South Carolina's winning streaks continue after defeating the Florida Gators, the No. 1 national seed in the NCAA Baseball Tournament, 7-3, on Saturday night. The Gamecocks have now won 22 consecutive postseason games and 12 straight College World Series contests.
South Carolina did nearly all of its damage in the fifth inning when it scored five runs. Florida starter Brian Johnson loaded the bases and then allowed an Erik Payne bases-clearing triple. L.B. Dantzler and Chase Vergason added a run each on a double and single later in the inning.
Florida scored three runs on South Carolina ace Michael Roth, accomplishing that on a Preston Tucker two-run double in the third inning and a Mike Zunino sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. Roth went 6.1 innings and gave up seven hits and walked three batters. Tyler Webb and Matt Price closed the game out, the latter striking out three batters in two innings.
The Gators allowed two runs in the top of the ninth when they got sloppy. Keenan Kish put Christian Walker on base after four balls, saw him move to second base on a sacrifice and then third on a wild pitch. Steven Rodriguez replaced Kish on the mound, but he threw a wild pitch and allowed Walker to score. A couple of errors and a single later, Florida allowed an unearned run to score, putting the team in a 7-3 hole.
South Carolina moves to the winner's bracket and will face Arkansas on Monday. Florida plays for its life in an elimination game against Kent St. on Monday.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver. For a complete bracket, visit NCAA.com.
