Florida baseball completed the sweep of South Carolina with a 13-3 run-rule victory in seven innings.
The Gators struck first, scoring off a Cash Strayer sacrifice fly and a Colton Schwarz two-run double. South Carolina answered immediately with a three-run home in the top of the second, but Florida added three more runs in the bottom half of the inning. Kyle Jones scored Jacob Kendall on a sacrifice fly, and Brendan Lawson brought Kolt Myers and himself home on a no-doubt home run that sparked some chipiness between the two teams.
Florida blew the game wide open in the fourth, with a bases-loaded walk on Blake Cyr and a grand slam from Strayer, who has seven RBIs this weekend on one hit.
Surowiec came up with a two-run double with two outs in the fifth inning, putting the run rule into play.
Cooper Walls gave 4 1/3 innings for Florida on the mound. He struck out five and walked just one, but South Carolina got to him for seven hits, including a three-run home run in the second. Luke McNeillie looked strong in relief, closing out the final 2 2/3 innings without giving up a base hit.
FINAL: Florida 13, South Carolina 3
McNeillie finished the game off with a 1-2-3 inning. He got Scobey chasing a high fastball for out No. 1, and Braland and Randolph both grounded out to shortstop.
McNeillie looked really sharp in relief. He worked out of the bases-loaded jam and around two errors without allowing a hit. He struck out three and lowered his ERA to 2.08.
Florida three outs away from series sweep (E6: UF 13, USC 3)
Cullen Horowicz took over for Parks in the sixth. He walked Strayer on four straight pitches but figured it out after that. He struck out Schwarz and Kendall around a Stanford popup that stayed on the infield grass. No insurance, but Florida has a 10-run lead. Three outs to claim the series sweep.
McNeillie works around errors (M6: UF 13, USC 3)
McNeillie should have had a 1-2-3 inning, but a pair of errors from Florida’s freshman infielders led to two baserunners. McNeillie didn’t blink, though. He struck out Yuhasz, got Craddock to fly out to left and struck out Bak to strand both runners.
Florida leads by 10, run rule in play (E5: UF 13, USC 3)
Kendall walked to open the inning against the new pitcher, Cooper Parks. Myers and Jones both flied out, and it looked like Florida would strand a runner. Lawson kept the inning going with a single up the middle that trickled off a diving second baseman’s glove. Kendall moved to third.
Surowiec doubled down the right field line, scoring both runners. Yuhasz made a diving attempt but couldn’t come up with it. Cyr flied out to right to end the inning.
McNeillie works out of bases-loaded jam (M5: UF 11, USC 3)
Walls ran into trouble, giving up three singles and loading the bases. He recorded one out on a fielder’s choice after the first single, but Kevin O’Sullivan wasn’t leaving him in to try and get out of the jam.
Luke McNeilie took on a tall task to get two outs and not let any runs score, but he got the job done. Randolph popped out into foul territory, and Jamison flied out to center. Beautiful job.
Strayer hits grand slam to blow things wide open (E4: UF 11, USC 3)
Myers struck out looking to end a seven-pitch at-bat, bringing up the top of the Florida lineup. Jones doubled into right-center. South Carolina tried to get him at second, but Jones made it standing up. They walked Lawson after he hit a home run in his last at-bat against Valentin. Surowiec squared one up for a line drive single up the middle. Jones had to wait to make sure it dropped, so he didn’t score, but the bases are loaded.
Brandon Stone took over for Valentin with a 1-1 count after Cyr nearly hit a grand slam. Stone walked in a run, but it was charged to Valentin since he started the at-bat.
Strayer crushed on to right for a grand slam. Florida leads, 11-3.
Schwarz grounded out to short, and Stanford flied out to center field to end the big inning.
Walls punches out a pair (M4: UF 6, USC 3)
Walls got Jamison swinging at the changeup for his fourth strikeout of the day. Evans doubled down the right field line, flashing some speed on his way to second. Yuhasz, who hit the home run earlier, got hold of another one, but it died in center field before the warning track. Walls slipped in a backdoor breaking ball to strike out Reynolds and strand Evans.
Florida held scoreless for first time on Sunday (E3: UF 6, USC 3)
Florida’s offense almost went down as fast as South Carolina’s in the third. Valentin needed just seven pitches to dispatch Strayer and Schwarz on flyouts, but Stanford doubled down the left field line to extend the inning. Kendall couldn’t score him, though. He grounded out back to Valentin, who made the toss to first.
Walls gets shutdown inning (M3: UF 6, USC 3)
After the offense scores runs, a pitcher’s job is to get them back on the field. Walls did just that with a seven-pitch third. Scobey and LeCroy hit long fly balls to left, and Randolph grounded out to Laswson at shortstop. Uneventful is good after both teams scored early.
Lawson hit 10th HR to give Florida lead back (E2: UF 6, USC 3)
Valentin got in a hole right away. Jacob Kendall singled to the left side of the infield. There was a bad throw that took the first baseman off the bag, but Kendall would’ve beaten it out anyway. Kolt Myers followed up with a line drive into right-center, and Kyle Jones brought Kendall in from third with a sacrifice fly.
