Crowe gets shelled as Oliver, Razorbacks shut down Gamecocks

June 11, 2013; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; South Carolina center fielder Tanner English (3) drives in a run with his single against North Carolina during the second inning Chapel Hill Super Regional of the NCAA baseball tournament at Boshamer Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

It was a great night for Chris Oliver and the Arkansas offense. For the South Carolina Gamecocks and Wil Crowe, it was a much different story.

Crowe, who entered the evening with a 1.37 ERA and a 6-0 record, didn’t get out of a 2nd inning in which he allowed five runs (four earned) as the Razorbacks rolled to a 7-0 victory in the final game of a three game weekend set in Fayetteville.

Tonight was much like the past two games for Carolina–an inefficient offense that, if not for an 8th inning rally in yesterday’s series opener, would have resulted in a sweep. The Gamecocks only mustered three runs and sixteen hits (seven in the 2-1 win on Friday) all weekend.

One thing that was there in games one and two for South Carolina (26-5, 7-5 ACC)–its pitching. Not tonight.

Crowe retired the first two batters he faced before allowing two hits, but would get out of the mini-jam. There would be no getting out of the 2nd inning, though. By the time he left, the Razorbacks had sent eight men to the plate and brought five runs home on three hits, three walks, and two Gamecock errors.

Oliver, meanwhile, enjoyed a much better performance. He went eight solid shutout innings, striking out ten and walking just two to improve to .500 (3-3) on the year.

The Razorbacks (20-12, 6-6) actually entered some rare company with the win tonight–becoming the first team in 2014 and only the third team in the last four seasons to shut out the Gamecocks. The last two times Carolina has failed to score: last March 16 at Missouri (a 4-0 loss) and April 12, 2011 at The Citadel (a 2-0 defeat). It ended a streak of 73 games in which they have scored at least one run.

Next up for Carolina: a non-conference showdown at Furman Tuesday at 7pm.