SEC Tournament: Florida edges South Carolina in extra innings

After giving up the tying run in the ninth, Florida bounced back to win it in the bottom of the 10th versus South Carolina.

Florida baseball third baseman [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] hit a fly ball to center field with two runners in scoring position with only one out in the bottom of the 10th inning. The Gators’ right fielder [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] tagged up at third base as South Carolina’s Evan Stone made the catch. Stone then heaved the ball home that beat him home by a country mile and Gamecocks’ catcher Talmadge LeCroy tagged Evans out. But the baseball popped out of his glove after the tag.

The home plate umpire ruled Evans safe, and Florida will live to fight for another day as it beats the Gamecocks, 2-1, in the opening round of the SEC tournament in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday. The No. 7-seeded Gators advance to the second round where they will play No. 2-seeded Texas A&M on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. EDT.

Through the first three innings, Florida’s lineup only registered two hits and a walk. Head coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag]’s team then scored its lone run of the game in the fourth inning. Shortstop [autotag]Joshua Rivera[/autotag] doubled down the right-field line. Designated hitter [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] followed by singling to shortstop and then South Carolina committed a throwing error to plate Rivera.

Starter [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] outdueled Gamecocks’ starter Will Sanders who went seven innings while only surrendering four hits, three walks and one run that was unearned. Sproat meanwhile went 8 1/3 innings and finished allowing four hits, one earned run and a walk while striking out seven Gamecocks. He also carried a no-hitter until the seventh inning.

South Carolina finally broke through in the ninth inning. O’Sullivan made the gutsy call to stick with Sproat with just over 100 pitches thrown. Second baseman Braylen Wimmer and designated hitter Josiah Sightler singled to put runners on the corner with one out.

Florida then called on reliever [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] to try to force a ground ball for a double play. Right fielder Andrew Eyster hit a ground ball to Halter but it was too slow with the glove. The Gators only got the pinch-runner out at second, and South Carolina knotted the game up at 1-1.

Then the Gators walked it off in the bottom of the 10th via Halter’s sacrifice fly.

The Gators will return to the ballpark in Hoover to face the Aggies at 5:30 p.m. EDT and can be seen on SEC Network.

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Florida baseball drops regular season finale vs South Carolina Gamecocks

Florida finishes the regular season 35-20 and 15-15 in SEC play after losing to South Carolina 4-1 on Saturday.

Florida baseball starter [autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag] tossed a strong 6 1/3 innings on Sunday in the Gators’ regular-season finale where he only allowed five hits and three earned runs while striking out six hitters. However, his lineup didn’t offer much support. They only tallied one run on three hits in a 4-1 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday at Condron Ballpark.

Pogue settled down after allowing three runs through the first innings. He allowed a home run to designated hitter Josiah Sightler in the first, a double and an RBI single in the second and then another Sightler solo shot in the third. He didn’t allow another hit afterward but was pulled by head coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] with only one out recorded in the seventh after he hit a Gamecock batter with a pitch.

After the rain delay in the top of the seventh, reliever [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] entered the game and gave up another run to make it 4-1.

Florida’s lone run only came in the bottom of the second when right fielder [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] scored on a third baseman [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] single. Second baseman [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] was the only other Gators batter to tally a base knock.

The rest of the team was a combined 0-19 to go along with five strikeouts. However, they earned nine walks with two of them coming from Evans and left fielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag].

South Carolina dodged the series sweep on Sunday after dropping the first two games. Florida finished the regular season 35-20 with a 15-15 record in SEC play.

The Gators’ next game will be in the SEC tournament that starts on Tuesday at Hoover, Alabama.

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Wyatt Langford blasts a pair of homers (again!) to beat South Carolina

Florida baseball used two homers from Wyatt Langford to blow by South Carolina on Thursday night at Condron Ballpark.

Florida baseball left fielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] hit a lead-off bomb to kick off the game versus South Carolina and then went long again in the bottom of the eighth inning for his second straight game with two home runs. His power outburst again helped the Gators defeat the Gamecocks, 14-5, Thursday at Condron Ballpark in the opening game of the regular season’s final series.

Langford finished the game 2-for-4 with that pair of solo shots and a walk. His first home run versus South Carolina was his 20th of the season, giving him sole possession of the team lead for the most dingers. He also became the just sixth Florida batter to crush that many round-trippers in a season.

