No.3 Florida was run-ruled 13-3 by the Gamecocks after seven innings of play on Thursday night.
No.6 South Carolina (32-6, 11-4 SEC) took the series opener behind 10 combined runs in the sixth and seventh innings, taking advantage of Florida’s disastrous bullpen performance.
The game was back and forth for the first five and half frames, totaling three lead changes and three ties.
Florida’s starter, Brandon Sproat, pitched fairly well against a good hitting Gamecock lineup. Sproat lasted 5.2 innings, allowing four runs, four hits, and three walks while striking out eight.
Sproat was pulled at 102 pitches with two outs and a runner on second base in the sixth inning. LHP Philip Abner took over and this is mound, looking to get the final out of the inning against a lefty batter.
Abner would proceed to walk the next three batters, walking home one run in the process.
Nick Ficarrotta would take over on the mound, but things didn’t get any better for the Gators. The right hander would walk in two more runs before allowing a bases loaded single to South Carolina’s three-hole hitter.
The Gamecocks would score five runs on five consecutive walks by Florida’s bullpen, extending their lead to 8-3.
“I thought Brandon pitched great,” Head Coach Kevin O’ Sullivan said postgame. “Left the ballgame with a tie ballgame and runner at second with two outs. Brought in [Philip Abner] and their left-handed hitter, we told him, he’s hitting .176 against lefties. Between two guys, Phil and [Nick Ficarotta], it took us 38 pitches to get the last out of the inning. We had five-consecutive walks.”
After a scoreless top half of the seventh, the Gamecocks found five more runs in the bottom half of the frame, ending the game after seven innings of play. Florida let the wheels come off after a tough sixth inning.
“Very similar to some of the bad losses we’ve had this year.,” O’Sullivan said. “We didn’t give up a lot of hits, but the walks have been something that’s hurting us. The difficult part of it, or the disappointing part of it, is you go to the pen and guys get one lefty out and get three outs in the seventh and then somebody else comes in and gets three outs and we got Ryan Slater sitting there to close the game out. It seems like a simple task, but we’re making it really difficult.”
The Gators walked nine batters and hit two more, totaling 11 free passes in seven innings. You are not going to win many games in the SEC with those numbers.
Despite the 10 run-rule loss, Florida was in the game up until the bullpen took over.
“That’s all you can ask for,” O’Sullivan said on the game being close through five innings. “We’re almost through six innings and we got a tie ballgame on the road. It’s 3-3 and everything is clean. I thought we were in shape, but unfortunately, like I said, we went to the pen, had five consecutive walks. We had a runner at second with two outs. There’s really no damage to be done and we just weren’t able to throw the ball across the plate.”
The good news for Gator Nation is that this isn’t the first time Florida has lost a series opener in blowout fashion. The Gators are 2-0 in series in which they lost the first game (Auburn 10-1 and Georgia 13-11). Florida will look to bounce back tomorrow at 7:00 PM.
“That’s really all we can do,” O’Sullivan said. “Like I said, the disappointing part is, we talked about not having Brandon [Neely] this weekend. Some guys need to step up. Like I said, we got a really good quality start from Brandon [Sproat] and I suspect that we get a really good start from Hurston [Waldrep] tomorrow. We just need some guys to get a couple of outs here and there to hand the ball over to Ryan at the end. That’s just the way it is…”
Florida’s chances of winning the series have taken a huge hit with the absence of Brandon Neely, even more so after the Gators failed to dig into South Carolina’s bullpen in game one of the series.
The Gators drop to 31-8 (11-5 SEC) on the season.