the 1999 Miami Hurricanes remain the only No. 1 national seed to have won the championship since the tournament expanded to 64 teams that same year.”When you are down eight runs, it gets to you and makes you think,” ASU right fielder Kole Calhoun said. “Our mindset was to chip away, not chase the scoreboard, but an eight-run deficit is pretty hard to overcome, especially against a team like South Carolina.”Dyson (6-5) granted two runs through seven innings, then was relieved by Matt Price after allowing two runs in the eighth.Price struggled at first, giving up two singles and hitting a batter to load the bases, but he caught Austin Barnes looking at strike three and then struck out Drew Maggi after running the count to 3-0.”Price was not feeling real well today, but he gutted it up,” Tanner said.Whit Merrifield completed a 3-for-5 game with his 13th homer to give the Gamecocks a seven-run lead.The eight-run second was Arizona State’s worst inning in 196 games, since giving up nine in a 14-5 loss to Arizona on May 25, 2007.All eight were charged to Merrill Kelly (10-3), who was pulled after Morales homered off the left-field foul pole.Kelly, the Tampa Bay Rays’ eighth-round draft pick, was tagged for 10 hits in 1 2/3 innings, the second straight disappointing performance by an ASU starting pitcher. Previously unbeaten ace Seth Blair walked four of the first 12 batters he faced and gave up five runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings in Monday’s 6-3 loss to Clemson.”I would not state he did not have it,” ASU coach Tim Esmay stated of Kelly. “They had a couple seeing-eye [hits] and then, boom, their huge players show up in huge games. Their guys took some good swings and completed off some at-bats. Merrill Kelly was pitching his tail off.”Five of South Carolina’s first six batters reached base in the second inning before Bradley launched a three-run shot into the bleachers in left center for his 13th homer, and Morales completed the barrage with a two-run homer, his ninth.The Gamecocks added two runs in the third when Mitchell Lambson hit a batter and walked another with the bases loaded.Bradley, who went 3 for 4 and extended his hitting streak to 18 games, matched his career high with four RBIs.ASU’s Riccio Torrez had his 26-game hitting streak end. He was hit by pitches twice, struck out twice and flied out.Dyson gave up four runs and eight hits in 7 1/3 innings. Price granted three hits in 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.The game was delayed seven minutes in the middle of the seventh inning after home-plate umpire David Savage left to be treated for heat-related symptoms. Second-base umpire Kelly Gonzales took over behind the plate.
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Submited at Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 at 6:00 am on Sports by madison
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