Live from TD Ameritrade Park Omaha

BOTTOM 9 - South Carolina defeats Arkansas 2-0. Matt Price picks up the save. Gamecocks and Razorbacks will face each other tomorrow night at 9pm with the winner advancing to face Arizona in the CWS Final.

TOP 9 - English goes down swinging for the first out of the inning. Greiner goes down swinging. Two down. Vergason with a single back up the middle to give the Gamecocks a two-out base runner. Pankake pops a full count pitch out to right field to end the inning. Matt Price headed into the game to close this one out. Gamecocks lead 2-0. I'm headed down to the field to do some interviews immediately following the game. WG will send out the final score text alert and let yall know when the game ends. Don't let anything big happen in the bottom half!

BOTTOM 8 - After not walking a batter for the first seven innings, Montgomery walks the lead off hitter but then gets a huge 3-6 double play ball. Bigham hit a hard ground ball right along the first base line. Walker gloves it, steps on the base, and fires to second. Pankake lays down the tag for a double play. Great googily moogily that was a heck of a play. Bleeker then grounds out to Vergason. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

TOP 8 - Marzilli down looking on strikes. Walker singles back up the middle but is cut down on the bases when Arkansas correctly pitches out on a steal attempt. No sense in Dantzler even trying to flail at that one. He eventually walks to put one on with two down. Matthews goes ahead in the count 2-0, now 3-0. Make it 4-0 and takes his base. Arkansas calls in RHP Nolan Sanburn and Ray Tanner counters with Kyle Martin, who grounds the first pitch to second base. That'll end the inning. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

BOTTOM 7 - Hogs send up 2-3-4 in the order to face Montgomery. Pankake goes back on a bloop to center. Makes the catch over his shoulder. One down. Montgomery Ks Reynolds with a fastball. When that's happening, you know a guy is rolling. Dantzler fields a chopper and throws on to first for the out. Quick, easy inning for Montgomery. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

TOP 7 - Grayson Greiner leads off the inning with a four-pitch walk by Moore, who has done a really nice job. Vergason tries to bunt up Greiner - you can question that decision as you'd like - and puts it right in front of the plate. Wise pops out of his crouch, bare-hands the ball, and begins a 2-6-3 double play. Pankake then pops out to left to end the inning. Gamecocks still lead 2-0 but have missed opportunities the last two innings. Stretch time. Arkansas sends up the heart of the order ... 2-3-4.

BOTTOM 6 - Vinson lines a single to left center to start the inning. Wise then hits one on the screws at Pankake, which is caught. Vinson was leaning in the wrong direction and is doubled off at first base. Carver then grounds out to short to end the inning. Another nice inning for Montgomery. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

TOP 6 - Walker pops out for the first out of the inning. Dantzler up but behind 1-2 in the count to Moore. He hits a hard ground ball to the right side which got past Ficociello somehow. It didn't take a bad hop,he just misplayed it. Very rare you see that - E3. Dantzler then moves up on a passed ball. Another uncharacteristic poor defensive play. Matthews extends his at-bat and lines a two-strike single to center. Nice piece of hitting. Dantzler got a really bad break and Holbrook had to hold him at third. Vinson boots the ball and Holbrook tried to send him but Dantzler recognized it too late. Payne taps one back to the mound and Dantzler breaks for home. That's one of those Ray Tanner rules - first and third with one out, the runner is going home on a ball on the ground to stay out of a double play. Now, that wasn't a double play ball, so he should have held, but the theory behind it is you concede the out at home and keep two guys on base and the inning alive. Anyway, two on, two down, and English hits one on the screws - just right at the shortstop. That ball was laced but there's nothing to show for it. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

BOTTOM 5 - Two more quick outs for Monty. Gets a ground ball to Pankake, who has become automatic, and a strikeout. Streak ends at 13 batters in a row retired by Montgomery as Bigham was hit by a pitch. Bleeker comes up and knocks a single to left but the inning ends when Bigham, inexplicably, tries to take third. English cuts him down with a bit of room to spare. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

