OMAHA, NE (TheBig SPpur) - South Carolina didn't figure to meet Kent State
under these circumstances. The Golden Flashes put out College World
Series favorites Florida on Monday afternoon and will try to knock off
their third Southeastern Conference team of the tournament tonight when
they meet the Gamecocks at 8 p.m.
The
Gators, the No. 1 national seed, were supposed to win the elimination
game but Kent State was able to hang on to a 5-4 victory. The Golden
Flashes eliminated Kentucky in the Gary Regional to dispatch their first
SEC foe. Then it was the Gators.
Next up is South Carolina, the two-time defending national
champions. Eight SEC teams made the NCAA Tournament this year and KSU
would have to go through four of them to make it to the championship
series.
"They can swing it a little bit," South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner said. "They're a good team and have been for a while. They'll be ready to go and it will be a tremendous challenge for us."
Tanner will give the ball to freshman Jordan Montgomery
tonight for his first College World Series appearance. He pitched 6.2
innings of two-run baseball against Clemson in the Regional and did not
pitch in the Super Regional.
Montgomery has played a key role this season for the Gamecocks
going 5-1 with a 4.05 ERA in 66.2 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting
.259 against him this season.
The southpaw is trying to look at this as just another start,
despite the fact that it's undoubtedly his biggest start of his young
career. He'll face a Kent State club that is hitting. 246 in the College
World Series this year, which is good for third out of eight teams.
"They're a good team," Montgomery said. "We can't overlook them. We have to play our best baseball."
Recapping yesterday's practice
Tanner
debated, but he decided to take his team back out to the practice
field. It was atypical Tanner thinking about not practicing but after
Monday's tough 2-1 loss to Arkansas, he thought his team may need a
mental health day. The Gamecocks had a short practice with just a short
round of bunting and then batting practice before hopping on the bus to
head back to the hotel.
The bus ride back to the hotel after the game was too quiet for
Tanner, who has gone from being overly professional when it comes to
on-field and off-field antics to wanting to hear a little bit of rabble
in the dugout.
"They didn't take that loss real well," Tanner said. "It was a
little too quiet for me. This is a chirpy group. Let it go. I'll stay up
for everybody. These guys have done a heck of a job. We'd like to have a
couple of days off and be on the winning side, but it didn't happen.
Now we have to regroup."
Regrouping is what Tuesday was all about for the Gamecocks. The
team went by the children's hospital in the morning to visit cancer
patients. The team signed autographs, gave away a few baseballs and a
few hugs, too. Afterwards, the team was back to business at Creighton
University.
"Nobody is really sweating the loss too much," Walker said.
"Coach Tanner really forced us to flush it last night and not really
think about it. It's really the only thing you can do in this situation.
We're coming out today with a clean head and just play the game like
we've been playing."
On the field, UCLA and Florida State met in a battle of national
seeds in an elimination game at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. The No. 2
national seed, the Bruins, were eliminated at the hands of the
three-seeded Seminoles 4-1 on Tuesday night. FSU got out to a 4-0 lead
scoring a pair of runs on walks in the first inning and another pair in
the fourth inning and coasted to an easy victory. Florida State will now
have to beat Arizona twice to advance to the national championship
series.
Behind enemy lines
Kent State will counter
Montgomery with right-hander Tyler Skulina, who is tied for the team
lead with 11 wins. He's allowed 91 hits and has 97 strikeouts in 101.2
innings pitched this season.
A 6-foot-6 sophomore, Skulina was on the mound when his team beat
Kentucky in the Gary Regional. He tossed 7.0 innings and allowed two
earned runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out five in his
89-pitch outing. He was the team's No. 3 starting pitcher for most of
the season.
Skulina was 7-0 against conference competition this season and
was a second-team All-MAC selection. A Virginia transfer, Skulina went
5.2 innings and struck out four at Oregon in his last start in the
winner-take-all game three of the 2012 NCAA Eugene Super Regional.
Kent State is now 4-3 all-time vs. Southeastern Conference
opponents in NCAA Tournament action – including two wins over then-No.
13 Kentucky in the 2012 NCAA Gary Regional. The Golden Flashes are 7-3
against ranked opponents in 2012.
The game can be seen live on ESPN.
Copyright 2012 WIS. All rights reserved.
Jordan Montgomery (Source: TheBigSpur)
