After chance after chance after chance, South Carolina baseball broke through in its NCAA tournament opener Friday thanks to a junior outfielder who came in late in the game.
That would be Danny Blair, not TJ Hopkins.
Blair, a light-hitting center fielder with just eight starts this season and two home runs in his college career, skied a three-run long ball late to erase a shutout, and from there, the Gamecocks never stopped, powering to an 8-3 win over Ohio State.
USC coach Mark Kingston had said Thursday that Hopkins, typically a starter and table-setter for Carolina (34-24), might be a late substitution for the team in the East Carolina region as he recovers from an injured back.