OMAHA, Neb. -- It will take a SEC team to beat another SEC team.

After the three conference teams competing at TD Ameritrade Park won their opening games on Saturday and Sunday, the SEC was guaranteed its first loss at the College World Series Monday night when league heavyweights Florida and Vanderbilt met in a winner's bracket game.

When the game started, the bad news was either the Gators or Commodores had to fall into the loser's bracket and face North Carolina on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in an elimination game.

But the good news was the winner earned two days off and had to be beaten twice in order to deny it to right to advance to the national championship series.

However, Mother Nature intervened in a big, and sometimes scary, way. Severe weather in the Omaha area halted the game shortly after 9 p.m. ET. High winds, menacing black clouds, possible tornadoes and heavy rain pelted the downtown area for over 2-1/2 hours before CWS officials surrendered.

Officially, the tornado sirens started blaring at 9:01 p.m. ET and fans who understood the significance of that scurried for the exits. A minute later, the game was stopped, but only after several more pitches had been thrown.

Within 15 to 20 minutes, in a scene reminiscent of the movie "Independence Day" an ominous black cloud hovered directly over the stadium. The press box was quickly evacuated when a tornado threat was issued by the National Weather Service.

Welcome to the Midwest.

The Florida-Vanderbilt game will resume at 11 a.m. ET Tuesday with the Gators leading 3-1, in the bottom of the sixth inning, and will be followed by the California-Texas A&M elimination game at 2 p.m. ET and the highly anticipated South Carolina-Virginia winner's bracket battle at 7 p.m. ET when the defending national champions will square off with the national No. 1 seed.

With an overall 3-0 mark heading into the fourth day, the SEC has clearly made a statement about which conference stands alone at the top of the college baseball world.

"We have 12 teams in our league and anybody can beat anybody," Tanner said. "We're accustomed to being in a lot of close games. It helps you along the way. It doesn't make you win and it doesn't guarantee you anything. But you try to wiggle through it and figure out a way. Vandy and Florida played very well (in their first CWS games)."

TUESDAY'S STARTERS: USC confirmed Monday afternoon that sophomore RHP Colby Holmes will start Tuesday night's winners bracket game against No. 1 national seed Virginia. Holmes is 7-3 with a 3.78 ERA in 81.0 innings with 70 strikeouts and 20 walks. He lasted 4.1 IP in his last start against UConn, allowing five hits and two runs. This will be Holmes' 13th start of the season.

"Colby is not only getting an opportunity to be here, he's getting a chance to pitch on the big stage," Tanner said. "He's earned it, he deserves to be here and I'm excited to see him out there. We're probably going to have to pitch inside more. This is a big ballpark. We might be able to get away with a couple of fly balls. The home run has been his nemesis this year. But he's mature and composed and has had a good year for us."

Virginia will counter with junior RHP Will Roberts, who is best known for tossing the eighth nine-inning perfect game in NCAA history against George Washington on March 29. The career mark for Roberts, a fifth-round selection of the Cleveland Indians, is a stellar 18-1 with a 2.54 ERA in 28 career starts. The only loss of his career came May 21 at North Carolina.

"Virginia has a stable of pitchers and that's why they're where they are," Tanner said. "They're number one in the country because of their pitching staff. I've seen Roberts on tape a little bit. They can mix and match with the changeups and breaking pitch. It's not going to be an easy task to get runs against that staff.

USC - RHP Colby Holmes (7-3, 3.78 ERA, 81.0 IP, 72 hits, 37 runs, 70 K, 20 BB)

UVA - RHP Will Roberts (11-1, 1.58 ERA, 102.1 IP, 72 hits, 21 runs, 91 K, 13 BB)

JACKIE BACK IN THE LINEUP: After returning to action on Sunday for the first time since April 23, Jackie Bradley Jr. is expected to be back in the lineup on Tuesday night. He went 1-for-4 Sunday night in the exciting 5-4 walk-off win over Texas A&M and nearly threw out a runner at the plate.

"It appears he will be (back in the lineup)," Tanner said Monday following USC's workout at Creighton University. "He seems to be very comfortable physically. The bat is looking a little bit better with every swing."

Tanner remained undecided where Bradley Jr. will bat in the order. Initially, he was placed second in the order, but once Marzilli was cleared to play Bradley Jr. was dropped to ninth.

