2011 College World Series: South Carolina Wins Thriller Over Florida, 2-1, In 11 Innings

Things looked bad to start the tenth inning for the Gators. South Carolina’s Jake Williams singled to center field to start the inning, followed by Robert Beary’s blooper to left. With men on first and second, and only one out, Florida removed right-handed pitcher Austin Maddox in favor of the lefty, Nick Maronde.

Maronde went right to work, somehow squirming his way out of the jam by striking out Evan Marizilli and inciting Scott Wingo to hit into a force-out.

South Carolina second baseman Scott Wingo helped reliever John Taylor get out of an incredibly messy bases-loaded jam with no outs in the bottom of the ninth in the College World Series, and the Gamecocks preserved a 1-1 tie as the game headed to extra innings.

Christian Walker struck out to lead off the ninth for South Carolina. Brady Thomas then singled, and Florida replaced pitcher Steven Rodriguez with Austin Maddox, who induced a double-play ball by Adrian Morales.

The South Carolina Gamecocks finally got to Hudson Randall in the eighth, tying their College World Series game against the Florida Gators at a score of 1-1.

Randall, who had been brilliant through seven, finally labored a bit in the eighth, walking leadoff batter Peter Mooney. Robert Beary moved Mooney to second with a bunt. Evan Marzilli then flew out to right-center, sending Mooney to third with two outs. Randall threw one too many offspeed pitches to second baseman to Scott Wingo, who grounded a ball up the middle to tie the game at one.

Hudson Randall continued a dominant outing through six innings in the Florida Gators’ College World Series matchup against South Carolina. The Gators lead, 1-0.

Randall struck out Scott Wingo to kick off the sixth inning, then got Jackie Bradley Jr. to ground out to second. Christian Walker grounded out to Nolan Fontana at shortstop, ending the half inning for Randall, who now has six strikeouts and only two hits and no walks in six innings.

The Florida Gators continued to hold a narrow 1-0 lead after five innings in their matchup against the South Carolina Gamecocks Monday night.

Florida’s Hudson Randall struck out Gamecocks shortstop Peter Mooney to kick off the fifth inning, then got catcher Robert Beary on a weak popup to first base. Randall then got outfielder Evan Marzilli with a high fastball for his fifth strikeout.

After four innings in the College World Series matchup between Florida and South Carolina, the Gators continue to lead, 1-0.

Florida pitcher Hudson Randall continued to roll against the Gamecocks in the fourth, inducing two groundouts before allowing a two-out single by Adrian Morales. Jake Williams then flied out to center to strand the runner.

The Florida Gators took a 1-0 lead after three innings of their game against the South Carolina Gamecocks Monday after a costly walk and wild pitch by South Carolina starter Forrest Koumas.

Florida pitcher Hudson Randall kicked off the third inning with one out each through the air and on the ground, then barely threw out the speedy Jackie Bradley Jr. on a weakly-hit ball toward third base. Randall has so far done a nice job against Gamecocks hitters, throwing strikes, changing speeds and demonstrating solid command of a couple of different breaking balls.

The second inning of Monday’s College World Series game between South Carolina and Florida began when Gators third baseman Cody Dent got gobbled up on a ball hit by South Carolina’s Adrian Morales. Florida dodged a bullet when the next batter hit a fly ball to deep right and Daniel Pigott nearly lost it in the sun, but he recovered just in time and made the catch. After that, Hudson Randall registered a flyout and a strikeout, stranding Morales, as Gamecocks hitters continued to struggle with Randall’s breaking stuff.

Forrest Koumas began the bottom of the inning with a strikeout of Florida catcher Mike Zunino on a nasty breaking ball of his own. He then induced a second out via a fly ball. Second baseman Josh Adams hit a foul ball that narrowly missed the foul pole in left, but Koumas struck him out looking.

The final of the College World Series is underway in Omaha, with the Florida Gators taking on the South Carolina Gamecocks. After one inning of action, there is no score.

Gators starter Hudson Randall struck out the first two Gamecocks batters (including Red Sox supplemental-round pick Jackie Bradley Jr.) on breaking balls. After that, first baseman Christian Walker hit a double down the right-field line, but Randall induced a grounder to strand Walker and end the inning.

You can watch Game 1 of the 2011 College World Series final best-of-three at 8 pm ET, either on ESPN or ESPN3.com. You can call it the CWS final, or you can call it the SEC East championship series, but either way you’re still set to enjoy God’s Conference beginning a dynasty in a sport it wasn’t aware until now that it cared about, other than outliers in Mississippi State and LSU.

As Alligator Army points out, Game 1 will see one of these teams lose for its first time in Omaha this year. All this undefeatedness has Garnet And Black Attack calling attention to the swag spreading all over Nebraska. Team Speed Kills felt like this matchup seemed inevitable all along, while SB Nation Atlanta is just happy to know a large portion of the country is displeased with the pairing.

When the South Carolina Gamecoks face the Florida Gators on Monday in the first game of the best-of-three College World Series championship, they will be attempting to become just the seventh baseball team in CWS history to successfully defend their title. They would also become just the second team since 1997 to accomplish the feat. That it’s South Carolina with a chance to do this, and not one of the more traditional college baseball powers, is particularly noteworthy.

As you may know, college baseball has been dominated by schools located in the hotbed states of California, Florida and Texas, or named LSU, for quite some time. In fact, Oregon State (2006-07) and South Carolina are the only schools since 1991 to have won the CWS which are neither named LSU nor play in one of those three states. Oregon State, in fact, was the first school that didn’t meet one of those criteria to ever repeat as champions.

Florida and South Carolina are set to meet in the championship series of the 2011 College World Series. The Gators advance to the final round after knocking out Vanderbilt, while the Gamecocks meet them after emerging victorious from an error-filled affair against Virginia. The championship will be broadcast on ESPN. The TV schedule of the final round is as follows:

Game 1 - Monday, June 27, 8 p.m.

Game 2 - Tuesday, June 28, 8 p.m.

Game 3 (if necessary) - Wednesday, June 29, 8 p.m.