Sophomore
Harrison Bader (Bronxville, N.Y.) delivered a two-run, two-out single in
the eighth as Florida (18-18/7-7 SEC) rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the inning to
notch a 4-3 triumph over No. 8 South Carolina (27-9/8-6 SEC) on Friday night at
McKethan Stadium. With their fourth-straight win, all over ranked opponents,
the Gators reached the .500 mark for the first time since March 9 and clinched
their second SEC series win of the season. In addition, the Orange and Blue has
won three one-run outings in a row.
Sophomore
Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) (2-for-4) started UF’s decisive rally with
a base-hit up the middle before senior Adam Westmoreland (4-1) jammed sophomore
Taylor Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) on an infield fly. Sophomore Justin Shafer
(Lake Wales, Fla.) delivered a single into center field for two runners aboard
with one down and senior Vickash Ramjit (Miami, Fla.) walked to load the
bags. Sophomore Josh Tobias (Greensboro, N.C.) then narrowed the gap to
3-2 with an RBI grounder back to Westmoreland that brought home Turgeon. Bader
moved the Gators in front by slicing a 1-1 offering into left field that brought
across Shafer and Ramjit to give the hosts a 4-3 advantage.
Sophomore
Johnny Magliozzi (East Milton, Mass.), who had saved Thursday’s night’s
3-2 Gator win, replaced redshirt freshman Aaron Rhodes (Venice, Fla.)
prior to the ninth and issued a leadoff walk to sophomore Tanner English on a
3-2 count. Junior Graham Saiko (2-for-4) moved his teammate into scoring
position with a sacrifice bunt and senior Chase Vergason flew out to center
field for the second out. Senior LB Dantzler was walked intentionally and
Magliozzi uncorked a wild pitch that moved both runners over. The right-hander
rebounded to strike out junior Brison Celek swinging to end the contest and
register his eighth save. Rhodes (1-0) claimed his first collegiate victory
with a 1.1-inning stint in which he gave up two hits and a run.
“He
[Harrison Bader] didn’t have the greatest at-bats before that last one,” head
coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Like I told the team at the end, ‘they
only remember your last one,’ and that last one for him was a big one. It was a
big, big hit for a freshman to come into that situation and buckle down while
facing a really good pitcher, [Adam] Westmoreland. He put a really good swing
on the ball and he put his other at-bats behind him. This game is funny in that
way, it always seems to come right back to you, and he did a really great job.”
“I
also thought the freshmen pitchers did a really nice job. Obviously, their
[USC’s] approach was to swing early in the count and they did a nice job
attacking Danny [Young], but he hung in there. I think one inning he had
runners on second and third with nobody out, and he held them to one run. Then,
Mike Vinson came in and did a nice job and kept it together. [Bobby] Poyner
came in and got his two outs, Aaron Rhodes did a nice job and then Mags [Johnny
Magliozzi] came in and did his thing. Overall, it was a really great game. It
was a frustrating game offensively, because I thought we had some chances to
put some runs on the board early, but we hung in there and the eighth inning
was huge for us.”
South
Carolina totaled three hits in the first inning against freshman left-hander Danny
Young (Boca Raton, Fla.) but came away empty-handed. Saiko led off the game
with a single up the middle and Vergason hit into a 6-4-3 double play after
Saiko was called for runner’s interference at second base. Following a single
by Dantzler, Celek roped a double into the left-field corner. Young had
freshman Max Schrock line out to right field to end the frame.
The
Gators took advantage of a throwing error to break the ice in the bottom of the
inning. Freshman Richie Martin (Brandon, Fla.) drew a leadoff walk from
senior Jordan Montgomery and Turgeon advanced his teammate to third with a
single into right center. With one down, Montgomery had an errant pickoff throw
that enabled Martin to score and Turgeon to occupy third base. The left-hander
struck out Shafer and had Ramjit pop up to hold the deficit at 1-0.
USC
tied the game in the third on an RBI grounder by Schrock. Saiko began the inning
with a single into left field and Vergason ripped a double to right field to
put the Gamecocks in business with none out. Young struck out Dantzler and
walked Celek intentionally to load the bases with one down. After Schrock drove
in Saiko, Ramjit made a sprawling catch in foul territory on a pop-up by sophomore
Joey Pankake to complete the frame.
Sophomore
Connor Bright (3-for-4) provided the visitors with a 2-1 lead in the fourth on
his third homer of the campaign into the left-field bleachers with one down.
Ramjit
opened the Gator fourth with a base-hit into left field, ending the night for
Montgomery (3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER) and bringing Westmoreland into the fray. Tobias
moved Ramjit into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt and Bader was hit by a
pitch for two Florida runners aboard. Westmoreland had sophomore Mike
Fahrman (Tampa, Fla.) line out to right field and senior Cody Dent
(Boynton Beach, Fla.) ground out to preserve the 2-1 advantage.
After
having Dantzler ground out to start the fifth, on which Ramjit made a
tremendous stop, Young (4.1 IP, 8 H, 2 R) was replaced by freshman Mike
Vinson (Miami, Fla.). The right-hander had Celek ground out before issuing
a walk to Schrock with two down. Vinson had Pankake fly out to straightaway
center field to finish the inning.
A
throwing error by Vinson enabled Saiko to reach first to begin the seventh,
prompting a call to the bullpen. Vergason greeted sophomore reliever Bobby
Poyner (Wellington, Fla.) with a sacrifice bunt and a fly-out to center
field by Dantzler pushed Saiko to third base. Rhodes induced an inning-ending
fly ball to right field by Celek to strand the runner.
Westmoreland
retired nine-consecutive Gators before Fahrman sliced a one-out single into
left field and was replaced by freshman pinch runner Christian Dicks
(Jacksonville, Fla.). A grounder by Dent moved Dicks to second base but
Westmoreland had Martin hit a comebacker to the mound to finish the stanza.
Schrock
earned a free pass to begin the eighth and stole second base for his eighth
theft. A grounder by Pankake advanced him to third base and sophomore Grayson
Greiner gave the Gamecocks a 3-1 lead with an RBI single through the left side
of the drawn-in infield. Gushue threw out Greiner attempting to steal second
base and Bright extended the inning with a two-out single into left field
before Gushue gunned him down trying to steal.
