Omaha, Neb. ? Whit Merrifield’s RBI single with one out in the bottom of the 11th inning gave South Carolina its first baseball national championship with a 2-1 victory over UCLA in the College World Series on Tuesday night.

South Carolina players mob teammate Scott Wingo (8) after he scored the winning run against UCLA in the 11th inning Tuesday in Omaha, Neb.

The Gamecocks (54-16) won six straight games after losing their CWS opener against Oklahoma. They also won the last championship played at Rosenblatt Stadium, the CWS’ home since 1950.

“I don’t know how I feel,” coach Ray Tanner said. “I’ve never been in this situation. I know one thing, I’m extremely proud of these guys and my coaches. It’s unbelievable.

“I’m off the ground right now.”

It was the fifth championship decided in an extra-inning final and first since Southern California topped Florida State — also 2-1 — in 15 innings in 1970.

Scott Wingo drew a leadoff walk and took second when catcher Steve Rodriguez, perhaps distracted when Evan Marzilli squared to bunt, let an inside 1-0 pitch get past him. Wingo moved to third when Marzilli got a bunt down and scored when Merrifield drilled a 2-0 pitch by Dan Klein past the pulled-in outfield of the Bruins (51-17) and into right field.

Matt Price (5-1) got the win, allowing one hit over 22?3 innings for the Gamecocks, who also went to the CWS finals in 1975, ’77 and 2002, but came up short.

“I could have gone another two innings if I had to,” Price said. “The adrenaline kicked in.”

Klein (6-1) took the loss after working 31?3 innings for the Bruins — “The greatest club we played the entire year,” Tanner said.

Each team had plenty of scoring chances but had difficulty converting in Rosenblatt’s finale before the event moves to a new downtown stadium next year.