Just before the trap door could drop them down into the abyss of a crushing loss, South Carolina baseball moved off the spot to escape with a crucial victory.
The Gamecocks saw 9-3 lead in game two of their series at Florida dwindle all the way to 9-8 by the eighth inning and the Gators even put the winning run on base in the ninth, but freshman Tyler Pitzer stepped up by getting a strikeout and a groundout to end the game and secure a 9-8 final score.
It clinched South Carolina’s (25-10, 8-6 SEC) first road series win in over a calendar year, snapping a streak of five weekend series defeats. It also thwarted a streak of 15-straight home weekend series wins for Florida (17-17, 6-8 SEC), condemning the Gators to their sixth straight loss overall.
Pitzer started the ninth inning by striking out Tyler Shelnut before walking Cade Kurland and allowing a single to Luke Heyman, setting up a walk-off situation for the home team. But the true freshman composed himself enough to strike out Ashton Wilson on a perfect 1-2 fastball, then induced a weak roller to first base from Michael Robertson to officially confirm a bumpy, rocky but crucial win for his squad.
Most of the afternoon was a continuation of Friday’s late innings, where South Carolina pounded a weak Florida bullpen. Ethan Petry hit an opposite field two-run home run in the first inning off Pierce Coppola, and the Gamecocks added three more runs in the second inning thanks to a Cole Messina two-run double and another Petry RBI hit.
By the time Dalton Reeves added his second and third RBIs of the day on a two-run homer in the eighth — his third in his last seven appearances — South Carolina looked well on its way to a comfortable victory. Ty Good’s first SEC start did not open well when he allowed the first four Florida hitters to reach base and two to score, but he settled in to get through four innings and pass the baton to Roman Kimball, who carried the game all the way to the eighth.
But a lead-off walk followed by a single ended his day, and Connor McCreery did not find the same effectiveness he did in Tuesday’s midweek win. Florida plated four more runs in the inning before there were even two outs, partially aided by Petry misplaying a ball in foul territory with the bases loaded which provided Brody Donay with a swing on the house he used to line a two-run single up the middle.
Facing Jac Caglianone, one of college baseball’s most feared sluggers and a man who had already homered twice in the series, McCreery got the future first-round draft pick to line out into the shift for the second out of the inning. Colby Shelton popped out to end the eighth, and that one extra run was just enough to stand up for Pitzer.
A run which went down in the book as Noland’s RBI double, but happened in bizarre fashion with the sun providing some aid on an infield chopper.
Better to be lucky than good, sometimes. South Carolina will try to be both in Sunday's series finale, scheduled to start at noon on SEC Network with Matthew Becker starting on the mound for Mark Kingston’s squad.
****************************************************************************
Want 2 months free on your Rivals subscription? Refer a friend and they'll get 50% off their first year while you get 2 months free, and the best part? You can do it as many times as you want. Just use your custom referral link on your subscriptions page (linked above).
