NO. 7 TEXAS A&M (47-20) vs. NO. 4 SOUTH CAROLINA (50-14)

What: Game 4, College World Series

When: 7 p.m. today

Where: TD Ameritrade Park, Omaha, Neb.

Tickets: Some general admission available at the box office

TV: ESPN2

Probable starting pitchers: Texas A&M -- RHP Ross Stripling (14-2, 2.29 ERA). South Carolina -- LHP Michael Roth (13-3, 1.02)

Notes: South Carolina opens its College World Series with its first-ever matchup with Texas A&M. ... The Gamecocks are the home team. ... USC is attempting to repeat as national champion while the Aggies are making their first trip to the CWS since 1999. ... A&M coach Rob Childress came to Omaha as an assistant at Nebraska, but is on his first trip as head coach. ... USC's Ray Tanner is making his fifth trip in 10 years. ... Associate head coach Chad Holbrook is on his fifth trip as well, after helping North Carolina (also a participant this year) to three straight CWS appearances and USC to one last year. ... The Aggies were the only road team to win a super regional this season. ... USC is making its 10th appearance in Omaha while A&M is on its fifth. ... Roth was a first-team All-American by Baseball America. ... USC is attempting to make the SEC 3-0 in the first round of the CWS.

Next up: The winner advances to meet the Virginia-California winner at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The loser plays the Virginia-California loser at 2 p.m. on Tuesday in an elimination game.

OMAHA, Neb. -- South Carolina has gone from not having enough outfielders to having too many.

The No. 4 Gamecocks practiced at the Ultimate Baseball Academy on Saturday in a strange situation. Jackie Bradley Jr., out since April 23 with a wrist injury, looked fit and trim as he took full swings in batting practice and showed no signs of the long layoff while running and throwing. His replacement in center, Evan Marzilli, was the one taking it easy, staying out of BP and trying to stretch out a tender hamstring.

There were games this season -- several, several games -- where Tanner was close to pulling a spare outfielder out of the stands. The rotation had solidified in recent weeks, though, USC starting Steven Neff, Marzilli and Jake Williams in its last four games.

But Marzilli tweaked his hamstring during the Gamecocks' first practice in Omaha, as Bradley Jr. was running around, shagging flies and getting back into swinging shape. Nothing will replace the dozens of at-bats that Bradley Jr. missed while he was shelved, but watching him run around during practice was making Tanner think.

"I can't say for sure, but he looks really good to me," Tanner said. "Physically, he appears to be in really, really good shape. Mentally, he's off the charts right now, ready to go, which makes a lot of difference as well.

So ... ?

"I expect him to be in there," Tanner said. "Possibly."

Seventh-ranked Texas A&M might have had enough to worry about, playing in Omaha for the first time since 1999, but now a guy the Aggies weren't counting on to play could be in the lineup. And that guy was the most outstanding player of last year's CWS.

"I didn't think Evan was going to be able to go, today he looks a lot better," Tanner said. "He's able to sprint a little bit. Got some decisions to make. We haven't had a lot of decisions to make, now, maybe we have a few."

Either way, it seems a fully stocked Gamecocks team will be starting the College World Series.

"It's great to have (Jackie) back and we're all ready to go," second baseman Scott Wingo said. "We're just ready to get out there."

USC plays the last game of the first round and will face a team that had to do it the hard way. The Aggies (47-20) had to play their way out of the losers' bracket in the NCAA Regionals, then fought through a rubber game in the super regional round to get to Omaha. Some have labeled A&M the hottest team in the country.

"I mean, everybody's found the way to win the regional," coach Rob Childress said. "Everybody's found a way to win the super regional and they're still playing. So I wouldn't say we're playing any better than the other seven teams here."

Texas A&M will send Ross Stripling (14-2) to the mound and the Aggies will try to hit Michael Roth (13-3). A&M is trying to become the latest team to contribute to USC's staggering streak of opening-game CWS losses.

"Thanks for bringing it up," Tanner quipped before leaving for Omaha. "If you could promise me that we'd win a whole bunch of games after losing that first, I'd probably take it. But I would like to open with a win for once."

USC has lost an incredible seven straight openers, and only broke a string of 46 consecutive scoreless innings last year. It's a testament to the Gamecocks that they still have a record of 23-17 in Omaha, usually sticking around for a while after that opening loss.

"We don't talk about it much," Roth said. "Why would we?"

USC is simply trying to keep playing well. The Gamecocks have not been a dominant team, but a mix of outstanding pitching, clutch hitting and veteran leadership has paved the way for them to get to Omaha. Now that they are in the CWS, that pesky term they've avoided talking about all season can be mentioned.

"Repeat."

"I don't think too far past today," Tanner said. "I don't read websites. I don't Tweet. I don't do Facebook. I listen to country music, and that's kind of all I know.

"They got great numbers, stolen bases, a guy with 14 wins on the mound, they've got all the ingredients to be successful. We're just going to try to go out and do what we do and hopefully it will be good enough to stay in position to win."

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