Ten More Nights In Omaha: That Same Fan's Take Toward Back-To-Back Titles

"Line drive, right field, base hit! South Carolina wins the College World Series!"

With that statement by ESPN announcer Mike Patrick on June 29, 2010, the South Carolina Gamecocks closed out the final College World Series game at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska, christening a new era for both the program and the Series.

As I explained earlier in Faulknerian prose, the whole athletic program at the University of South Carolina prior to the 2010 College World Series struggled mightily to win a major national championship, save the women's outdoor track & field team in 2002. And in the three big sports (football, men's basketball, and baseball), the Gamecocks had been close, closer, and closest to winning that elusive title, always falling short.

But on that endless summer night one year ago, the fortune of Gamecock athletics changed forever. In so doing, the pressure to come back to Omaha and win at a new stadium - TD Ameritrade Park - was enormous for head coach Ray Tanner and his team.

In the weeks before the 2010 College World Series ended, seven Gamecocks were taken in the MLB Draft, and three of them would go on to start their professional careers. They were senior starting pitcher Blake Cooper, junior starting pitcher Sam Dyson, and junior right fielder Whit Merrifield. All three played a critical role in putting the Gamecocks in position to win the school's first major men's athletic title. Cooper recorded ten strikeouts and allowed only three hits through eight and one-thirds innings in Game 1 of the final round against UCLA. Dyson pitched two quality starts that saw the Gamecocks win on both occasions to stave off elimination in Omaha. And of course, Merrifield became an instant Gamecock legend by driving home the championship winning run in Game 2 of the College World Series finals.

Even with their departures, the whole team was practically back in their bid to become the first team since the 2007 Oregon State Beavers to repeat as national champions in college baseball. Notable returnees included senior second baseman Scott Wingo, junior center fielder Jackie Bradley, Jr., junior starting pitcher Michael Roth, sophomore first baseman Christian Walker, and sophomore closer Matt Price. This team had no intentions to fall short of a return trip to Omaha, and their play on the field proved it.