Will Crowe tossed the first complete game of his career.
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Behind a complete-game shutout from Wil Crowe and 13 hits from the offense, top-seeded South Carolina cruised to a 9-0 victory against fourth-seeded Campbell on Sunday afternoon in an elimination game in the NCAA Columbia Regional.
With the win, the Gamecocks (44-17) advanced to play second-seeded Maryland. The Camels' season came to an end with the loss as they finished the year with a 41-21 record.
Crowe (8-3) gave South Carolina exactly what it needed in working all nine innings, allowing just four hits and striking out four batters on the afternoon. The complete game was the first of his career. It was also the first complete-game shutout by a Gamecocks pitcher since Jordan Montgomery tossed one in last year's Super Regional win against North Carolina.
Nine Gamecocks recorded at least one hit, with Marcus Mooney, Max Schrock, Joey Pankake and Tanner English leading the way with two apiece. Schrock, who had a career-high two doubles, and Pankake drove in two runs each. Schrock leads the regional with seven hits.
Campbell managed just four hits in the game off Crowe, with all being singles.
Camel starting pitcher Ryan Koopman (8-2) was tagged with the loss after surrendering four runs and four hits in 3.0 innings on the mound.
After two scoreless innings, the Gamecocks struck first in the top of the third. Schrock got things going with a two-out double to right field and scored on a single up the middle by Pankake to give Carolina a 1-0 lead.
South Carolina kept the offense going in the fourth with a four-run outburst. Connor Bright and English each delivered a RBI single, and Schrock smashed a two-run double to right field to give the Gamecocks a 5-0 cushion.
The Gamecocks added four more runs in the ninth to push their lead to 9-0. Jordan Gore, Pankake, Kyle Martin and pinch-hitter Bryson Celek all delivered RBI singles to help Carolina put the game out of reach.
Crowe took care of the rest in the bottom of the ninth, giving up just a two-out single before getting Seth LaRue to fly out to end the game. Crowe finished the afternoon with a pitch count of 101.
