Next - Game 5: #7 South Carolina vs. #3 Florida

After a tough loss and I mean a tough loss to LSU the gamecocks will take on the gators today at 11am in game 5 in the SEC Tourney. The Gamecocks took two of three from Florida at the Sarge earlier this month but this is a elimination game so all bets are off. Again it is simple...you win - you stay, you lose then you go home.

UF lost their game to Vandy by the score of 7-3 so you know the gators will come run fighting. They are known for hits and steals so it should prove to be a great game against the power of Carolina. I still think this game will come down to pitching.


In Game Blog
-Well we got about 15 mins till the first pitch. If USC wins today, it will play the loser of the LSU-Vanderbilt game at 4 p.m. USC is wearing its garnet pinstriped uniforms. Goodwin is the pitcher for Carolina today and the only line up adjustment is Crisp. He is not playing to start after a 3 K day vs LSU and a mental error on the game-tying bloop when he overran the ball. UF will start Billy Bullock, who is 4-3 with a 4.20 ERA in 79.1 IP.
-Well not a good start....1 out with UF runners on the corners
-1-0 UF on a sac fly..end of the top half of the 1st with a 1-0 lead....lucky to escape with just giving up one run. Gamecocks to bat...come on!
-USC in the btm of the 1st strung some hits together but Darnell gets a K to kill the rally. On to the 2nd.
-UF gets 2 singles and had 2 in scoring postion after a balk (yes a balk) but USC survives the inning with no damage. Still 1-0 with UF winning.
-USC has no outs with 2 on in the btm of the 2nd.....Bangs doubled down the rf line, Mack advanced to third; Disher scored to tie it up 1-1...still no outs. Havens, Smoak and Disher come through....Now it is 5-1 with bases loaded and now there are 2 outs! Inning ends with the score 5-1 heading to the 3rd....USC stepped up that inning and got some hits...5 runs on 5 hits and 3 BB but they had 3 LOB. / UF pitcher struggled to find the plate....gotta play D now!
-UF gets one back and now the score is 5-2
-Still 5-2 and now we head to the fourth after nothing really for usc in the btm of the 3rd
-We go to the B5 with USC leading, 5-3. UF is fighting back one run at a time...Cisco is in the bullpen...
-Disher gets another RBI....6-3 after a double and a error then a sac single in the infield...end of 5 innings
-3 up 3 down for UF.....usc up in the btm of 5th...we need some more runs!
-In the btm of the 6th...UF makes another pitching change this time Edmondson to p for Toledo...it worked as USC goes down....end of 6th the score is 6-3.
-Goodwin is pitching great with 7 k's today. 2 out in the 6th but activity in the SC bullpen. den Dekker is most least favorite player for UF he is 3 for 3 today. still 2 outs...base hit, now runners on corner....time for godwin to come out...come on Tanner...well 2 LOB for UF as Tanner proved to be smarter than me as he left Godwin in and he got the out....time to stretch with USC winning 6-3 heading to the btm of the 7th
-Base hit to RF!! Run scores. USC leads 7-3. There's a wild pitch! Both runners move up. Havens gets a walk.. USC has bases loaded...Merrifield hits a deep sac fly....8-3...HR....SMOAK homered to center field, 3 RBI...11-3....That was the 60th career HR for Smoak. He's also driven in 200 runs to set the school record.
-End of 8th with USC winning 11-3...game looks good so far but we all know how yesterday ended up with a come from behind loss so let's not count our chickens yet....but thank goodness for those added runs....8 run advantage....
-UF has 9 hitter up first in the top of 9......he gets out....1 down....Barnes up...goes down swinging, that is a K for Cisco.....den Dekker up, he has been hot all day....ground out!

USC WINS 11-3