Vanderbilt Falls To South Carolina 3-2

Vanderbilt Falls To South Carolina 3-2

5/30/2004

Vanderbilt Falls To South Carolina 3-2

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — Zac McCamie pitched into the eighth inning and South Carolina scored twice in the sixth, capturing its first Southeastern Conference tournament title with a 3-2 victory over Vanderbilt Sunday.

The Gamecocks (45-15) finished with a flourish, turning a game-ending double play after a one-out error put the potential tying run on first base.

They had a terrific day all around, as the NCAA awarded South Carolina a regional site before the game started. The regional bids will be announced on Monday, with Vanderbilt (42-17) all but assuring itself of a spot with the strong tournament run.

It was a battle of the underdogs with the top four seeds making hasty exits from the tournament. Seventh-seeded Vanderbilt (42-17) was only making its second championship game appearance, winning the title in 1980.

South Carolina has a league-high 12 wins in the tournament since 2001 but had only made the tournament once, losing to Alabama two years ago.

McCamie (6-0) pitched 7-1/3 strong innings, scattering nine hits and allowing two runs in just his fifth start of the season and first against an SEC opponent.

Vandy greeted reliever Chad Blackwell with two straight hits one out into the eighth, but he got a groundout and a strikeout to escape the threat.

The Commodores got one more chance. Jonathan Douillard reached on an error by second baseman Kevin Melillo on a weak grounder with one out in the ninth. Ryan Klosterman sent the next pitch to bouncing to first baseman Steve Pearce, who started the double play.

South Carolina’s Steven Tolleson and Kevin Melillo were co-MVPs of the tournament.

Melillo was 2-for-5 with an RBI on a first-inning, two-out single. Michael Campbell and Davy Gregg both had RBI singles in the sixth and McCamie and Blackwell made sure the runs held up.

The teams combined for 20 hits and a bundle of missed opportunities.

South Carolina left 11 men on base and Vandy left eight, including two in the eighth, largely due to two pitching staffs who dazzled for much of the tournament.

It was the first time two Eastern Division teams have met for the championship since 1984 when Florida beat Tennessee 3-1 and the division’s first tournament title since Florida won in 1991.

Both teams struck quickly Sunday.

South Carolina scored on a walk and two singles in the first, all with two outs. Vandy answered with five hits in the bottom half, but only got one run out of it and left the bases loaded against McCamie.

The Gamecocks botched the game’s next scoring threat. With runners at first and second and nobody out, Tolleson was called out for catcher’s interference and the catcher, Douillard, made a diving catch off Bryan Triplett’s bunt attempt that sailed behind the plate.

After a two-out walk, Sues got cleanup batter Brendan Winn to flyout to deep right field.

Vandy was more opportunistic in its fifth-inning turn. Worth Scott hit a leadoff single, stole second and moved to third on a throwing error by catcher Landon Powell. Douillard sent the next pitch just out of shortstop Tolleson’s reach in shallow left field to make it 2-1.

South Carolina scored two runs in the sixth, chasing Vandy starter Jeff Sues (4-1) with three straight singles.

The Gamecocks allowed only five runs in the final 29 innings of the tournament. They have a 36-7 alltime series lead over the Commodores.

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H ESouth Carolina (SC) 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 9 2Vanderbilt (VU) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 11 0

POSTGAME QUOTES

Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin

On the game…
“It was another great college baseball game, unfortuantly Vandy ended up on the bottom side on this one. However, we played well today and our guys did a great job on a great game.”

On the pitching…
“Sues threw a lot of pitches. He got us out of jams early on and then he started getting hit. But he worked hard and did a good job.”

Cesar Nicolas, Designated Hitter

On the hitting…
“We’ve gotta capitalize on big innings. For the tournament we gotta just pick up and do it again. You can’t get frustrated with a good team like (South) Carolina, you just have to keep going.”

Jonathan Douillard, Catcher

On the teams’ emotions…
“It was a really tough one. We came out here and played our hearts out and thats all we could do. But we still have more baseball to play so we have to let this one soak in, get it out of our heads and play more baseball.”

South Carolina Head Coach Ray Tanner

On today’s game…
“It would be an understatement to say that I wasn’t proud. We’rereally clicking, pitching and hitting homeruns when we need to… We’ve really been a tough team to beat down the stretch.”

On the work ethic of his players…
“I’m not the easiest guy to play for because I speak from the heart and sometimes I don’t think they like what I have to say. But, they’ve stayed the course and battled and I’m happy for them.”

Zac McCamie, Pitcher

On the uneasiness of the first inning…
“I wasn’t shaking but maybe five minutes into the first inning and I settled down during the second and third and gave it to (Chad) Blackwell to shut it out.”

Landon Powell, Catcher

On hosting a regional…
“Melillo and I were throwing when they announced the regional sites. We wanted to come in here and win some games and hopefully get to host a regional. Number one, I wanted to play at the Sarge again and number two, I wanted to play in front of our fans because it feels like we have 5,000 players instead of 25.”

POSTGAME NOTES

• With the 3-2 final, South Carolina secured their first SEC Tournament Championship since joining the conference in 1992. This is the sixth championship game decided by one run.
• In the loss, Vanderbilt’s record moved to 11-14 in games versus ranked opponents this season. The Commodores longest win streak of the season was snapped by the Gamecocks, ending the steak at eight games.
• Vandy’s Warner Jones is now one RBI away from being tied for second on the Commodores single season list with 70. Clinton Johnston is the school record holder with 74 in 1998 and Greg Thomas is second on the list with 71 in 1991. Jones also set a record with most RBI’s in the tournament with six.
• Ryan Klosterman hit into the only double play of the game turned by Steven Tolleson in the bottom of the ninth to seal the conference tournament championship for South Carolina.
• South Carolina pitcher Zac McCamie pitched his longest career start with 8.1 innings. His last was 8 innings against Wofford on April 28t of this year. This was also his first start against an SEC opponent this season.
• South Carolina reliever Chad Blackwell sealed his third save of the tournament, the most of any reliever this year.
• South Carolina short-stop Steven Tolleson and second baseman Kevin Melillo were named co-MVPs of the SEC Tournament.
• South Carolina will be hosting it’s 10th NCAA Regional this year.

2004 SEC Baseball All-Tournament Team

P Jeremy Sowers VanderbiltP Connor Falkenbach FloridaC Jonathan Douillard Vanderbilt1B C.J. Smith Florida2B Warner Jones Vanderbilt3B Jonathan Tucker FloridaSS Ryan Klosterman VanderbiltOF Jake Dugger ArkansasOF Eli Iorg TennesseeOF Brendan Winn South CarolinaDH Cesar Nicolas Vanderbilt

Co-Most Valuable Players
Steven Tolleson/Kevin Melillo, South Carolina