For the second straight week, Carolina overcame a Friday loss to go on to win the series. This week, our victim was the Alabama Crimson Tide. Friday night was a pitchers' duel, with Carolina losing 2-1. The loss was Gamecocks ace Michael Roth's third of the year. Roth remains fourth in the nation in ERA and also enjoyed selection to the national Academic All-America Team. Saturday night, the Gamecocks got better hitting, particularly enjoying strong performances from Christian Walker, Scott Wingo, and Peter Mooney. Forrest Koumas picked up the win, moving to 6-0. Sunday night saw Carolina pick up a tight, dramatic 3-2 win. Colby Holmes pitched well again, as did our relievers, with Matt Price doing his usual good work and getting us out of a jam in the eighth and then going three-up-three-down in the ninth.
The Sunday win earned Carolina a share of the SEC Title, along with Florida and Vanderbilt, as well as first seed in the SEC Tournament by virtue of a tiebreaker over the Gators and 'Dores. Several Gamecocks also picked up post-season accolades yesterday. Wingo, Roth, and Price were selected first-team All-SEC, Walker was second-team, and Koumas was Freshman All-SEC. Walker, Wingo, and Jackie Bradley, Jr., were each selected to the conference's All-Defensive Team. Roth remains in the running for national Pitcher of the Year Awards, as well.
The win also nabbed Carolina a top national ranking in all the major polls. We'll carry that ranking into the SEC Tournament, which begins tomorrow. Carolina opens against the Auburn Tigers, who will be looking to avenge the sweep we dealt them a few weeks back. (Yes, it feels nice saying that Auburn owes us one, for a change.) The schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, May 25
Game 1 10:30 a.m. #7 Alabama vs. #2 Arkansas [CSS]
Game 2 TBA #6 Mississippi State vs. #3 Florida [CSS]
Game 3 5:30 p.m. #8 Auburn vs. #1 South Carolina (CSS)
Game 4 TBA #5 Georgia vs. #4 Vanderbilt (CSS)
Thursday, May 26
Game 5 10:30 a.m. Loser G1 vs. Loser G2 (SPSO)
Game 6 TBA Loser G3 vs. Loser G4 (SPSO)
Game 7 5:30 p.m. Winner G1 vs. Winner G2 (SPSO)
Game 8 TBA Winner G3 vs. Winner G4 (SPSO)
Friday, May 27
Game 9 4 p.m. Winner G5 vs. Loser G7 (CSS)
Game 10 TBA Winner G6 vs. Loser G8 [CSS)
Saturday, May 28
Game 11 10:30 a.m. Winner G8 vs. Winner G9 (SPSO)
Game 12 TBA Winner G7 vs. Winner G10 (SPSO)
Game 13* 6 p.m. Winner G11 vs. Loser G11 (CSS)
Game 14* TBA Winner G12 vs. Loser G12 (CSS)
Sunday, May 29
Game 15* 2 p.m. Winner G13 vs. Winner G14 (ESPN2)
The tourney begins tomorrow, and you can come by GABA and join the Open Thread when our game starts.