OMAHA, Neb. | It will be an all-Southeastern Conference battle to decide this year’s College World Series champion.
South Carolina advanced to the final by defeating Virginia 3-2 in 13 innings Friday night. They will meet Florida, which sent Vanderbilt home by winning 6-4. The best-of-three championship series starts Monday.
Adam Matthews scored the winning run for South Carolina, 53-14, in the bottom of the 13th inning after Virginia reliever Cody Winiarski botched two throws after fielding bunts.
South Carolina closer Matt Price worked out of bases-loaded situations in the 10th, 12th and 13th innings.
Brady Thomas singled leading off the 13th against Winiarski. Matthews came in to run and advanced when Winiarski pivoted and threw wildly trying to get him at second on Peter Mooney’s bunt. Robert Beary followed with another bunt. Winiarski tried to throw out Matthews at third, but he threw the ball away, allowing the winning run to score.
Floria, meanwhile, eliminated Vanderbilt from its first-ever appearance at the College World Series.
Vanderbilt got off to a strong start as Aaron Westlake, after going one for 18 for the tournament, hit his team-leading 18th homer of the season.
Florida, 53-17, quickly responded. Alex Panteliodis limited Vanderbilt, 54-12, to three hits in six innings before five relievers squandered all of his 4-1 lead.
By the seventh, however, Vanderbilt ensured that Florida would not get an easy trip to the championship. Florida’s first reliever, Tommy Toledo, faced five batters, getting pulled after Connor Harrell’s two-out single made it 4-2. Nick Maronde walked the bases full, then walked Kemp to make it a one-run game in the eighth.
Steven Rodriguez, who held Vandy hitless in 4 1/3 innings of relief earlier in the week, left after giving up back-to-back singles.
Despite a shaky bullpen, Daniel Pigott singled and Cody Dent and Nolan Fontana reached on back-to-back bunts in the eighth before Preston Tucker drove a ball into deep left field. The Gators added another run when Mark Lamm’s breaking ball in the dirt bounced away from Curt Casali, allowing Dent to come home.
Maddox, the closer, earned the win, which was Florida’s fifth in six meetings this season against its Southeastern Conference rival.
"We’re happy we’re in the finals," Tucker said, "but we’re going to be just as disappointed as if we went 0-2 if we lose the series. So we’ll stay focused, bear down at practice and do the same thing we did today – executing.”
