After a 14-inning affair where Florida and South Carolina combined to throw 493 pitches, Saturday's game was going to come down to the two starters — Jack Leftwich for Florida and Brannon Jordan for the Gamecocks.
Jordan twirled a gem and Leftwich couldn't make it out of the fifth inning as the Gamecocks claimed their first series win over the Gators since 2011 with a 4-1 win on Saturday.
Just like Friday, it was Florida who got on the board first. Sterlin Thompson's two-out single got things started for Florida and Kris Armstrong doubled him home.
Leftwich played with fire throughout the early innings and didn't have command of his fastball. In the second he struck out the first batter but loaded the bases with a single and two hit batters. He made a pitch to get an inning-ending double play and escape the jam but found trouble again in the third. Two quick outs followed by two more hit batters and a walk loaded the bases before a harmless flyout to right field ended that inning.
South Carolina broke the game open in the fifth inning. Braylen Wimmer doubled with one out and Leftwich walked Josiah Sightler, bringing up the national leader in home runs, Wes Clarke. The Gamecock DH was hitless Friday and up to this point of the game but connected with a hanging slider, driving it over the wall in right field for his 12th home run of the year. Leftwich hit the next batter, which ended his afternoon.
"Just disappointed with our starting pitching," Kevin O'Sullivan said. "We've gotta go deeper into games. It's just really that simple. We went four yesterday and four and two-thirds today."
Florida couldn't muster any more offense after the second inning. The Gators struck out 12 times Saturday, making it 31 strikeouts in 23 innings this weekend. Franco Alemán, Trey Van Der Weide, and Brandon Sproat combined to throw 3.1 innings, allowing just one unearned run to score.
"Today we pitched well enough for the most part and wiggled out of situations, we just didn't hit enough," O'Sullivan said. "We've got to figure out a way to win a game tomorrow. Go back home tomorrow with a 'W' and learn from this road experience that we're going through right now. It's a long season but we've just got to play better on both sides."
Florida will look to avoid a series sweep on Sunday sending Hunter Barco to the mound. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
