COLUMBIA, S.C. — Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said it would be a “fun” game on Saturday to close the regular season after clinching the Southeastern Conference championship the night before.
His prediction held true even though the Gators (40-13, 22-8 SEC) lost to South Carolina 11-6 at Carolina Stadium in front of 7,523 fans.
“To go 22-8 and this league is a huge accomplishment, especially with our youth,” O’Sullivan said. “You can have good players and you can think you are prepared, but you can never prepare them for playing in front of a crowd on the road like this. You can’t give them that experience. They way they handled this week, I’m really proud of them.”
The loss snapped the Gators’ seven-game winning streak and the five-game win streak against the Gamecocks in the series
“It’s the same old thing,” O’Sullivan said. “When we play well, we have a chance to win. When we don’t play well, we have a chance to lose.”
Several UF players who haven’t seen much action this season were given an opportunity to play and showed that the Gators’ bench can produce when given the chance.
Florida pitchers held the Gamecocks (43-13, 21-9 SEC) to two runs through five innings before South Carolina erupted for six runs in the sixth inning. The Gators responded with six runs of their own in the seventh inning.
“We talked to them this morning, we were going to give it our best effort today,” O’Sullivan said. “To fight back after giving up six runs and put up a six-spot, I thought that showed great character.”
Florida junior second baseman Josh Adams hit two singles during the Gators’ six-run inning.
“We’re peaking at the right time,” Adams said. “Everybody is throwing well, the defense is great and everybody is hitting well.”
Senior catcher Hampton Tignor entered the game batting .083 and no RBIs, registering only one hit in 12 at bats, but ended the regular season on a positive note, driving in two runs with a double.
“It felt great,” Tignor said. “The atmosphere at Carolina Stadium is unbelievable. Looking up and knowing that we’ve already secured a championship and seeing the fans from Gainesville here is fantastic.”
The six-run outburst marked the 14th time the Gators have scored five or more runs in an inning this year.
“It’s exciting to put together hits and see what happens,” Tignor said. “You never know how it’s going to turn out, baseball is a funny game. You just have to keep going and have good at bats.”
Tignor was given a very enthusiastic greeting from his teammates after scoring a run and returning to the dugout.
“We’ve got a very close-knit team,” Tignor said. “I’m just so thankful to have so much support from the team.”
O’Sullivan was happy to see a veteran player like Tignor succeed after not seeing very much playing time this year.
“He’s a senior who provides tremendous leadership,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s going to be a huge success in anything he chooses to do and he’s a great ambassador for our program, so it was great to see him have a really good day.”
UF sophomore Ben McMahan also drove in two runs on two hits as the designated hitter.
Adams continued his hot hitting against South Carolina pitching, batting 3-for-5 with an RBI after not appearing in the original starting lineup.
“They told me ten minutes before the game that I was playing,” Adams said. “It was fun though.”
Adams began the series with a .221 batting average, but collected six hits against the Gamecocks in 13 at bats.
“It’s all about confidence,” Adams said. “You go up there and get a couple of hits each day, it builds. I’m just looking forward to next week and getting some more at bats.”
“I’ve just relaxed,” Adams said. “It’s one of those things, when you aren’t hitting well you tend to put pressure on yourself and everything stresses you out. The simplest form it can be put in is to just go up there, see it and hit it.”
O’Sullivan knows that Adams perform that the level that earned him all-conference honors the past two seasons.
“He got three hits again against some really good pitching,” O’Sullivan said. “If we can get him hot, we’re going to be right where we need to be offensively.”
South Carolina starting pitcher Jay Brown (3-0) held the Gators to two runs on five hits in 6.1 innings to earn the victory
Florida freshman Cody Dent mad his first start at shortstop, third overall of the season, and registered his first collegiate multi-hit game with a 2-for-4 performance.
“It felt good to be in the lineup, especially in a ballpark and atmosphere like this, it was a lot of fun,” Dent said. “It was really exciting. It’s been a while, so it felt good to play a whole game. It’s always good to be able to go in and play a whole game.”
Dent had an RBI single and scored a run during the Gators’ six-run inning that reduced the South Carolina lead from 8-0 to 8-6.
“That’s just the way we are,” Dent said. “We battle every game and it doesn’t matter what game it is, we’ve battled all season long. That’s just the way this team is, we don’t give up.”
Jonathan Pigott started in centerfield in place of Matt den Dekker and batted 1-for-4 with a run scored.
Florida starting pitcher Brian Johnson (5-3) was tabbed with the loss after surrendering a solo home run to South Carolina’s Adam Matthews. Johnson was only slated to pitch one inning so that he would be well-rested for the SEC tournament in Hoover, Ala.
USC racked up 16 hits in the game, led by Bobby Haney’s 4-for-5 game.
Florida used six pitchers in the game. Sophomore Anthony DeSclafani took over in the second inning and held the Gamecocks to one run on three hits, a hit batter and a walk over three innings.
“I thought DeSclafani was outstanding,” O’Sullivan said. “I thought Brian Johnson’s stuff was really good, he gave up one home run to center but there are a lot of positives. Obviously, we’re not pleased with the outcome, but there’s not many games that you go into knowing that you’ve already got the conference championship.”
Florida sophomore Tommy Toledo pitched 1.1 innings, allowing one run on one hit. Nick Maronde was unable to record an out after taking over for Toledo in the sixth inning, allowing two runs on a hit and a hit batter.
Freshman Matt Campbell finished the sixth inning for the Gators, but allowed a grand slam to South Carolina’s Jackie Bradley, Jr. after inheriting a bases-loaded situation. Campbell was charged with five runs and six hits, a wild pitch and a hit batter in 1.1 innings of work.
Greg Larson pitched the final 1.1 innings for the Gators, allowing one run on three hits.
