Michael Roth scattered six hits over seven and two-thirds innings, as South Carolina took game one of the Columbia Super Regional, 5-0 over the Oklahoma Sooners.
Game Two will be Sunday night at 6 p.m. CST.
OU pitcher Jordan John took the loss for the Sooners, giving up three runs in just two innings before being pulled for Dillon Overton.
The win was the Gamecocks 20th in a row in the postseason, and leaves them just one win away from returning to Omaha to try to win a third consecutive College World Series.
The Sooners had some opportunities, as they stranded seven runners on base over the course of the game. However, they were unable to figure out Roth, who mixed his pitches well in his final start at Carolina Stadium.
The Sooners threatened in the second inning, when Cody Reine and Jack Mayfield singled back-to-back to put two runners on with just one out. Garrett Carey flew out to center, and Erik Ross grounded out to Roth to end the threat.
The Gamecocks then struck in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double from L.B. Dantzler, a wild pitch that scored Erik Payne, and a sacrifice fly that scored Dantzler. That was enough to chase John, who will more than likely pitch in game three if the Sooners can win on Sunday.
As for Roth, he was dominant, but not in an overpowering way. Roth only struck out three Sooners, getting most of his outs through groundouts and flyouts. OU was only able to generate six hits off Roth as well.
South Carolina tacked on two more runs on two hits in the seventh inning to put the game completely out of reach.
Roth came out for the top of the eighth inning, despite being well over 100 pitches. He came out with two outs after an Evan Mistitch single, and received a huge standing ovation from the sellout crowd in Columbia.
The Sooners are in a familiar position facing elimination. OU won four consecutive elimination games in the Charlottesville Regional last weekend to advance to this weekend's Super Regional.
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