COLUMBIA (AP) – Madison Stokes drove in three runs and South Carolina won its fourth straight game to capture the NCAA Tournament’s Columbia Regional with a 10-5 victory over UNC Wilmington on Tuesday.
The Gamecocks (46-16) host Oklahoma State, which ousted No. 7 national seed Clemson last weekend, in the best-of-three super regionals starting Saturday. That winner gets a spot in the College World Series.
That seemed an unlikely goal after South Carolina was stunned at home, 5-4 by Rhode Island, in its regional opener Friday night. But they found their offense and timely pitching to advance to their first super regional since 2013.
It happened for a second consecutive game against the Seahawks (41-19), who fell behind 5-1 in the fourth and could not catch up. Alex Destino, DC Arendas and John Jones each drove in two runs for the Gamecocks.
Reliever Josh Reagan worked three innings for the win.