The College World Series 2010 bracket is finally down to two. It took an extra day for two College World Series teams to get eliminated, however. TCU and South Carolina prevented UCLA and Clemson from advancing on Friday, and got one more crack at them yesterday. But after this last doubleheader, the best-of-three finals would be set at last. Although TCU couldn’t win a fourth straight elimination game, South Carolina did, which set the College World Series 2010 bracket up for a Bruins-Gamecocks final.
The day started with Game 13, as the Bruins and Horned Frogs met for the third time. This rubber match would send one team to their first ever final, but things were decided quite early. A five-run first inning sent UCLA on their way, as they cruised to a 10-3 victory.
The College World Series 2010 bracket now has UCLA in the championship for the first time in school history. As for TCU, the Horned Frogs’ first ever appearance in Omaha ended just short of a national title. After beating Texas twice to get here, and after three straight elimination game wins, TCU finally ran out of luck.
The Bruins then waited through the night to get an opponent for the national title. Clemson and South Carolina met again in Game 14, where the Tigers own miracle run to the College World Series 2010 bracket ended. Clemson pulled a string of upsets to get one win away from the finals, but they were then upset themselves by an arch-rival.
The Gamecocks broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in the seventh inning, then held on to a one run lead in the ninth. Christian Walker stopped a screaming grounder to first with a man on to end the game, as South Carolina secured a 4-3 win.
South Carolina’s run through the College World Series 2010 bracket has become quite improbable. They needed four elimination game wins to get here, and were a strike away from losing to Oklahoma before they even met Clemson. In a tournament filled with upsets, the Gamecocks have supplanted TCU and Clemson as the surprise success story.
Now the College World Series 2010 bracket will end with one first time national champion, no matter what. The Bruins have never advanced this far, while the Gamecocks have lost three national title games in their history. The last time they made it, they also beat Clemson twice in 2002 before losing to Texas. However, that was before the championship became a best-of-three.
Game 1 of the 2010 College World Series finals begins at 4:30 pm est tomorrow.
Sources
NCAA.com- “2010 NCAA DI Baseball Championship Bracket”
Los Angeles Times- “UCLA advances to College World Series finals for first time”
Kentucky.com- “South Carolina enters rare air in College World Series title series”
