The Gamecocks have represented the SEC well just by reaching the finals. Congratulations on making it this far. I’m looking forward to what promises to be an exciting series.

Runners at the corners, two outs.

Bradley two-out bunt marks the first of three straight hits, the last a bloop RBI single.

UCLA error keeps the inning alive.

The combination of sound South Carolina strategy (the Bradley bunt), suspect UCLA defense (the error at second), and blind luck (the bloop single) produces a two-run USC lead after one inning.

ask for a better start

 is batting at a .324 clip in four College World Series games, having gone 45-for-139 at the plate with four home runs and seven doubles. The Bruins have posted a .410 on-base percentage in Omaha.

As a pitching staff, South Carolina has a 2.68 ERA in five MCWS games with 40 strikeouts and eight walks while holding opponents to a .202 batting average. The Gamecocks have held all five opponents in Omaha to four runs or less.

Jackie Bradley, Jr. extended his hit streak to 22 games tonight and is now 9-for-20 with nine RBIs and nine runs scored in the MCWS, the most RBIs and runs for any player in this series.

That foul ball call could have been missed easily.

. . . but it looks like it’s going to be harmless.

I’m sorry to say it, but his batting average is not high enough to be making this many errors.

Fortunately, it turned out not to matter much. But if Cooper is going to go as long as we need him to, we’re going to have to turn those double plays.

The Gamecocks are 25-2 when scoring in the first inning and 35-6 on the year when scoring first.

I know it’s just 3-0 right now, but South Carolina could take command here.

Wow. They appear to be fairly nervous here.

He looked kinda safe on that last replay

He clearly looked in to me.

Maybe I just have a short memory, but this is about as wild a start to a College World Series finals as I can recall.

That’s encouraging.

is what I would say to you if you told me that Gamecocks would be up 5-0 in 3rd

There’s no kicking in baseball!

. . . of University of South Carolina athletics, it has to be said:

This is not a well-played game of baseball.

Hopefully our pitching staff can hold down the lead and we can get into UCLA’s bullpen soon.

has thrown 85 pitches through 4 innings

on how many times Gamecock pitchers have pushed the count to 0-2 on batters during the CWS. It has to be a ton.

This one’s over.

“Cole has pitched so much better than the score would indicate. It’s a shame, really.”

and

“Cole has allowed a career high hits tonight.”

Come one guys, really?

the rule

If currently pitching a no hitter - don’t talk about the no-hitter

Don’t jinx it

UCLA did get a hit there

dang it, I blame ESPN not Cooper

Gets his 8th strike out to end the inning. 6-0 USC after 6 innings of play.

. . . but there’s nothing the least bit random about what Cooper’s doing out there tonight. He definitely has his best stuff this evening. The Bruins have looked bad on some of those strikeouts.

own a 40-1 record when entering the top of the 7th inning with a lead

still w/ just one hit, Gerrit Cole at 117 pitches for Bruins

Onward to the bottom of the 7th.

Calm, cool, and collected.

Gamecocks head into the 8th inning with a 6-0 lead.

Let’s see what this bearded gentleman has for us.

Only 2 of our 11 hits were “real” hits? Surely you must be joking.

Good coaching move. If he gets thrown out, we get the top of the order up next inning. After a few jitters, we’re playing smart, fundamental baseball now.

Thank you very much, ESPN talking heads.

No lead is safe with metal bats. I know Cooper has to be hoping this game wwould just end, already, but we need the runs.

Is it all right to say it’s over now?

UCLA has only hit 3 balls out of the infield….1 hitter kids….this is a pitching clinic

Walker with a noisy fly to left center.

I hope the DBacks agree with me that they got a steal with Gamecocks Blake Cooper with the 361st pick of MLB draft

are 48-1 when owning a lead entering the top of the 9th inning

Griggs is a mop-up guy in just to use up his arm. He’s only pitched 7.1 innings and has a 7.36 ERA.

Give me a break. These guys are terrible.

Let’s go Coop!

But I do love saving the bullpen.

Come one. This is bush league!

Hopefully with better results.

Wingo and Merrifield really need to work their kink out - whatever it is.

Cooper has made in 9 days at CWS

and he just left the game. That was most likely the last time we will see him pitch as a gamecock

Let’s go. 1 more out.

Piece of cake.

. . . now don’t get complacent.

Two years ago, an SEC East school started out 1-0 in the College World Series finals against a team from California.

The next two games went badly, and everything in every sport has sucked utterly ever since.

Well, have a good night, all! :)

Blake Cooper for the GREAT SEASON and GREAT CAREER as a gamecock, been a blast watchin ya! Now lets go out and win one more and bring home that gorgeous trophy!

Now let’s rest up and prepare for tomorrow night!!

And to think I wanted to go to bed early tonight…

Great win for the Gamecocks. Cooper cemented his place in the Gamecock mythos - as if there was any doubt. 1 more game to go.

Hopefully the team can pull together to finish this thing off tomorrow. A lot of baseball elft to play. Go ’Cocks! This teams deserves to go out as winners. I hope they can do it as much for themselves as for the rest of Gamecock nation. See you all tomorrow.

Let me tell you: it feels damn good to think about how well we played while ESPN badmouthed our team. If had had to hear them say something about how they never thought Cooper was capable of pitching that well, about how surprised they were to see Cooper outpitch Cole, or about how many more championships UCLA has than us, I might have vomited. The stuff about Cooper was particularly revolting, as it demonstrated their journalistic incoherence. Cooper, of course, has outpitched Cole all year, which is why he had a better record and ERA.

One more win, folks. One more win and we’re in the record books. Go ’Cocks.

Thank you Blake Cooper for a fantastic game, season, and career. You saved your best for last and will be remembered as one of the greatest Gamecocks.