Though Florida and South Carolina combined for 29 hits and 17 runs in an exciting Game 1 that went 14 innings, Saturday’s Game 2 was a much more defensive affair. Both teams lineups struggled to bring runs across at times, but the Gamecocks managed a big fifth inning offensively, and their starting pitcher Brannon Jordan tossed seven fantastic frames as USC took a 4-1 win to hand the Gators their first SEC series loss of the season.
With the win, South Carolina secures its first series victory over Florida since 2011.
Both Jordan and UF starter Jack Leftwich managed to avoid any runs in the first inning (though Leftwich allowed one hit), but Florida managed some offense in the second inning. Sterlin Thompson hit a single off Jordan, and Kris Armstrong followed it up with a double that brought him home, giving the Gators an early 1-0 lead.
The Gamecocks couldn’t match them in the second or third innings, though they stranded five on base between them, but they finally found their rhythm in the fifth. After Leftwich allowed a double and a walk earlier in the inning, USC’s Wes Clarke homered off him to score three runs and take the lead.
After hitting two batters with pitches, Leftwich’s day came to an end, and Franco Aleman got Florida out of the inning without any more damage. Leftwich took his first loss on the season, allowing four hits and three runs in just 4.2 innings of action. He also hit six batters with pitches.
Meanwhile, Jordan only allowed one more hit the rest of the afternoon, finishing his performance with five hits and one run in seven full innings. For his part, Aleman performed well, not allowing any hits while striking out three.
But Florida replaced him with Trey Van Der Weide at the top of the eighth, and he only lasted two batters. A fielding error and a sacrifice put a South Carolina baserunner in scoring position, and Brandon Sproat gave up a single on his first at-bat to bring the runner to third. After a sac-fly from the next batter, the Gamecocks scored an insurance run that didn’t count against Sproat.
The Gators couldn’t get much going in the top of the ninth, as South Carolina closer Brent Kerry (who earned his second save on the season) struck out the first two batters. With two outs, Thompson cracked one to deep center, but it was caught near the warning track.
Winning the series might be out of the question now, but UF will try to bounce back on Sunday and avoid the sweep in Game 3, which starts at noon EDT.
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