South Carolina Wins 2nd Straight Baseball Championship

It's been a magical season for the South Carolina Gamecocks.  The Gamecocks entered the season as the defending national champions and played like it once the NCAA Tournament began.  As the night began, a SEC rival was the only obstable between South Carolina and their second straight baseball national championship.  Karsten Whitson, Florida's starting pitcher, shut down the first six Gamecock batters before he began to struggle.  Peter Mooney's double to lead off the bottom of the third would be the first Gamecock hit of the game.  Mooney would advance to third on Michael Beary's sacrifice and later score on Scott Wingo's flyout to right. Evan Marzilli, who walked to reach base, would score the second run of the game off Gator Nolan Fontana's error. Brady Thomas' RBI single would drive in Milton Bradley Jr. to put their team up 3-0 heading to the fourth.  The Gators would respond in the top of the fourth with a Mike Zunino lead-off homer to put Florida on the board.  The score wouldn't change until the bottom of the sixth when Mooney led off the inning with a homer to right.  On Twitter, ESPN sideline reporter Jenn Brown described the homer as "a huge bomb" to extend the South Carolina lead to 4-1.  Josh Adams' two-out RBI single in the top of the eighth allowed Zunino to score his second run of the night as the Gators finished off the night with only two runs.    The Gamecocks responded with an insurance run in the bottom of the inning as Wingo had his second RBI of the night.  Gamecock closer Matt Price closed out South Carolina's sweep of the Gators with 1 1/3 innings pitched and a strikeout for his school's second Baseball National Championship.  Gamecock Starting Pitcher Michael Roth won his 14th game of the year and Price ended the year with 20 saves.  They finished the year's tournament undefeated at 10-0 and set the most consecutive NCAA Baseball Tournament wins (16) and College World Series wins (11) going back to last season.  They also became the sixth Division 1 Baseball program to win back-to-back national championships.  South Carolina should be the favorites heading to next season because they are the two-time defending champs.  This night goes to the people of South Carolina.