Despite a Carolina Stadium record crowd of 8,242, the No. 6 Gamecocks (42-13, 20-9 SEC) struggled at the plate to deliever runs off timely hits and the result is a 5-2 loss to the Florida Gators (40-12, 22-7). With the UF win, they claim the SEC regular season championship and the number one seed in the upcoming SEC tournament. It’s No. 4 Florida’s first SEC title since 2005.
The ‘Cocks were again unable to muster enough run support after getting a solid outing from starter Sam Dyson, who lasted 6 2/3 innings, giving up four runs on just five hits while striking out seven and walking one.
For the Gators, starter Hudson Randall gave up two runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings and was relieved by Steven Rodriguez, who picked up his first victory in 1 1/3 innings pitched. Greg Larson and Kevin Chapman shut the Gamecocks down the final 2 1/3 innings.
Big issue in this game and in the first game – runners left on base for USC. Tanner’s boys left 10 runners on base on Thursday and 8 runners on the base last night. That equals to lost opportunity and two loses for USC.
Coach Tanner sums it up below —
“Congratulations to (Florida) for winning the regular season,” USC coach Ray Tanner said. “They played better than us, pitched better than us and got some timely hits.”
Game 3 is at 4:00 p.m. on FoxSports South today. Tanner has not named a starter but will be chosen from the group of Nolan Belcher, Tyler Webb, and Jay Brown. Florida sends freshamn LHP Brian Johnson {5-2, 3.53 ERA, 58.2 IP, 11 BB, 41 SO} to the mound today.
For Carolina today, yes the series is lost but don’t get sweeped. Need this win to help with RPI thus help with seeding in regionals. Goals are still in play with SEC Tourney and CWS coming up.
—Game 2 Box Score
