For all intents and purposes, it took longer to get Friday night’s game between No. 1 Florida and No. 8 South Carolina started than it did to decide a winner. Beginning at 7 p.m., Carolina Stadium sat empty and wet for the better part of 84 minutes — hampered by a rain delay.
When it was finally time for baseball, the Gamecocks didn’t quite get the memo. Early runs have been an occasional issue for the Gators in 2012 but that was certainly not the case Friday.
Florida surged out in front, scoring five runs in the first inning one night after losing 9-3.
By the time Daniel Gibson recorded the game’s final out, the Gators (21-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) had taken game two 8-2, forcing a rubber match on Saturday at 1 p.m.
“That’s what good teams do,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “You’ve got to respond. You’re not going to win every game, but it’s how you deal with a little adversity.”
After using expected Friday night starter Matt Price in relief on Thursday, South Carolina (17-6, 1-4 SEC) was forced to start sophomore right-hander Forrest Koumas. After striking out Nolan Fontana to open the game, Koumas’ start went dark for good.
“In games like this when you need to rebound from a tough loss, your best players have to perform and they certainly did there,” O’Sullivan said.
In a span of 10 batters, Koumas walked three, surrendered four hits and gave up back-to-back home runs to juniors Mike Zunino and Brian Johnson.
All in all, it gave the Gamecocks a 5-0 hole they could never dig out of.
Doing his part in the batter’s box, Johnson also got it done on the mound. He worked six innings, striking out four and allowing five hits and two runs. Greg Larson and Gibson worked behind him as Florida’s relief returned to being near flawless.
After starting the game in center field, Cody Dent was part of yet another position shakeup when freshman third baseman Josh Tobias hurt his wrist early in the game.
The injury shifted Daniel Pigott back to center and put Vickash Ramjit in left. Ramjit made the most of his opportunity, adding two late home runs for the Gators.
“Really good to see Vickash out there and we’re looking forward to probably getting him into the lineup tomorrow,” O’Sullivan said.
