The Florida Gators climbed back to .500 in SEC play with a dominant 14-5 win over South Carolina Thursday to open the final regular season series. The Gators were equally dominant on the mound where Brandon Sproat once again excelled to earn his eighth win of the season.
For the second straight game Wyatt Langford set the tone by sending the first pitch he saw to the batter’s eye to put the Gators on top. The Gators did fail to add to the lead in the first despite having runners on second and third with just one out.
South Carolina recovered and took a 2-1 lead in the third on Andrew Eyster’s double to left.
The Gators evened it up in the bottom half of the inning as Jud Fabian hit an RBI double to score Sterlin Thompson.
Florida then followed with a pair of runs in the fourth including a leadoff homer by Ty Evans.
The Gamecocks struck for a pair of unearned runs in the fifth to once again tie the ballgame after an error by Josh Rivera.
Yet again, the Gators rebounded and put up a crooked number following the South Carolina score. Florida scored three runs in the inning, two from sacrifice flies by Evans and Kris Armstrong.
Florida added two more in the seventh as Caglianone homered to center with BT Riopelle on base to make it a 9-4 advantage.
After the Gators put up another crooked number (5) in the eighth, the Gamecocks added a solo homer to complete the scoring at 14-5.
The win was much needed for the Gators as they continue to make a late push to the postseason.
On Deck:
Florida and South Carolina will resume the final series of the regular season Friday as RHP Brandon Neely will get the start on the mound.