Florida will stay in Columbia after enjoying a post-game dinner as a team, then depart for Hoover, Ala. for two days of preparation for the SEC tournament instead of returning to Gainesville.
“I think the guys are pleased about that,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s a six hour drive from here, so we’ll regroup tonight, go out and get something to eat as a team, then head over to Hoover tomorrow and practice on Monday and Tuesday and get ready for our game on Wednesday.”
Tignor said that the players are looking forward to the continued time on the road.
“It’s pretty exciting, we’re going to be gone for hopefully up to ten or 11 days,” Tignor said. “This is a time where we can focus on our goals and be together as a team.”
Florida has not won the SEC tournament since 1991.
“It would mean a lot to our program, to our fans and to everybody who supports us,” Tignor said. “Personally, for the last three years I haven’t won any kind of championship, so they SEC title is nice but I was talking with Matt den Dekker the other day and we want to rack up as many titles as we can this year.
“The SEC tournament is going to be another great challenge for us. After capturing the title this weekend, which was one of our goals, our other goal is to keep getting better. Our pitchers keep throwing well and hopefully our hitting keeps going well too.”
Adams agreed that the Gators would work to win the tournament despite UF being assured of hosting an NCAA Regional and most likely being a national seed in the NCAA tournament.
“It would be big for us (to win the SEC tournament),” Adams said. “We’re going to go in and play hard. Whatever the outcome is, that’s what’s going to happen. We’re definitely going to give it our best effort and have a good time out there.
“We don’t have school or anything to do, so why not be on the road playing? It’s fun. We’re going to relax, probably take a day off tomorrow, head over there, relax and sleep a little bit to get ready for the tournament.”
O’Sullivan said that Johnson will start Florida’s first game of the tournament against defending national champion LSU (36-20/14-16 SEC). on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
“It doesn’t matter if you play an eight-seed or a two-seed at the tournament,” O’Sullivan said. “All of the teams are quality. That’s why the coaches in this league think the SEC is the best league in the country. It doesn’t matter who you play, there’s no real underdogs because everybody has got a good number-one (pitcher). Whoever we play, we’re going to have to be ready to play and to play well.
“We’re going to line it up and try to win that tournament. I think it’s important that you go into that tournament trying to win it. We also have got to be smart about different guys and the pitching rotation and that type of thing because our ultimate goal is to get to Omaha.”
BASEBALL
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
Eastern Division Conference Overall
(Rank) Team W-L Pct. GB W-L Pct.
(5) xy-Florida 22-8 .733 — 40-13 .755
(6) South Carolina 21-9 .700 1 43-13 .768
(19) Vanderbilt 16-12 .571 5 40-15 .727
e-Kentucky 13-17 .433 9 31-25 .554
e-Tennessee 12-18 .400 10 30-26 .536
e-Georgia 5-23 .179 16 16-37 .302
Western Division Conference Overall
(Rank) Team W-L Pct. GB W-L Pct.
(17) x-Auburn 20-10 .667 — 40-17 .702
(15) Arkansas 18-12 .600 2 40-16 .714
(17) Mississippi 16-14 .533 4 36-20 .643
Alabama 15-15 .500 5 34-21 .618
(29) Louisiana State 14-16 .467 6 36-20 .643
e-Mississippi State 6-24 .200 14 23-33 .411
(Rank) Ranking in the GatorCountry.com Top 30
x-division champ; y-overall SEC champion; e-eliminated.
RESULTS
SATURDAY / May 22
South Carolina 11, Florida 6
Arkansas 7, Vanderbilt 5
Auburn 11, Mississippi 1
Mississippi State 2, Louisiana State 1
Alabama 9, Tennessee 7
Kentucky 14, Georgia 11
FRIDAY / May 21
Florida 5, South Carolina 2
Arkansas 4, Vanderbilt 3
Auburn 18, Mississippi 4
Louisiana State 17, Mississippi State 3
Alabama 4, Tennessee 2
Georgia 20, Kentucky 0
THURSDAY / May 20
Florida 3, South Carolina 2
Vanderbilt 4, Arkansas 3
Auburn 5, Mississippi 3
Louisiana State 14, Mississippi State 13
Alabama 11, Tennessee 3
Georgia 8, Kentucky 6
SCHEDULE
2010 SEC TOURNAMENT / Hoover, Ala. / Regions Park
WEDNESDAY / May 26 /
Game 1: (7) Alabama vs. (2) Auburn, 10:30 a.m. (SUN)
Game 2: (6) Mississippi vs. (3) South Carolina, 1 p.m. (SUN)
Game 3: (8) Louisiana State vs. (1) Florida, 5:30 p.m. (SUN)
Game 4: (5) Vanderbilt vs. (4) Arkansas, 8 p.m. (SUN)
THURSDAY / May 27
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 10:30 a.m. (SUN)
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1 p.m. (SUN)
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 5:30 p.m. (SUN)
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 8 p.m. (SUN)
FRIDAY / May 28
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 7, 4 p.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 8, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY / May 29
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 10:30 a.m. (SUN)
Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 10, 1 p.m. (SUN)
Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Loser Game 11, 6 p.m. (if necessary) (CSS)
Game 14: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12, 9 p.m. (If necessary) (CSS)
SUNDAY, May 30
Game 15: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14, 2 p.m. (ESPN2)
NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIP
SUNDAY / May 30
Announcement of 16 regional hosts
MONDAY / May 31
Baseball Selection Show, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN)
FRIDAY-MONDAY / June 4-7
NCAA Regionals (16 sites)
FRIDAY-MONDAY / June 11-14
NCAA Super Regionals (8 sites)
SATURDAY-WEDNESDAY / June 19-30
College World Series, Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium, Omaha, Neb.