Lawson hit a no-doubt home run to right field. Everyone in the park knew it, and Lawson watched it longer than usual. He tossed the bat in the direction of Valentin, and South Carolina head coach Paul Manieri argued it was unsportsmanlike conduct, or taunting. The umpires issued warnings to both benches, prompting some more hollering from Manieri, but no one was tossed for now.
Surowiec struck out swinging, and Cyr grounded out to third to end the inning.
South Carolina ties it up with one swing (M2: UF 3, USC 3)
Walls gave up a leadoff single to Jake Randolph, but he bounced back to strike out Aaron Jamison with a pretty changeup. Patrick Evans worked a walk, and Walls went down 2-1 against Luke Yuhasz, prompting a mound visit from Stanford.
Whatever he said didn’t work. Yuhasz crushed a home run to dead center halfway up the batter’s eye. Tie ball game.
Surowiec corralled a hard-hit grounder to first for out No. 2. Craddock doubled down the left field line, but Walls got Craddock to ground out back to him, ending the threat.
Florida scores 3, knocks SC’s starter out early (B1: UF 3, USC 0)
No waiting around for Florida’s first hit today. Kyle Jones singled through the left side and swiped second easily. Brendan Lawson walked for the sixth time this series. South Carolina starter Riley Goodman doesn’t seem to have it early on. He nearly hit Ethan Surowiec, and Florida executed a double steal to put more pressure on him.
Surowiec ended up striking out looking at a ball off the plate. Both teams are going to have to adjust to this umpire’s zone. Goodman couldn’t get Blake Cyr, who walked to load the bases. Cash Strayer gave the ball a ride to dead center. Bak tracked it down on the warning track, but it was plenty deep enough to advance everyone a base. That’s Strayer’s third sacrifice fly of the weekend.
Colton Schwarz continues to swing it well as a true freshman. He laced a double down the left field line for a two-run double, and Florida leads 3-0 early.
Goodman is running a 95-98 mph fastball and an 88 mph slider. Alex Valentin came in to replace him and got Cole Stanford to roll over one for out No. 3.
Walls avoids first-inning woes (M1: UF 0, USC 0)
Cooper Walls started the game off with a strikeout on Will Craddock. Walls’ slider looks good today, and it’s drawing some early swing-and-miss. Tyler Bak grounded the ball to Ethan Surowiec at first, but it popped out of his glove for an error.
Play was stopped after KJ Scobey’s foul ball went off the umpire’s mask, and he came up woozy. Florida’s training staff is taking a look at him. After a 12-minute delay and a change of umpire, Walls picked up where he left off, striking out Scobey on another slider.
Talmedge LeCroy worked a full count. There were some questionable calls from the new umpire, but no one in Florida’s dugout is complaining about the way it worked out. LeCroy probably should have been walked, but he flied out to center field instead.
Stream Florida vs. South Carolina with ESPN+
Probable Starters: Game 3 – Sunday (1 p.m. ET)
NOTES: Cooper Walls has been fine in the Sunday slot this year, but Kevin O’Sullivan has expressed a desire for his third starter to come out with a little more edge as a starter. Sully hinted at Walls trying to pace himself rather than attack right out of the gate, and Florida’s bullpen is good enough to carry the weight if he leaves early. Hopefully, Walls took that message to heart because he’s great after he gets the wake-up call in a game. His slider is still devastating to most right-handers, but the fastball needs to be sharp early.
South Carolina has a couple of options for Sunday. Redshirt freshman Riley Goodman feels like the best choice, having started four weekend games across all three spots in the rotation. His 5.40 ERA is slightly elevated, but he’s only gone four innings so far after coming off Tommy John surgery a year ago.
Florida Gators starting lineup
South Carolina starting lineup
What channel is Florida vs. South Carolina?
The Florida vs. South Carolina game starts at 12 p.m. ET from Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida
Other Players to Watch
Freshman Will Craddock has been a great first-year addition to the team. He’s slashing .368/.490/.658 with four home runs and 12 RBIs through 57 plate appearances, and his strikeout rate (14%) is fairly close to his walk rate (8.8%). Second baseman Logan Sutter is another infielder worth mentioning. His five home runs lead — three came last weekend — and his 14 RBIs rank second.
Catcher Talmadge LeCroy, the team leader with 15 RBIs, deserves a shout for walking (12) more than he strikes out (7). Shortstop KJ Scobey is the team leader in doubles with nine and is second with 14 RBIs.
Alex Valentin is the left-handed closer Florida hopefully won’t have to see. He has four saves on the year and 14 2/3 innings pitched over seven appearances, meaning he can go multiple innings. He’s struck out 24 to just four walks, and opponents are batting .137 off him.
Josh Gregoire is the most-used right-hander out of the ‘pen for South Carolina with seven appearances. He has allowed six earned runs in 8 1/.3 innings, though. A 28.6% home-to-flyball ratio suggests some bad luck, but he’s a groundball (50%) guy at the same time. He could just be missing and giving up homers when he does.
Series History
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida completes series sweep of South Carolina with run-rule win
Reporting by David Rosenberg, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
