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Roundup: Gamecocks cut Titans down to size
By The Associated Press
Wednesday's CWS Capsules
South Carolina 5,
Fullerton 3
OMAHA Jason Fletcher and
Chad Blackwell combined to hold Cal State Fullerton hitless over the final
five innings, and Bryan Triplett homered and drove in the go-ahead run as
South Carolina won 5-3 on Wednesday night to force a rematch with the Titans
in the College World Series.
The winner of Thursday night's
game will face Texas in the best-of-3 finals starting Saturday.
Fletcher (6-1) went six
innings and allowed all five Fullerton hits. Fletcher and Blackwell combined
to retire 16 of the last 17 batters after Ronnie Prettyman's bunt single in
the fourth inning.
Blackwell earned his nation-leading 20th save.
Mike Martinez (8-3) took the
loss after allowing five runs and 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings.
The Titans tied it at 3 in the
fourth after Sergio Pedroza walked and took third on P.J. Pilittere's
single. Pedroza came home on Prettyman's squeeze.
The Gamecocks took the lead in
the seventh inning. Davy Gregg bunted and reached third when Martinez threw
wildly to first after going to his knees to field the ball.
Triplett followed with a
tiebreaking single between third and shortstop, and Steve Pearce added a run
with an RBI single.
A South Carolina win Thursday
would set up a rematch of its 2002 CWS final against Texas. The Gamecocks
have been national runners-up three times, but have never won a title.
Fullerton hopes to play for
its fourth national title. The Titans' titles in 1979, '84 and '95 came
under Garrido.
Texas 7, Georgia 6
OMAHA Carson Kainer, the
last regular player in Texas' lineup without a hit at the College World
Series, got the most important one of his young career and the Longhorns
advanced to the finals.
Kainer doubled in the go-ahead
run in the seventh inning and Huston Street pitched three innings of one-run
relief to help Texas to a 7-6 comeback victory over Georgia on Wednesday.
The Longhorns (58-13) will
face either South Carolina or Cal State Fullerton in the best-of-3
championship series that starts Saturday. South Carolina beat Fullerton 5-3
Wednesday night, and those teams will play again Thursday. The winner moves
into the finals.
Texas will be playing for its
sixth national title and second in three years.
Georgia (45-23) was
eliminated, losing twice to top-seeded Texas.
The Longhorns' rally marked
the first time in the CWS that a team had come back from five runs down to
win since Stanford erased an eight-run deficit to beat Tulane in 2001.
Street (6-1) prevailed in a
matchup against another top reliever, Will Startup. Street allowed four hits
in three innings.
The Longhorns, who trailed 5-0
in the third inning, used two doubles to take the lead in the seventh.
Dooley Prince led off with the first, chasing reliever Matt Woods (2-3).
Startup, the All-Southeastern
Conference closer, came on and got one out before Kainer doubled down the
left-field line for his first hit in 10 at-bats.
Texas hit four home runs.
Copyright 2004
The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 10:37:35 AM
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