FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - One win short. Arkansas jumped all over South Carolina scoring five runs in the first inning on its way to a 14-4 victory to clinch its spot in the College World Series. The Gamecocks (37-26) were handed their worst NCAA Tournament loss since falling 15-5 to Evansville in the Regional round in 2006.

The winner-take-all game was decided because of two big issues, one that was uncommon to the Gamecocks and one that’s been an issue far too often. A first inning error by one of the nation’s best defenses completely disrupted the flow of the game for South Carolina but walks and hit batters have been all to common this year and those enabled the Razorbacks (44-19) to run away with the series-decider.

“They’re clearly one of the best teams in America and they played probably their best baseball tonight offensively, pitching wise and defensively,” first-year head coach Mark Kingston said. “Tip our cap to them. We had one heck of a season, fell nine innings short of where we wanted to go, but it’s something we’ll build on.”

South Carolina couldn’t have undergone a rougher first inning as the Razorbacks sent nine hitters to the plate and scored five runs on four hits. Freshman Carmen Mlodzinski walked the leadoff hitter of the inning and it got worse after that, including a throwing error on a potential double play ball.

The opening frame was too much for the Gamecocks to bounce back from as it eased any pressure off the home team and forced South Carolina into its bullpen early.

“It was a fluke play,” Tolbert said. “We’ve been shifting all year. A ball was hit in the hole and instincts took over. Got out of spot because of it. I think there was still an out to be made, but it was a fluke play. We could have limited that damage and it didn’t need to turn into what it did. If it happens 10 more times, we probably turn a double play nine times.”

Mlodzinski was able to make it through the first inning, but didn’t go out for a second. He gave up five runs, four that were earned, on four hits and one walk. He also had one strikeout as his record for the year dropped to 3-6 and his earned run average spiked to 5.52 to finish the season.

“They were just hitting pretty good pitches,” Mlodzinski said. “I left a couple over the plate that didn’t need to be there that got hit a long way. It was just a tough night, but a great year for us. That’s the best offense I’ve pitched against, hands down.”

Junior Graham Lawson entered and fared only a bit better allowing two runs on two hits and a walk in the bottom of the second inning as the Razorbacks took a 7-0 lead over their SEC rival.

“Tonight was just not our night,” Kingston said. “Everything we threw up there they hit, and they hit hard. Sometimes you just have to give credit to a very good opponent.”

The Gamecocks tried valiantly to comeback but just couldn’t get enough going against a Razorbacks pitching staff that was fairly fresh. In the fourth inning, seniors Jonah Bride and Justin Row both came into score on a wild pitch that bounced near the feet of LT Tolbert and went to the screen. All-SEC Defensive Team catcher Grant Koch didn’t retrieve the ball from the backstop allowing both runners to score.

In the fifth, Bride’s sinking line drive with two runners on and two outs was caught by right fielder Eric Cole and that was the last good chance the Gamecocks had to get back into the game.

“Coming back from 7-0 is hard regardless but 5-0 after the first, we’ve come back from that before against good teams,” Tolbert said. “No one was ever doubting themselves until the end. This team has fought all year long.”

Arkansas was able to extend its lead in the bottom half of the fifth inning and if the game was ever in doubt, the Razorbacks removed it then. Four pitchers combined to allow five runs on just two hits. There were three walks in the inning and one hit batter.

South Carolina outfielder Jacob Olson and Arkansas outfielder Eric Cole traded solo home runs in the seventh inning. The blast was the 11th of the year for Olson, but he hit another in the eighth to move him to 12 for the season. He finished the year with 55 hits with 32 of them going for extra bases.

“We’re one of the best 10 teams in America right now, and I don’t think that can be questioned,” Kingston said. “We ran into maybe the best team in America tonight and it was roadblock for us. From where we came from at the beginning of the season, to get to this point and to see those guys be that devastated, it shows they are invested. They wouldn’t be hurting so bad if they hadn’t put so much into it.”

South Carolina finishes the season with a 37-26 record overall. For the second time in three year, the season ended at the Super Regional stage of the NCAA Tournament.