Florida baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan and his tattered-up crew of Gators entered their week at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama, with one goal in mind: beat Ole Miss on Wednesday to give themselves a chance at a NCAA regional host seed.
Step one is complete as the No. 15 Gators (38-19, 15-15 SEC) defeated South Carolina (28-28, 6-24 SEC) 11-3 Tuesday and moves on to face the Rebels Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST.
Right-handed junior Billy Barlow got the start on the mound against the Gamecocks. He’s had an up-and-down year both as a midweek starter and out of the bullpen on SEC weekends, and started off the game with a sketchy first inning. He loaded the bases and let up a run before getting out of the frame.
Florida responded shortly after with a three-run second inning in one blow. Bobby Boser hit a 3-run homer in the bottom second to take the lead and tie catcher Brody Donay for home runs by a Gator this season with 16.
Donay would retake the lead just an inning later with a solo-shot homer to the backside. Outfielder Hayden Yost followed suit with an RBI double to make it 5-1 after three frames.
Barlow found a little trouble in the fourth, walking the seven and eight-hole hitters with two outs. O’Sullivan opted to take a chance on freshman reliever Blaine Rowland, who’d shown promise by throwing 7.2 innings of no-earned run ball since April 26.
The right-hander got the winning decision Tuesday with 3.2 innings of solid pitching, including a scoreless fifth, sixth and seventh.
Florida added a run in the fourth and fifth on a Ty Evans RBI double and a Yost home run. Yost has four homers this season since hitting his first against Texas. The Gators will be welcoming of a hot streak between the two outfielders.
Rowland let up a pair of runs in the eighth, and O’Sullivan brought in Christian Rodriguez to finish the inning. Florida went on a tear in the bottom frame to make it 11-3, and the right-hander from Stoneman Douglas came out for the ninth to close out the win.
Florida takes on Ole Miss tomorrow at 9 p.m.
ChompTalk.com 
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