South Carolina put runners on in both the first and the second but couldn’t get either home. Florida manufactured a run in the bottom of the third. A lead off walk moved to second on a fielder’s choice. A wild pitch and a sac fly led to a 1-0 Gator lead. Forrest Koumas settled in after that and worked around a couple of hits to make into the sixth. Tyler Webb relieved him and got out of the sixth. Webb also pitched the seventh and the eighth and only allowed one hit.
The offense continued to struggle against Randall until the eighth inning. Randall’s undoing was a lead off walk to Peter Mooney. Money was scarified to second by Robert Beary. He then tagged and advanced to third on Evan Marzilli’s fly ball to deep center. Then on a 2-2 count Scott Wingo singled up the middle to tie the game.
In the bottom of the ninth in a tie game with John Taylor pitching Florida loaded the bases. Coach Tanner brought the infield in, and the first batter hit sharply to Wingo at second. Wingo dove to his right, fielded the ball and fired to Beary at home. The throw was low, but Beary dug it out back handed for the first out. Tanner left the infield in, and that move paid off. The next Gator grounded to Wingo who threw home to Beary who then wheeled and threw to first to end the inning.
In the bottom of the tenth the Gamecocks faced a walk off loss again. With two outs and runners on second and third, SEC player of the year Mike Zunino singled to left field. Jake Williams charged and threw out Cody Dent at home plate to maintain the tie score.
In the top of the 11th, the Gamecocks moved ahead for good. With one out, Christian Walker, broken wrist and all, singled. Adam Matthews, who had replaced Brady Thomas earlier, came to bat. A hit and run was on, but Matthews couldn’t make contact with a high, inside fastball. The throw from Zunino sailed into centerfield, and Walker headed for third. The center fielder’s throw couldn’t be handled by the third baseman, and Walker scrambled home.
Matt Price came into the game in the bottom of the 11th after having thrown 95 pitches only 72 hours earlier. He worked around a single for the save.
Up next…The Gamecocks play again tonight at 8 pm on ESPN. USC will start sophomore lefty Michael Roth on the mound tonight in game two of its championship series with Florida. Roth is 13-3 this season with a 0.98 ERA.
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