Omaha, NE (Sports Network) – Jackie Bradley Jr. homered and drove in four runs while Sam Dyson threw 7 1/3 strong innings, as South Carolina ousted No. 1 overall seed Arizona State from the College World Series with a convincing 11-4 rout at Rosenblatt Stadium.
Adrian Morales hit a two-run homer and Scott Wingo knocked in two with a double during an eight-run second inning. Whit Merrifield contributed an RBI single to the big inning and later added a solo home run among a three-hit game. Bradley also finished with three hits, while Wingo also walked and scored twice hitting out of the nine hole.
Dyson got the win for allowing four runs on eight hits while walking two and fanning three for the Gamecocks, who will take on either Clemson or Oklahoma on Thursday in a continuation of bracket play.
Deven Marrero was 3-for-4 with an RBI to lead Arizona State. Starter Merrill Kelly was pounded for 10 hits and eight runs in just 1 2/3 innings for the Sun Devils, who dropped a 6-3 decision to Clemson on Monday to set up Tuesday’s elimination tilt. It was the first time all year ASU had lost consecutive games.
The five-time CWS champs swept the Tempe Super Regional against Arkansas and were appearing as the top national seed after a 47-8 regular season.
The top overall seed has not captured the championship since 1999.
South Carolina took complete control in the second inning by batting around.
Morales and Kyle Enders had back-to-back singles to start, and Wingo doubled in both with one out. Evan Marzilli got on with a base hit, and Merrifield followed suit to make it 3-0.
Bradley then cranked a three-run homer over the center field wall for a sudden six-run lead. After the second out was recorded, Brady Thomas kept things going with a single, and Morales ripped a two-run shot down the left-field line to chase Kelly and extend the margin to eight.
“Obviously you can’t have a start like we did against a quality team of South Carolina,” ASU coach Tim Esmay said. “I thought they did a heck of a job of putting us on our heels, and I think you have to do that in a game like this where you lose and you go home.”
The Gamecocks then got to Mitchell Lambson for a pair of runs in the third. They loaded the bases with nobody out and pushed a run across when Bradley was hit by a pitch. Christian Walker then worked a walk to force in another for a commanding 10-0 advantage.
Arizona State finally got on the board with back-to-back one-out RBI singles from Austin Barnes and Drew Maggi in the fifth, then threatened a monumental comeback in the eighth.
With runners at the corners and one out, Dyson exited in favor of Matt Price, who was greeted with a run-scoring hit by Marrero. Matt Newman followed with a pinch-hit RBI single and Price plunked Raoul Torrez to load the bases with one out and the Sun Devil deficit at six.
Price recovered nicely to strike out both Barnes and Maggi to escape without further incident. Merrifield the led off the bottom half with a deep home run to left, accounting for the final score. Arizona State went quietly in the ninth.
06/22 20:43:21 ET