June 22, 2004

Box Score | Photo Gallery
2004 South Carolina Gamecock College World Series Central
Get Your South Carolina Gamecocks Gear Here!!

By ERIC OLSON
Associated Press Writer

OMAHA, Neb. – Bryan Triplett had four hits, and Nick Gardiner and Brendan Winn drove in three runs each as South Carolina eliminated Miami from the College World Series with a 15-11 victory Tuesday night.

Winn, Steven Tolleson and Steve Pearce each homered and the Gamecocks scored the most runs against Miami since Florida got 15 in last year’s NCAA regionals.

Winn scored five times to tie a CWS record.

Miami was the second team knocked out of the CWS on Tuesday. Georgia eliminated Arizona with a 3-1 victory earlier in the day.

The Gamecocks, beaten 2-0 by Cal State Fullerton in their CWS opener, defeated LSU 15-4 on Monday and became the first team since LSU in 1991 to score 15 or more runs in consecutive Series games.

South Carolina starter Billy Buckner (7-2) scattered nine hits and struck out 10 in seven innings.

The Gamecocks (51-16) play Wednesday against Cal State Fullerton. They will have to beat the Titans twice to reach the best-of-three championship round that starts this weekend.

Jon Jay had a three-run homer and a career-high four RBIs, and Roger Tomas went 4-for-5 to lead Miami (50-13), which scored seven runs in the last two innings after falling behind 15-4.

The Hurricanes, who lost to Fullerton on Monday, outhit the Gamecocks 17-16 but couldn’t avoid losing consecutive games for the first time this season.

South Carolina scored at least two runs in each of the first four innings to build a 12-0 lead. The Gamecocks finished with their most runs since scoring 16 against Delaware State in March. Their season high was 38 against Charleston Southern in the second game of the year.

Pearce hit a two-run homer, his team-leading 21st, in the first off Miami starter Brandon Camardese (6-3), who lasted just 1 1-3 innings.