Junior left-hander Brian
Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) notched the first complete game of his career and
was supported by an 11-hit offensive attack as No. 2 Florida (42-17) ousted No.
4 South Carolina (40-17) from the 2012 SEC Tournament, 7-2, on Friday night in
front of 9,067 fans at Regions Park. Johnson (7-4) limited the Gamecocks to two
runs on five hits and threw 89 pitches in going the distance. He also registered
five strikeouts and permitted zero walks in the first complete game by a Gator
at the SEC Tourney since Bryan Augenstein accomplished the feat in a 3-2
victory over Alabama on May 24, 2007.
With the win, head coach Kevin
O’Sullivan’s club advances to tomorrow’s semifinal round for the
third-straight year and will meet Vanderbilt (32-25) again 30 minutes after the
conclusion of the matchup between No. 12 Kentucky (43-15) and No. 25 Mississippi
State (37-22) that starts at 1 p.m. ET. Sophomore righty Karsten Whitson
(Chipley, Fla.) (3-0, 3.07) will oppose Commodore sophomore lefty Kevin Ziomek
(5-6, 4.79) in team’s second encounter in Hoover. The action will be shown on
CSS, Channel 259 on the Cox Communications cable system in the
Gainesville/Ocala area, and can be heard on Country 103.7 The Gator with Jeff
Cardozo and Mick Hubert. Tomorrow’s winners will play in the
championship game on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Junior Mike Zunino (Cape
Coral, Fla.) (1-for-3) drove in three runs, highlighted by a two-run homer in
the third inning, while junior Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.)
(2-for-3) scored three runs out of the leadoff spot and freshman Casey
Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) (2-for-4) had a two-run single during a
three-run fifth stanza.
The Gators seized a 1-0 lead in
the top of the first inning against junior Colby Holmes (6-1) on a fielder’s
choice by Zunino. Fontana had opened the game with a double into the
right-field corner and senior Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.)
(2-for-5) followed with a single just beyond the reach of junior second baseman
Chase Vergason. Zunino sent a grounder to first base that junior Christian
Walker fielded and threw out Tucker at second base, enabling Fontana to score
the game’s opening run.
A two-out RBI single by freshman Josh
Tobias (Greensboro, N.C.) (2-for-4) provided Florida with a 2-0 advantage
in the second inning. Turgeon led off with a base-hit into right field and
advanced to second on a grounder by junior Vickash Ramjit (Miami, Fla.).
With two down, Tobias roped a single into left field that plated Turgeon but
was thrown out trying to reach second base.
Zunino crushed a two-run homer to
left field with one down in the third to boost UF’s lead to 4-0. Fontana drew a
leadoff walk and Zunino socked a 0-1 pitch out of the yard for his SEC-leading
16th round-tripper of the season to end the night for Holmes (2.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R)
in favor of freshman Evan Beal.
Johnson retired the first eight
Gamecock hitters of the contest before Vergason (2-for-3) sliced a two-out
single into right field in the bottom of the third. The left-hander responded
by having freshman Joey Pankake fly out to straightaway center field.
The Gators tacked on three more
runs in the fifth on a bases-loaded walk to Johnson and a two-run single by
Turgeon to build a 7-0 margin. Fontana and Tucker had consecutive one-out
singles and moved over on a wild pitch by Beal before Zunino was walked intentionally
to load the bases. A free pass to Johnson brought home Fontana to increase UF’s
lead to 5-0 and Beal countered with a strikeout of senior Daniel Pigott
(Ormond Beach, Fla.). Turgeon came through on a 0-2 count with a single into
left center that brought across Tucker and Zunino and prompted a pitching
change. Junior Nolan Belcher replaced Beal (2.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R) and had freshman Justin
Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) fly out to right field to complete the frame.
Freshman Tanner English beat out
an infield single to start USC’s sixth and went to third on a base-hit down the
left-field line by Vergason. Johnson induced a 5-4-3 double play by Pankake
that put the Gamecocks on the board as English came in for a 7-1 score.
Shafer began the eighth with an
infield single and went to second on a throwing error on the play by sophomore
Forrest Koumas, who had relieved Belcher (2.1 IP, 1 H). Koumas worked out of
the jam by setting down Ramjit and Tobias and then picked Shafer off second
base to end the frame.
Fontana started the ninth with a
walk and Zunino was hit by a pitch with one down before Koumas (1.1 IP, 1 H)
was taken out with an arm issue. Senior Logan Munson had freshman pinch hitter Taylor
Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) fly out to center field, pushing Fontana to
third. However, the lefty had Pigott pop up to Walker to complete the inning.
Johnson recorded the first two
outs in the bottom of the ninth before junior Evan Marzilli doubled down the
left-field line and Walker had an RBI single to finalize the 7-2 count. Florida
held an 11-5 advantage in hits and played flawless defense.
