South Carolina scored a landmark 20th consecutive NCAA Baseball Tournament game on Saturday night against a landmark opponent.
The Gamecocks took a 1-0 advantage in their NCAA Super-Regional with an impressive 5-0 victory over visiting Oklahoma, the last team to defeat South Carolina in an NCAA Tournament game.
Following the Gamecocks’ 4-3 loss to the Sooners in the 2010 College World Series, they went on to win the 2010 and 2011 national championships without losing a single game, and they may be headed for a three-peat based on Saturday night’s game.
South Carolina senior ace Michael Roth pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, scattering six hits and a pair of walks over that span while striking out three. Reliever Tyler Webb closed out the final 1 1/3 frames to get the save and preserve the shutout.
South Carolina Evan Marzilli and Christian Walker had two hits apiece to lead the Gamecocks’ timely eight-hit parade. Joey Pankake added a two-RBI double in the third inning that helped South Carolina jump out to an early 3-0 lead.
The Gamecocks added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh to cap the scoring but they were unneeded as Roth and Webb continued to baffle the Sooners’ batters.
The two teams play again at 7 p.m. Sunday and, if necessary, again at 7 p.m. on Monday.
