Can the Cocks Three Peat?

     As Memorial Day passes and May turns to June, the regular season of college baseball has ended, along with conference tournaments and it becomes time for the NCAA baseball tournament.  The two time defending national champion South Carolina Gameocks again find themselves in a good position as the 8th overall seed.  The Gamecocks join SEC counterparts Florida (the number one overall seed) and LSU (number 7 overall) as national seeds.  In addition to having three national seeds, the SEC also led all other conferences receiving eight bids to the tournament (USC, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Florida in the East, and LSU, Arkansas, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss in the West), and ten if you count members to be Texas A&M and Missouri. 
     After winning two national titles in a row, expectations are high in Columbia, but getting back to Omaha will be even harder this year than the past two years and the chances that the Cocks win a third title in 2012 is slim for a few reasons.  The first reason is that the Gamecocks have what many analysts believe to be the hardest regional.  They face off in their first matchup against the Manhattan Jaspers out of the MAAC.  Though most people predict that the Cocks will win this matchup, do not be surprised if it is a close game.  The Jaspers have a solid pitching staff led by senior right-hander and recent National Player of the Week recipient Taylor Sewitt.  In addition to Manhattan's pitching staff causing issues, as a team they hit a respectable .273 which could spell trouble for Ray Tanner and his pitchers. 
     If the Cocks can manage to get by the Jaspers, they could possibly face arch rival Clemson.  The Tigers, who made they tournament as an at large team face off in the opening game against another South Carolina school in Coastal.  The Chanticleers won the Big South to make the tournament.  Both of these teams could cause problems for Tanner's team, Clemson having already won against USC once this year and Coastal winning 41 games. 
     Even though the Cocks have a tough regional, I do see them advancing to the Super Regionals unscaved, beating Manhattan Friday, and Clemson Saturday and Sunday.  The Gamecocks dynamic pitching duo of the starter Michael Roth and closer Matt Price will once again save the day and lead the Yard Cocks to hosting a Super Regional for back to back years.  In this second weekend series, I predict that the Cavaliers of Virginia will come to town looking for revenge from last years college world series.
    In this series, I expect the Gamecocks to take game one behind the are of Roth again, but fall in game two.  The Wahoos are too experienced and talented to be swept, and I think the youth of the Cocks will show without their fearless leader on the bump.  In game three, I expect Tanner to make the gutsy call and start Price, which will ultimately pay off and lead Carolina back to Omaha.
    I think the talent is their in the right spots, and with a leader like Ray Tanner the Gamecocks are in every game.  Will the Yard Cocks get to Omaha? Yes, I think they will.  Will they become the first team since Southern Cal (1970-1974) to win three in a row? I'll check back in a few weeks to answer that.