Looking at Sunday's games

South Carolina 10, Coastal Carolina 9
The Gamecocks completed a sweep of the Myrtle Beach Super Regional and earned their ninth trip to the College World Series all-time.

Pitching was at the core of USC's win in Game 1 on Saturday. On Sunday, it was clutch hitting, capped by Christian Walker's three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to give the Gamecocks their first lead since the first inning. Then, Gamecocks closer Matt Price came in and overpowered the Chants every bit as much as he had in pitching out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the eighth on Saturday.

Coastal's undoing was on a couple of fronts -- 1. the Chanticleers made five errors, several at inopportune times to prolong USC innings, and, 2. I don't think the Coastal pitching staff ever returned to full strength from its work in winning the regional a week earlier.

Ace starters Cody Wheeler and Anthony Meo also worked in relief in the regional as Coastal was hard-pressed to escape College of Charleston. Then, Meo suffered some kind of ailment that left him at less than full strength, knocking him out of his expected Saturday start against the Gamecocks.

While the Coastal pitchers were still formidable overall, not getting the usual amount of innings from Meo and Wheeler gave the bullpen less margin for error in Sunday's game, probably forcing coach Gary Gilmore to use closer Austin Fleet longer than he would have liked (2 1/3 innings) on a sweltering day.

Still, Coastal showed itself worthy of the 55-10 record and No. 4 national seed, but South Carolina also showed why it was likely under serious consideration for a national seed until its two-and-out showing at the SEC Tournament.


Clemson 19, Alabama 5
Not only does Clemson's season still have a pulse, it has a pretty darn strong one.
The Tigers jumped on Alabama with both feet, scoring six runs in the first inning and never looking back to move within a game of joining the Gamecocks in Omaha.

Bama starter Adam Morgan had pitched complete-game victories each of his last two starts, but he was knocked out early on Sunday.

Alabama doesn't have the power hitters to win a slugfest, and Clemson looked as confident at the plate as it has all year as it continued to pour it on.

I expected the effectiveness of Clemson's bullpen to be the deciding factor in the series, but that hasn't been the case yet. Starter Casey Harman pitched into the ninth on Saturday, then Scott Weismann was on easy street through his six-inning stint on Sunday. The big lead allowed coach Jack Leggett to spot three relievers an inning of relief apiece to keep them fresh if needed for today.

Dominic Leone (2-1,4.89) is expected to start for the Tigers today against the Tide's Nathan Kilcrease (8-2, 2.42). Only five of Kilcrease's 33 appearances have been starts, but he got two wins last week in the Atlanta Regional.

If Clemson's hitters come to the plate today as confident as they did on Sunday, it may be a long day for Bama.

Clemson fans may have noticed that Chris Smelley pinch-hit for Bama in the eighth. He's the former South Carolina quarterback starter who transferred back to his home start to play baseball.