South Carolina baseball: Gamecocks’ NCAA Tournament win streak will never be broken

South Carolina baseball won 22 consecutive postseason games between 2010 and 2012.

Ten years ago today, the South Carolina baseball team was hoisting its second straight national championship trophy after taking down the Florida Gators in game two of the College World Series finals. Just one year prior, the Gamecocks had defeated UCLA in the event to bring home the program’s first ever title, and begin a streak that will never be matched in college baseball.

Between the 2010 and 2012 seasons, head coach Ray Tanner led the Gamecocks to three straight CWS finals, winning two championships, and setting NCAA tournament records for both most consecutive postseason wins (22) and most consecutive wins in Omaha (12). South Carolina was the last team to win a title in historic Rosenblatt Stadium, as well as the first to win one in the new TD Ameritrade Park.

Over those three magical seasons, the Gamecocks were nearly unstoppable in postseason play. The program posted an incredible record of 30-4 in NCAA Tournament action, including a 15-4 mark in Omaha.

In 2010, the Gamecocks lost their College World Series opener to Oklahoma. At the time, things seemed bleak, with South Carolina being forced to start in the loser’s bracket. Fast forward six games, and the team was putting a bow on its first ever national championship trophy.

In that six-game run, South Carolina found an unlikely hero in Michael Roth, who helped the Gamecocks take down archrival Clemson twice on its way to the finals. There, they’d face, and defeat, UCLA stud pitchers Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer on back-to-back nights.

The following season, Ray Tanner’s crew blew through the NCAA Tournament, notching a perfect 11-0 postseason record, and taking down SEC rival Florida in the CWS finals. At that time, the Gamecocks had already set an NCAA record with 16 straight tournament victories, but they weren’t quite done.

In 2012, the Gamecocks would get off to a 5-0 start in regional and super regional action to land a bid in Omaha for the third straight season. An opening day win in the College World Series would balloon the streak to 22 games, before it officially ended with a loss to Arkansas the following contest. While the streak was over, the Gamecocks’ season wasn’t. They’d rally from the loser’s bracket to make the finals once again, avenging that previous loss to the Razorbacks in the process.

South Carolina came up short in the finals, losing two games to eventual national champion Arizona, but the 22-game postseason win streak is one that we won’t see broken in our lifetime.