Members of the Arizona Wildcats celebrate their fourth national title in school history.

South Carolina’s two year run as baseball’s national champion ended in Omaha Monday night with a 4-1 loss to Arizona. The Wildcats took the championship series in two games for their fourth national title and first since 1986, and they denied the Gamecocks a place in history as they were attempting to become just the second team to win more that two consecutive championships.

The game went to the ninth tied at one but the Wildcats scored the go ahead run on a single Robert Refsnyder and a double by Brandon Dixon off of Gamecock closer Matt Price. They added two more runs off Tyler Webb for a 4-1 lead going to the bottom of the ninth.

The Gamecocks put a scare into the Wildcats in the bottom of the ninth by loading the bases with one out against closer Matthew Troupe. But Tanner English hit a line drive to the second baseman and Grayson Greiner flied out to right to end the game.

The Arizona players then rushed the mound for the traditional championship dogpile. Refsnyder was named the World Series most outstanding player. He batted .476 with two home runs and five RBIs.

The Gamecock’s lack of offense finally caught up with them in the championship series. Over their final six games of the CWS, they batted just .188 and scored only 12 runs.

Arizona’s Konner Wade delivers a pitch Sunday evening at the College World Series. He helped move the Wildcats to within one game of the national title.

Arizona delivered the first punch in the best of three CWS championship series with a 5-1 win over South Carolina Sunday night. The vaunted Wildcat offense was somewhat held in check with the five runs being half their average in the CWS, and only three were earned. The night truly belonged to Arizona righthander Konner Wade who went the distance on 110 pitches and gave up just six hits whiile striking out three and walking one.

Robert Refsnyder gave Wade all the offense he would need with a first inning two run opposite field home run to right off Forrest Koumas. The Wildcats added runs in the third and fifth innings for a 4-0 lead. USC scored its run in the sixth on an RBI single by Evan Marzilli and perhaps had a chance to rally in the 7th. But with no one out, Adam Matthews was thrown out at third following a Kyle Martin single to right, and Wade retired the final two batters of the inning.

Both teams will start their aces Monday night…lefty Michael Roth for South Carolina and righty Kurt Heyer for Arizona. The Gamecocks are 9-0 in CWS elimination games since 2010, but only two teams have lost the first game of the championship series and gone on to win it. The Wildcats are now 9-0 in the NCAA Tournament this season will be going for their fourth national championship while trying to deny the Gamecocks’ a third straight title.

Arizona came to the College World Series as one of the hottest teams in the nation and swept three consecutive games to reach the championship round. South Carolina will try to become the first team in 40 years to win a third consecutive title.

Sophomore right-hander Konner Wade (10-3), who threw a complete-game five-hit shutout against UCLA last Sunday, will be the Game 1 starter for Arizona (46-17). 16-year USC coach Ray Tanner was undecided on which pitcher will face an Arizona team that is fourth in the nation in batting (.330) and sixth in scoring (7.4 runs a game).

This improbable run for the Gamecocks looked doomed from the beginning and the odds were stacked against USC the whole way. Their streak of 22 consecutive wins in Omaha ended with a 2-1 loss to Arkansas last Monday. They staved off elimination three times, beating Kent State once and the Razorbacks twice in a span of 36 hours because of a Wednesday rainout.

Arizona has won nine consecutive games, including all eight in the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats beat Florida State, UCLA and the Seminoles again to reach the finals. They’ll be playing for their fourth national title, but first since 1986.

Wildcat’s manager Andy Lopez won a national title at Pepperdine in 1992 and brought Florida to the CWS in 1996 and ’98. He’s back in Omaha in his eighth season at Arizona.

Jordan Montgomery

On Thursday at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, the South Carolina Gamecocks became the first team since 1952 to win two College World Series games in the same day. First the Gamecocks toppled Kent State 4-1 as Michael Roth hurled a complete game 2 hitter and LB Dantzler cracked a two run homer.

Then they rode the pitching of freshman lefthander Jordan Montgomery to a 2-0 win over Arkansas. Montgomery went eight innings allowing three hits. Matt Price pitched the ninth for his 13th save. Their pitching along with some spectacular defensive plays kept the Razorbacks from reaching third base. The two SEC rivals meet again tonight at 9 p.m. with the winner advancing to play Arizona in the championship series.

The Wildcats ousted Florida State 10-3 scoring six first inning runs and never looking back. Kurt Heyer earned his 13th win and Bobby Brown led the offense with two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored.

Heavy rain falls over downtown Omaha on Wednesday night.

A heavy rainstorm full of wind and lightening forced NCAA officials to call off Wednesday night’s CWS elimination game between South Carolina and Kent State. The rain held off all day but began to fall around 5:30 PM. It continued on and off throughout the early evening hours, and with the prospect for more rain into the night, the decision was made to hold the game off until Thursday.

That means a triple-header of baseball is set for today at TD Ameritrade Park. South Carolina and Kent State will play at 11 AM. At 4 PM, Florida State takes on Arizona. And at 8:00 PM, the winner of the first game will play Arkansas.

South Carolina coach Ray Tanner announced senior lefthander Michael Roth as his starter late Wednesday night making a switch from freshman lefthander Jordan Montgomery.

Kent State coach Scott Stricklin said he is sticking with his original plan and will start RHP Tyler Skulina.

The delay also allows Kent State to get reserve catcher and DH Jason Bagoly back in uniform. He flew home to Ohio Tuesday to attend his mother’s funeral. She passed away unexpectedly Thursday. Bagoly stayed with the team and was inserted into the lineup against Florida as the DH and had two hits and a sacrifice bunt.