South Carolina briefly grabbed the lead from the Gators in the top of the third. Starter [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] plunked two Gamecocks and walked a third to load the bases. Their right fielder Andrew Eyster then doubled in a pair of runs, 2-1.

Florida knotted it up at two apiece when [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] doubled in second baseman [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag].

Then the Gators provided offensive fireworks. Right fielder [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] homered to center field. Thompson, with the bases juiced, lined out to left field to drive in another run on a sac fly, giving them the 4-2 lead.

The Gamecocks tied the game up once more in the top of the fifth. They scored a run via a shortstop [autotag]Joshua Rivera[/autotag] error and doubled in another.

Florida hit back-to-back-to-back singles to start the fifth. On the third one, designated hitter [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] drove in catcher [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag]. The Gators then pushed across two more runs via sacrifice flies to increase their lead to 7-4. They then tacked on seven more insurance runs while allowing South Carolina to only add one in the final innings to cruise to a 14-5 win.

Sproat went 6 1/3 innings allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits, three walks and three hit batters while striking out three. Florida’s offense muscled an impressive 16 hits leading to its 14-run tally. However, the Gators’ defense was not quite as robust, committing two errors in the field.

Florida and South Carolina will face off again on Friday at 7 p.m. EDT and can be seen on SEC Network+.

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Gators’ power surge runs USF Bulls out of Gainesville

Florida unleashed the beast tonight and got revenge for the loss in the regionals last year.

It has been a disappointing season for Florida baseball as the schedule winds down into the final weeks, with the Gators severely underperforming their projections due to a dearth of reliable pitching and some untimely cold streaks by the bats. With just 12 games remaining until the start of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, UF is in dire need of a jumpstart if the Orange and Blue has any hopes of making the postseason.

On Tuesday night, Florida got that jolt of power from its bats against the South Florida Bulls in an 18-3 victory at Condron Family Ballpark to avenge a shocking loss in the opening round of the regionals last year. [autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag] got the start on the bump and looked strong despite a few blemishes, tossing four innings of two-run ball while the bats caught fire.

The Bulls struck in the top of the first with a solitary run but the Gators began to show their fury in the bottom half of the frame, with [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] launching a two-run home run to make it a 2-1 score. After a scoreless top of the second, Florida unleashed the beast with a trio of home runs — a solo shot by [autotag]Mac Guscette[/autotag], then a grand slam for Fabian immediately followed by a back-to-back knock by [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] to push the lead to 8-1.

USF plated a run thanks to a throwing error attempting to gun down the leadoff hitter, who made it across on a sac fly to add to the 8-2 score. But the Gators were not complacent with a six-run lead and pushed across a pair of runs on a [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] double and a [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] sac fly to make it a 10-2 game.

Pogue clicked on cruise control for the next couple of innings while the Gators added a six-spot on a Guscette fielder’s choice, followed by a bases-loaded bloop single by Thompson with two outs, and then Fabian’s third dinger of the day immediately following in the fourth that launched the score to a 16-2 blowout. His three homers and eight RBI were already career highs for the elder Fabian before the game was even halfway over.

[autotag]Tyler Nesbitt[/autotag] took over in the fifth along with a few other fielding adjustments and shut down USF in order, and the Gators did the same in the bottom half of the frame. Florida tacked on another in the bottom of the sixth on a sac fly that followed [autotag]Kris Armstrong[/autotag]’s triple and nearly padded the lead even more but failed to capitalize further for a 17-2 tally.

[autotag]Karl Hartman[/autotag] took over in the seventh, and after striking out the first batter on a full count, hit the next one followed by a base-on-balls but escaped damage thanks to a strikeout and a fielder’s choice to close out the inning. The Gators made some noise in the bottom half but failed to score. [autotag]Anthony Ursitti[/autotag] came in for the eighth and gave up a run after surrendering a leadoff single along with a walk followed by another single and a fielder’s choice to make it a 17-3 game.

Florida scored its 18th run — more than any other game this season — on a [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] solo home run and threatened to score more before going down in the bottom of the eighth. Ursitti came back out to close things out, retiring the first two batters he face before an error by [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] unmercifully prolonged the inevitable. A wild pitch and a walk strung things along further before a strikeout finally clinched the game.

The Gators hit the road this weekend for a weekend series against the Mississippi State Bulldogs starting on Friday at 8 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network and can be heard on ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF.

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