GAME OVER
Well, Matt den Dekker, Cole Figueroa and Brandon McArthur couldn't do it by themselves today. The rest of the lineup was pretty bad in this one, especially the 6-9 hitters. UF leaves Hoover without a win, and the Gamecocks live on to see tomorrow.
END EIGHTH
What should be a simple inning is made much more complicated when Avery Barnes drops a fly ball to start it off. The error puts DeAngelo Mack on second base, and then a single from Parker Bangs puts runners on the corners with no outs.
After a strikeout, Scott Wingo singles and scores Mack. It's a four-run deficit and this game is probably over, though USC did give up a four-run lead yesterday in the bottom of the ninth.
And now, it's way more than a four-run game. The Gamecocks put up four more runs, three of them coming on a homer from Smoak to straightaway center field. It's now 11-3, and any chance of a comeback is now gone. Eight runs in an inning? Not from this Gators team.
MID EIGHTH
Well, it all will come down to the ninth for the Gators. After a Josh Adams single to start the inning, nothing gets accomplished as the 6-7-8 hitters go down in order.
END SEVENTH
Maybe Josh Edmondson should have started this game. He retires three straight USC batters in the seventh, making it four in a row. He has by far looked like UF's best pitcher as the Gators head into the top of the eighth.
MID SEVENTH
The Gators begin the seventh with two quick outs from Pigott and Barnes, but then get a little two-out rally going with den Dekker and Figueroa each hitting singles. Both are 3 for 3 on the day.
After a brief mound conference, McArthur faces Godwin and flies out on the first pitch. That may be the last great chance the Gators get in this one.
END SIXTH
Toledo gets one out in the sixth and then hits a batter and walks another. O'Sullivan has seen enough, and pulls him in favor of Josh Edmondson. That turns out to be the right move, as Edmondson induces a double play on the first pitch to Merrifield. The Gators escape without giving up a run. They've got three innings left to go before time runs out on their game and tournament.
MID SIXTH
I have lost some of the passion for blogging right now after the program we use to put blogs up on the Web site has been failing me for the last hour, hence the long time without updates.
Last you heard, the game was 5-2. The Gators brought it to 5-3 with a leadoff double from den Dekker, who has scored all three runs for UF. Figueroa singled him home in the fifth. USC added a run in the bottom half of the inning though with a leadoff double of its own. Darnell moved to third on an error on the throw back into the infield, and then scored on a groundout to the right side. The run was uneared as Toledo got out of the inning without issue.
MID THIRD
Well, it looks like the Gators aren't going down without a fight. After a leadoff walk to den Dekker and a Figueroa sac bunt, McArthur brings den Dekker home with a bloop single. And just like that it looks like a much more manageable three-run game.
Two quick outs on an Adams strikeout - he was ahead 3-0 in that at-bat - and a Barber ground out, and this inning is over. But UF gets one back heading into the bottom of the third.
END SECOND
Tommy Toledo comes in and immediately walks Justin Smoak after a long at-bat, scoring another Gamecock and keeping the bases loaded. He then walks James Darnell. What a terrible, terrible inning this has been for UF, and Toledo has done nothing to make it better. This looks like it's going to be a tournament to forget for the Gators.
UF finally gets an out after its second stretch of four batters without an out in the inning. Disher pops out to first base in foul territory after nearly taking a ball for a grand slam. Toledo then gets a strikeout to end the long inning. USC sent 11 to the plate in the bottom of the second.
BOTTOM SECOND
South Carolina doesn't waste any opportunities in the second inning. A leadoff walk from Bullock and a single that goes just past McArthur start things off, and then designated hitter Parker Bangs bangs a double down the left field line. The ball went just over McArthur's glove and scored one run to tie the game.
Another single makes it three hits in a row for the Gamecocks, and Stephen Locke and Tommy Toledo are warming up for UF. Bullock still hasn't gotten an out in thisi inning, though he had two strikes on the last two batters before they got their hits.
After Bullock finally gets his first out on a pop-up to foul territory around third base, he gives up another single and another run. Many of USC's singles in this inning have been dinky bloops that fall just short of the outfielders and just too far for the infielders to catch. Another single makes it five hits in the inning, and Bullock's brief morning is over. In comes Tommy Toledo. He's got to work out of a big bases-loaded jam.
For the second day in a row, UF finds itself in an early deficit that it needs to work out of. For what it's worth, they're hitting better today already.
MID SECOND
After the leadoff man, designated hitter Bryson Barber, was retired on a fly out to start the inning, UF again got back-to-back singles from second baseman Jon Townsend and catcher Buddy Munroe, putting two on with one out. USC's coach comes to the mound to talk to Godwin before Jonathan Pigott comes to the plate.
Pigott is back out in right field for UF today, and Riley Cooper is stuck on the bench. Pigott doesn't do much better than Cooper, however, as he strikes out looking. Godwin then balks Townsend and Munroe up a base each, but it doesn't matter as Barnes flies out to left field to end the inning. A good chance to extend the lead goes wasted, and we go to the bottom of the second.
END FIRST
On the mound for today is the clean-shaven Billy Bullock, who starts the game off well by getting a strikeout of USC leadoff hitter Reese Havens.
USC center fielder Whit Merrifield hits a single just past Brandon McArthur at first base. It looked like McArthur should have been able to catch the slow line drive, but instead he walked toward first base. He must have misjudged the ball off the bat and been resigned to the single before he got a good look at how slowly it was coming at him. On a pickoff attempt, Merrifield moves to second base, and an error is charged to Bullock on the throw. South Carolina gets a runner in scoring position with one out.
USC first baseman Justin Smoak hits what would have been the double play ball, but second baseman Jon Townsend only has the play to go to first. With two outs, USC third baseman James Darnell strikes out swinging, getting Bullock out of his own jam. UF could have given that first run right back, but instead it maintains the lead.
MID FIRST
Well it's another beautiful day here in Hoover, Ala., and apparently the Florida fans don't know it. For the second day in a row, the UF crowd is incredibly small. I'd say there are only about 100 UF fans here compared to about three times that many for South Carolina. You can't blame people for not wanting to make the seven-hour drive from Gainesville in the middle of the week, but the Gators are essentially playing away games all tournament instead of neutral-site games.
Anyway, the Gators are technically the visiting team in today's game, where the loser goes home and the winner continues on in the tournament. The Gators will be batting in the top of innings and pitching in the bottom.
Leadoff man Avery Barnes starts things off by grounding out right back to USC's pitcher, Nick Godwin. But things really get started for UF when Matt den Dekker and Cole Figueroa hit back-to-back singles. Brandon McArthur, back to his more regular spot cleaning up, hits a ball deep in the outfield to score den Dekker from third. This is exactly the start UF needed.
Josh Adams hits a ball to deep left field, but it is caught by USC's left fielder. This park is so big, and I keep thinking that balls hit hard and far are going to be homers, but they're not even touching the warning track.
