Austin Maddox flinched when the contact came.
He looked uncomfortable from the moment he stepped out of the bullpen before 8,242 booing fans, but now it reached an uncharacteristic crescendo. Pinch-hitting freshman Kyle Martin ripped an RBI single down the right-field line and Florida’s Southeastern Conference road opener was deflated. Two batters later, Erik Payne tore a two-run double to right-center field and the misery continued while Maddox’s night ended.
South Carolina still has Florida’s number.
“It was a great ball game. We just kind of let the seventh inning slip away from us,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It’s just one game and obviously we’ll come back tomorrow ready to go.”
The No. 8 Gamecocks (17-5, 1-3 SEC) defeated the No. 1 Gators (20-2, 3-1 SEC), 9-3, to snap Florida’s school-record 18-game winning streak and get a jump on the three-game rematch of last year’s College World Series finals.
Entering the game having lost four of its last five — including a sweep at the hands of No. 16 Kentucky and a Wednesday night loss to Wofford — the Gamecocks were ready to throw everything they had at the Gators.
Staff ace and consensus 2011 All-American Michael Roth got the start for the Gamecocks and worked 6.2 innings of four-hit ball, leaving with the game deadlocked at two. It was where South Carolina went from there that got the sellout crowd buzzing.
Matt Price, the Gamecocks’ dominant closer last season and current No. 2 starter, pitched the game’s final 2.1 innings despite being slated to start tonight’s contest. Price walked three but did not allow a UF hit.
Florida’s first conference road game of the season was nothing like its first 21 games of 2012.
Right-handed starter Hudson Randall loaded the bases with no outs in the first before striking out three batters in a row. It was a common theme as Randall went on to break his career single-game strikeout high with 11 over 5.2 innings — a two-run Adam Matthews homer his only major blemish.
“He competed his tail off,” O’Sullivan said. “We’ve just got to do a better job there in the last two or three innings.”
The Gators entered the game leading the nation in fielding percentage at .985, but committed two errors against a Gamecocks offense that sputtered in recent losses.
One error led to the benching of freshman left fielder Justin Shafer, as Florida continues to search for a defensive remedy after the loss of senior center fielder Tyler Thompson to a torn ACL.
After dropping a routine fly ball in the third, Daniel Pigott was moved back to left from center and junior Cody Dent was inserted in center. It was the first time Dent has played outfield in his collegiate career.
“We just wanted to shore up the defense a little bit,” O’Sullivan said during an in-game interview with ESPNU announcers.
But no downfall was more sudden than that of Maddox. After walking no batters all season, Maddox surrendered walks to the second and third batters he faced before ultimately getting charged with three earned runs. He entered the road trip with a 0.49 ERA in 18.1 innings.
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
