The USC Gamecocks Baseball (48-15) team knows now who they will meet in their first game in Omaha for the College World Series. That opponent will be the Oklahoma Sooners (50-16) out of the Big 12.
The Sooners looked impressive in their win last night versus the Virginia Cavilers as they beat them soundly by the score of 11-0 to win the third game of the best of three. Know this, it will not be easy for Carolina against OU but I’d rather have them than Virginia in the CWS first game.
Let’s look at this match-up….
Sooners come in hot so to speak but so does USC. South Carolina is one of three teams (USC, Florida and Arizona State) that have swept their way to the College World Series with a perfect 5-0 record.
South Carolina and Oklahoma will meet in game three of the College World Series which is scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 p.m. EST.
Here is a quick snapshot of the two teams as of yesterday (before the OU win vs. UVa) –
South Carolina
Record: 48-15
Last 10/streak: 6-4, Won 5
Top hitters: CF Jackie Bradley Jr. (.371, 11 2B, 11 HR, 51 RBIs); OF Whit Merrifield (.327, 11 2B 12 HR, 38 RBIs); C Brady Thomas (.322, 12 2B, 8 HR, 28 RBIs); LF Adam Matthews (.318, 11 2B, 7 HR, 31 RBIs)
Team hitting: .302, 124 2B, 90 HR, 431 RBIs, 270 BB, 84 HBP, 389K
Top starting pitchers: RHP Blake Cooper (2.81 ERA, 12-1, 118.1IP, 98H, 105K, OBA .227); RHP Sam Dyson (4.35 ERA, 5-5, 89IP, 85H, 93K, OBA .250)
Top relief pitchers: LHP Michael Roth (1.50 ERA, 1-1, 3 saves, 33 APP, 24 IP, 18H, 26K, OBA .214); RHP Jose Mata (2.34 ERA, 7-1, 42.1IP, 33H, 36K, OBA .214); RHP Matt Price (2.54 ERA, 3-1, 10 saves, 46IP, 30H, 68K, OBA .182)
Team pitching: 3.61 ERA, 566.2 IP, 482 H, 208 BB, 568 K, OBA .230
Oklahoma
Record: 49-16
Last 10/streak: 8-2, Won 2
Top hitters: Garrett Buechele (.376, 15 2B 16 HR, 62 RBIs); Danny Black (.337, 10 2B, 5 HR, 48 RBI); Chris Ellison (.331, 10 2B, 5 HR, 48 RBI); Caleb Bushyhead (.328, 16 2B, 5 HR, 36 RBI)
Team hitting: .313, 130 2B, 96 HR, 466 RBIs, 259 BB, 86 HBP, 497 K
Top starting pitchers: RHP Michael Rocha (3.57 ERA, 7-2, 68 IP, 62 H, 53 K, OBA .238); RHP Zach Neal (4.65 ERA, 8-3, 98.2 IP, 107 H, 88 K, OBA .280); RHP Bobby Shore (4.23 ERA, 9-4, 83 IP, 84 H, 72 K, OBA .261)
Top relief pitchers: RHP Ryan Duke (3.51 ERA, 3-1, 11 saves, 22 APP, 33.1 IP, 29 H, 37 K, OBA .236); RHP Jason Chowning (2.11 ERA, 1-0, 13 app, 21.1 IP, 16 H, 30 K, OBA .205); LHP Anthony Collazo (3.92 ERA, 1-0, 24 app, 20.2 IP, 18 H, 27 K, OBA .236)
Team pitching: 3.85 ERA, 570.2 IP, 565 H, 205 BB, 557 K, OBA .258
Our pal over at Garnet and Black Attack also as a “stat pack” on Pitching and Batting that looks at the foes the Gamecocks are matched up with in their CWS bracket.
Also did you know that USC and Clemson are on the same side of the CWS bracket. Shades of 2002? Could see a USC and CU match-up.
USC plays Oklahoma at 2:00 Sunday. Clemson plays Arizona State at 7:00 that same night. If they both win they will play each other Tuesday night. If they both lose they will meet Tuesday afternoon. Even if one wins and one loses they could end up meeting at some point in the bracket.
This will be quite the CWS and stay tuned…..
