June 10, 2012

Columbia, S.C. – The NCAA Super Regional game between South Carolina and Oklahoma has been suspended due to heavy rain passing through the Columbia area. The game will resume on Monday at 4:05 p.m. with the if necessary contest to follow at 7:05 p.m. Both contests will be televised on ESPN2. Fans are asked to return with their ticket for reentry for the conclusion of the game. Stay with GamecocksOnline.com for updates. The game is 0-0 entering the bottom of the 6th inning.

Statement from NCAA Representative Mike Gaski:

(Reasoning behind first delay)

“The last cell you saw hit us, we were anticipating that and in anticipation of that, we stopped and tarped the field. It stalled. When it stalled, we waited and, according to a report from the National Weather Service, it looked like it was going to miss us. So we said, `Ok, let’s take a chance.’ As soon as we did, it changed directions and hit us.”

“It was basically information from the National Weather Service.”

(Time soon in first delay considered playing?)

“We took the tarp off initially to fix the field. We knew another cell was coming and the groundskeeper and I though that was our best window to do some work on the field. The field couldn’t take a lot more water. We were worried about players slipping around the bag, so we took the tarp off and fixed the field.

“Then with the next report that we got, we said, `You know what? If this goes West or stalls again, then we thought we had a shot and we were wrong.”

“There’s a huge band coming and the field just couldn’t take it anymore.”