OMAHA, Neb. — Arizona followed its script to perfection in Game 1 of the College World Series finals.

Konner Wade did his part, pitching his third straight complete game. Robert Refsnyder did his, leading the Wildcats’ potent offense with a home run for the second straight game.

The Wildcats led all the way Sunday night in a 5-1 victory over two-time defending national champion South Carolina and now stand a victory away from their first title since 1986 and fourth overall.

“Tonight’s over. It’s done with. You’ve got to come out tomorrow and play good baseball,” Arizona coach Andy Lopez said. “We understand where we’re at. These guys understand who they’re playing. They understand it’s not a tournament somewhere in South Dakota.”

The Gamecocks (49-19) swept UCLA and Florida in the best-of-three finals the past two years, but need to beat Arizona twice to become the first team since Southern California in the early 1970s to win three championships in a row.

“Tomorrow’s a new day,” South Carolina center fielder Evan Marzilli said. “So we have to come out tomorrow and pretend like nothing ever happened and go out and hopefully get a win.”

The Wildcats have relied on the same template during a run that has seen them win 10 straight games and 17 of 19.

With an inexperienced and inconsistent bullpen, Lopez wants his starters to go as deep into games as possible.

Wade (11-3) threw an efficient 110 pitches in his sixth complete game of the season and limited the Gamecocks to six hits.