South Carolina at Florida game 3 recap: Gamecocks fall 6-4, drop series

The rubber match against Florida seemed like it might finally be the game that would lead to South Carolina getting an series win against an SEC team. And then the bottom of the ninth happened.

The Gamecocks were on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on a one-out solo shot by Brady Allen. The Gators tied things up in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff home run from Jordan Butler.

USC regained the lead in the top of the next inning after TJ Hopkins doubled with two outs and scored on an RBI double from Luke Berryhill, putting the Gamecocks up 2-1. Again, Florida answered in the bottom of the inning, tying the game thanks to an Austin Langworthy RBI single.

The tie was broken again in the fifth inning by the Gamecocks. Noah Campbell and George Callil knocked back-to-back singles to start things off, Hopkins reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Campbell to make it 3-2, and with two outs, Hopkins stole second then came home on an RBI single from Jacob Olson that made it a 4-2 game. That score held until the bottom of the ninth, when Butler hit a two-out, three-run walkoff homer to make us all really sad.

South Carolina starter TJ Shook had a solid outing, going five innings and allowing four hits and two runs. He walked two batters and struck out four. John Gilreath, Sawyer Bridges, and Wesley Sweatt also pitched in this game. Sweatt took the loss and is now 2-3. Gators reliever David Luethje got the win and is now 1-1.

The Gamecocks drop to 21-15 overall and 4-11 in conference play, while Florida improves to 24-14 overall and 6-9 in the SEC. USC will be back in action on Tuesday when they take on North Carolina in Charlotte. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.