South Carolina vs. Florida game 3 recap: Gamecocks win 8-5 over Gators, sweep series

A very good weekend for South Carolina baseball continued on Sunday, as home runs and excellent pitching propelled the Gamecocks to a win over Florida, marking their first sweep of the Gators in 15 years.

Just like in the other two games this series, UF scored first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on a Sterlin Thompson solo shot. USC answered in the bottom of the inning, taking a 3-0 lead thanks to homers from Wes Clarke, Andrew Eyster, and Colin Burgess. The Cocks tacked on another run in the third inning, when Brady Allen got in on the fun with a dinger of his own, making it 4-0.

The Gators got a couple of runs back in the fourth courtesy of a homer from Kirby McMullen, making it a 4-3 game. Carolina opened things back up in the sixth though, scoring four insurance runs. Eyster got hit to start things off, Brennan Milone walked with one out, and and then both scored on a double by George Callil, putting the home team up 6-3. Allen followed with his second home run of the game, bumping the score up to 8-3. The final two runs of the game came in the eighth, when Florida scored on a double from Nathan Hickey.

Gamecocks starter Will Sanders had a good outing, working four innings and giving up two hits and three runs, walking one batter, and striking out six. He also got the win and improves to 4-1. Julian Bosnic and Brett Kerry combined to go the rest of the way for USC. Gators starter Hunter Barco took the loss and is now 3-2. Allen led the Cocks at the plate with three hits and three RBI.

South Carolina is now 16-6 overall and 4-2 in the SEC, while UF is 16-8 overall and 3-3 in conference play. The Gamecocks will play again on Tuesday, when they host Gardner-Webb. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Columbia.