OMAHA, Neb. – Surreal might be the only way to adequately describe South Carolina’s incredible run through the College World Series.
Freshman starting pitcher Forrest Koumas put together a solid start and the bullpen pieced things together as the Gamecocks fought back from a 1-0 deficit for much of the game to earn a thrilling 2-1 win over Florida in 11 innings. The triumph puts the Gamecocks just a win away from winning back-to-back national titles.
“We’ve been in a lot of these games and we don’t win them all the time. It doesn’t matter if it’s a midweek game in Columbia or here, we’ve been in a lot of these [games] the past few years," South Carolina coach Ray Tanner said. “We’re not necessarily comfortable in it [this situation], but maybe there’s a crack somewhere, we’ve got some older players that have been there before. We feel like if we’re in a close one, we’ve got a 50-50 crack at it. There’s a lot of maturity and perspective in the dugout.”
In the hours leading up to Game 1 between the Gamecocks and Gators, the edge seemed to be squarely in Florida’s favor.
The Gamecocks were starting freshman right-handed pitcher Forrest Koumas. Though Koumas put together a solid start against the Gators earlier this season, this performance was on a much bigger stage with greater potential consequences.
The soft-spoken freshman could’ve pitched like many young arms seem to in Omaha. Instead, he continued where he left off in Gainesville, Fla., in March, where he allowed just a run in six innings. This go-round against the Gators, Koumas struck out four batters and allowed just a run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings.
With Florida ace pitcher Hudson Randall pitching a typical gem, Koumas kept the Gamecocks in the game and gave them a chance to win in the latter innings.
“I was very happy with his outing, quite honestly,” Tanner said. “I thought he was poised, composed, battled, and had pretty good stuff. It’s not easy for seniors to be in this environment, but a freshman that hadn’t pitched yet. Fantastic.”
The storylines in this game didn’t end with Koumas. Two hours before the contest, South Carolina first baseman Christian Walker, who has a fractured hamate bone, sat in the Gamecocks dugout in an emotional state. He didn’t think he would be able to play. Walker, though, fought through the intense pain and hit a home run to the bullpen in his first batting practice swing. He played despite the pain.
Walker finished the night with two hits. He battled.
“I’m shocked he was able to play tonight. The doctors spent time with him and there was tremendous pain. They did everything they could to alleviate the pain,” Tanner said. “He jumps in there during batting practice and hits the ball into the bullpen. I was just amazed. He had it wrapped up and said he could do it. Tomorrow will be another struggle for him and he’ll have to have surgery again. We’ll repeat today’s procedure tomorrow.”
The heroes didn’t stop with Koumas and Walker. Left-handed reliever Tyler Webb, who relieved Koumas, hadn’t thrown more than an inning since a May 17 midweek bout against UNC Asheville. Against the red-hot Gators, he exceeded expectations by allowing just a hit in 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
John Taylor, who made his 49th relief appearance of the season, was business as usual with three hits allowed in two scoreless innings.
The amazing performances were plentiful.
Second baseman Scott Wingo, who’s making a strong case for College World Series MVP, turned a pair of amazing defensive plays in the ninth inning to get the Gamecocks out of a bases-loaded no-out jam.
Then, in the tenth inning, Wingo handed the torch to left fielder Jake Williams. The Gators appeared to be on their way to winning the game in walk-off fashion when catcher Mike Zunino ripped a single into left field with Preston Tucker on second base. Williams, not known for a strong and accurate arm, rifled a throw to home plate, where catcher Robert Beary tagged out Tucker to end the inning.
The Gamecocks took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 11th inning on a pair of Gators throwing errors, prompting closer Matt Price to get warm in the bullpen.
Price made his 35th appearance of the season Monday, so perhaps we shouldn’t have been too surprised to see the hard-throwing right-hander enter the game. However, his effort was amazing considering he threw 95 pitches in a 3-2 win over Virginia just three days ago, and essentially was declared out of the mix for tonight’s game on Sunday.
The righty worked a scoreless inning to earn his 19th save of the season, pumping the Gators with a healthy dose of fastballs ranging from 94-96 mph, very much above his normal velocity, indicating he was throwing entirely on adrenaline.
“I’m really surprised he was able to be out there. I talked to him a little today and didn’t anticipate him pitching,” Tanner said. “He said he was in surprisingly good shape. He does all of the flush work, milking of his arm, things like that, and he told me before the game he had an inning in him. It [the 11th inning) was an important inning, so we put him in there.”
South Carolina’s ability to fight back from deficits, make amazing plays in the field and make all the right pitches in clutch situations has everyone feeling like it is destined to win its second national title in the next two days.
Time will tell if that will be the case. For now, we still can’t get over the surreal nature of the series opener between the Gamecocks and Gators.
“Yeah, it’s kind of surreal [going through these games],” South Carolina first baseman Christian Walker said. “But I don’t expect anything less out of these guys. They perform in every situation.”
Game in a nutshell
Player of the game: South Carolina RHP Forrest Koumas – Relievers Tyler Webb, John Taylor and Matt Price were outstanding in relief for the Gamecocks, but it was Koumas that started the contest on the right foot. The freshman righty put together a solid start against the Gators, striking out four, walking one and allowing just three hits in 5 2/3 innings. Koumas threw 86 pitches, 52 of them for strikes. First baseman Christian Walker also should be mentioned, as he recorded two hits and scored the game-winning run with a fractured hamate bone.
Turning point: After tying the Gators at 1-1 in the top of the eighth inning on an RBI single from Scott Wingo, the Gamecocks were put in a pickle in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Gators loaded the bases with no outs, and in true Gamecocks fashion, they escaped the inning unscathed as a result of a pair of tremendous defensive plays from Wingo. The Gamecocks seized the momentum in the ninth and won the game in the top of the 11th.
Where both teams stand: Florida definitely was expected to win the series opener between the two teams, but now South Carolina has the upper hand and is now a win away from winning another national title. The Gators will send freshman right-handed pitcher Karsten Whitson to the mound. He has a 2.43 ERA in 92 2/3 innings. The Gamecocks, meanwhile, will send ace left-hander Michael Roth to the mound. Roth has a 0.98 ERA in 137 1/3 innings.
Kendall Rogers is the college baseball editor for Perfect Game USA and has covered the sport for over 10 seasons. He can be reached at kendall@perfectgame.org