TOP 5 - Vergason grounds out to short and Pankake pops to left. Two quick outs for Moore, who has kept the Gamecocks off balance with a pretty good sinker. Marzilli pounds one of those into the ground towards first. Ficociello picks it up and tags Marz on the way to the bag for the final out of the inning. Gamecocks lead 2-0

BOTTOM 4 - Carver hits a ground ball towards the four-hole. Walker over there and makes a diving stop. Gets up and flips to Montgomery just in time to get the speedy leadoff hitter. One down. English with a good read on a shallow fly ball. Makes a nice running catch for the second out. Vergy hauls in a pop up to end the fourth. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

BOTTOM 3 - Derrick Bleeker, a former teammate of the Blowfish player I'm hosting this summer, strikes out to begin the third inning. Make that two Ks for Monty in the inning now. Two down. He's dealing. Nine-hole hitter Wise lines out to right. Montgomery has 35 pitches through three innings. Not a bad clip. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

TOP 3 - Not a bad inning for Moore. He gets Marzilli to ground out to third. Walker singles, but Dantzler flies out to center and Matthews grounds back to the pitcher. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

BOTTOM 2 - Two quick outs for Montgomery. Gets a ground ball by Ficociello to Pankake and a strikeout. Make that three quick outs as Pankake makes another play on a slow roller. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

TOP 2 - Erik Payne leads off the inning with a double down the left field line. Got a good piece of that and dropped it in a few feet inside the chalk. Tanner English follows it up with a double over the third baseman. That'll score a run. Greiner hits a ground ball twoards the six hole. Matt Reynolds shows why, I guess, he was All-SEC Defensive Team making a diving stop and throwing out Greiner at first. English makes it to third base with one down for Vergason. He lines a solid single back up the middle to bring in English from third. That will end the day for Fant, who had a forgettable performance. RHP Brandon Moore in the game. One pitch to Pankake and the Hogs are out of the inning. Double play. Gamecocks lead 2-0

BOTTOM 1 - First pitch swinging for Carver - USC isn't the only team that does this - and grounds back up the middle. I thought it'd go for a single, but Pankake fields it behind the second base bag, gets rid of it quick across his body, and to Walker for the first out of the inning. Serrano lines a single to right. One on, one out. Montgomery ends up facing the minimum though as Greiner cuts down Serrano trying to steal and then Reynolds Ks looking to end the inning. No score through one.

TOP 1 - LHP Randall Fant out there on the mound for the Hogs. If you missed it early, he's a tall lefty that doesn't go real deep into games. Power arm coming at low 90s when he's going well. He falls behind in the count to Pankake 2-0, but gets him to pop a 2-2 pitch out to right. One down. Marzilli works the count full. Marz bounces a single back up the middle and into center. Hit and run attempt on the first pitch to Walker. He swings and misses and falls out over the plate. Home plate umpire rules interference making Marzilli go back and causing Walker to be out. Two down now, Marzilli on first, and LB Dantzler at the plate. Dantzler walks to put two on for Adam Matthews, who flies out to right field to end the inning. No score with Jordan Montgomery coming to the mound.

Carolina

SS - Joey Pankake
CF - Evan Marzilli
1B - Christian Walker
3B - LB Dantzler
RF - Adam Matthews
DH - Erik Payne
LF - Tanner English
C - Grayson Greiner
2B - Chase Vergason

LHP - Jordan Montgomery

Arkansas

SS - Tim Carver
DH - Joe Serrano
3B - Matt Reynolds
1B - Dominic Ficociello
RF - Brian Anderson
2B - Bo Bigham
LF - Derrick Bleeker
CF - Matt Vinson
C - Jake Wise

LHP - Randall Fant

8:15 p.m. - Arizona is putting a whoopin' on Florida State. It's 10-2 in the eighth inning. Andy Demetra posted to his Twitter that Grayson Greiner will start at catcher tonight. Have heard Montgomery, too. We should get the lineup here shortly. I don't know that we'll start right at 9:10 p.m., the scheduled start time, because this game is going late, but it should be pretty close. Stay tuned for updates.

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