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After last night's one-run heartbreaker of a loss to open the series against the Gators, the Gamecocks handed Florida a one-run loss tonight to even things up. It was beautiful.
Florida got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning on a home run by Buddy Reed. South Carolina tied things up in the bottom of the inning, though. Dom Thompson-Williams led off with a double, then LT Tolbert brought him home with a two-out RBI single to make it 1-1.
Both teams were pretty quiet during the middle innings, mustering only a handful of scoring chances. The Gamecocks ended the tie - and scored the only other run of the night - in the bottom of the seventh, courtesy of Noted Great Hitter Gene Cone, who belted a homer to put his team on top. Cone led off the game with a double as well, so he extended his school-record hitting streak to 29 games.
The Gators threatened in the bottom of the ninth, but Tyler Johnson was [fire emoji] and South Carolina avoided a repeat performance of last night.
Starter Braden Webb was great again tonight. He worked 7.1 innings and allowed just five hits, one run, walked three batters and struck out seven. He earned the win and is now 9-2 on the season. Johnson was also solid tonight and he earned the save, his fourth this year.
This is obviously a big win for the Gamecocks, who are now back on top in the SEC, ahead of Florida by one game. With the victory, South Carolina improves to 34-9 overall and 15-5 in conference play, while Florida drops to 37-7 overall and 14-6 in the SEC. Adam Hill will start on the mound for the Gamecocks in Sunday's game, with first pitch set for 1:30 p.m. at Founder's Park.