"Last (Sunday) night I went back and forth and tinkered with it," Tanner said. "I settled on the nine hole because he hadn't been there in a while. I didn't want him to feel like being in the middle of the order he had to do something special. Hopefully, it took a little pressure on him, But if I ask him, he'll tell me to move him up and he'll be fine."

Evan Marzilli took batting practice on Monday but didn't shag fly balls in the outfield in order to give his hamstring a rest.

"We told Marzilli to just take batting practice and not do too much in the outfield," Tanner said.

THE WINGO LEGACY: Scott Wingo added another paragraph to his already lengthy career biography with his fourth game-winning walk-off hit of the season on Sunday night. Following his 4-for-4 night, Wingo is now batting .350 (second behind Christian Walker) with four homers and 28 RBI. He leads the Gamecocks with a .475 on-base percentage and 43 walks.

"That was impressive," Tanner said. "It was a great game for him. We needed him to have that type of game for us last night. It was great to see from someone who has been in the program for such a long time and who has meant so much to everybody. As his career winds down here at the College World Series, that's a fantastic memory."

Wingo is having by far the best year of his career offensively. In his first three years, his highest average was .247. But dedication and long hours in the batting cage and weight room have proven beneficial for Wingo, a native of Mauldin, SC.

"He was a guy that needed to gain strength. He is stronger than he has ever been. The weight room has really paid dividends for him offensively," Tanner said. "He is the epitome of a two hole hitter. He'll walk, he'll get hit by a pitch. He is a very unselfish player."

UNC ELIMINATES LONGHORNS: Texas had won five straight elimination game in the NCAA Tournament prior to Monday afternoon's meeting with North Carolina in a win-or-go home contest. The streak didn't reach six, though, as UNC prevailed, 3-0, at TD Ameritrade Park.

UNC freshman lefthander Kent Emanuel dazzled the Longhorns by spinning a complete game four-hit shutout that sent Texas home to Austin to figure out what went wrong in Omaha. It was the first complete game shutout at the CWS since 2006, and the first complete game shutout by a freshman since 1993. Emanuel fanned five and walked one while throwing 126 pitches.

"Saying it was a sensational performance by Kent Emanuel would be an understatement," UNC head coach Mike Fox said. "You don't see too many complete game shutouts out here. It didn't really surprise us that Kent went all nine innings. He's been on the big stage for us. Down the stretch he's been throwing well for us."

North Carolina scored the only runs they would need in the top of the third when Jacob Stallings, son of Vanderbilt basketball coach Kevin Stallings, delivered a clutch two-out, two-run single to right-center. The Tar Heels added an insurance run in the ninth

The shutout loss by Texas dropped the Big 12 to 0-3 at the CWS with Texas A&M scheduled to face California in an elimination game on Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET.

NOTES:

-- USC is 35-27 all-time against Virginia. The last time the two schools met was 2006 at the NCAA Charlottesville Regional when the Gamecocks won, 8-2, thanks in large part to a mammoth Phil Disher grand slam. USC has won eight straight games in the series. UVa's last win over USC occurred in 1978.

-- USC is 17-1 in the NCAA Tournament over the last two seasons, and 108-56 overall since their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1974.

-- USC and Virginia share two common opponents in 2011 - Clemson and Auburn. USC won two of three games over their Palmetto State rival, while sweeping four games from Auburn. UVa swept Clemson and beast Auburn, 13-2.

-- Tanner said Robert Beary will likely remain at catcher because Brady Thomas still isn't physically ready to play behind the plate.

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES SCORES/SCHEDULE:

GAMES OF SAT. JUNE 18

Vanderbilt 7, North Carolina 3

Florida 8, Texas 4

GAMES OF SUN., JUNE 19

Virginia 4, California 1

South Carolina 5, Texas A&M 4

GAMES OF MON., JUNE 20

North Carolina 3, Texas 0 (Tex eliminated)

Vanderbilt v. Florida (Susp. in 6th Inn.)

GAMES OF TUE., JUNE 21

Vanderbilt v. Florida, 11 a.m. (ESPN)(Resumption)

California v. Texas A&M, 2 p.m. (ESPN)(Elimination Game)

USC v. Virginia, 7 p.m. (ESPN)(Winner's bracket).

GAME OF WED. JUNE 22:

North Carolina v. Vanderbilt/Florida Loser, 7 p.m.

(All Times Eastern).

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