Late-night baseball: South Carolina falls to Florida in series opener
South Carolina baseball started its home SEC series against Florida off with a 9-5 loss on Friday night.
The game went into the early hours of Saturday morning after a three-hour-long weather delay. Although South Carolina’s pitching staff was able to strike out Florida batters 10 times, the Gators used a big fifth inning to get the win.
“Well, all losses are frustrating, but that one tonight seemed to be especially frustrating,” South Carolina head coach Paul Mainieri said.
The Gamecocks dropped to 26-21 (5-17 SEC) on the season with the loss.
An abrupt stop
Fans were treated to half an inning of baseball before the game was halted due to rain.
South Carolina’s lead-off batter Blake Jackson was in the middle of a 3-2 count in the top of the first inning when the game was officially delayed. The game was delayed shortly before 7:15 p.m., restarted at 10:15 and then finished around 1:30 a.m.
“We got reports that the line of (weather) wasn’t going to come through until about 8:00 or 8:30,” Mainieri said. “And what are you going to do, sit there while nothing’s happening? You don’t ever know when it’s going to come. The decisions are made with the best knowledge we have, and nobody can predict the weather accurately.”
The delay helped the Gamecocks avoid Florida’s Friday night ace Liam Peterson (7-2 record, 3.92 ERA), who threw six pitches before the delay. Peterson was replaced by Alex Philpott on the mound afterward.
Rain goes away, bats come out
Jackson continued his at-bat at 10:15 p.m. — exactly three hours and four minutes later — and drew a walk. He later scored on a throwing error by Florida’s catcher, helping South Carolina immediately get on the board.
The Gamecocks scored three runs in the first inning thanks to three hits from Henry Kaczmar, Jordan Carrion and Beau Hollins and the aforementioned error.
Florida ultimately replaced Philpott after a third of an inning in favor of Luke McNeillie.
Instead of replacing its starting pitcher like Florida did, Mainieri opted to stay with Brandon Stone. He logged three and a half hours between pitches in the first and second innings but got out of the second inning unscathed after forcing two groundouts and striking out a batter.
The Gators’ bats woke up in the top of the fourth inning after a two-run home run from Hayden Yost that cut South Carolina’s lead to 4-3. Stone was relieved after four innings on the mound.
“We were going to not bring (Stone) back and really, the kid pleaded with us,” Mainieri said. “He said, ‘I feel fine’ and I thought he actually threw well. ... They just got to him there in the fourth.”
Pivotal fifth inning
Florida put up five runs in the top fifth inning and it ultimately proved too much for South Carolina to overcome.
Luke Heyman got the scoring started with a solo home run to tie the game up at 4-4. The Gators got two runners on with back-to-back walks and then loaded the bases after a fly ball from Landon Stripling dropped in between USC defenders.
A few pitches later, Ty Evans launched a grand slam over the wall in center that gave Florida an 8-4 lead.
“Obviously they’ve got very powerful lineup,” Mainieri said. “Gave up a two-run homer and a grand slam, so six runs on two swings.”
Opportunity squandered for South Carolina
South Carolina was able to cut into the lead in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a solo homer from Jase Woita.
The Gamecocks’ next best shot to cut into the lead ended in a wasted opportunity. South Carolina loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh with no outs, but Florida’s Jake Clemente proceeded to strike out three straight Gamecocks to extinguish all of USC’s momentum.
“He made some good pitches. We swung at some bad pitches,” Mainieri said. “...Give credit to their kid. He was throwing the ball hard. He’s been pitching really good baseball for them.”
Florida was able to add another run in the top of the eighth thanks to an RBI sac fly from Bobby Boser.
South Carolina had a shot to make it 9-6 in the bottom of the eighth but had a run wiped off the board. Florida’s left fielder failed to make a diving catch and Jackson scored for the Gamecocks as a result. The bang-bang play caused the umpires to confirm whether the ball was caught or not. A review confirmed the ball was not caught and Jackson was brought back to third, taking a run off the board.
“It was pretty obvious that the kid was going to score,” Mainieri said. “You have the left fielder land on his stomach out there and your runner’s 30 feet from home plate. I don’t understand how anybody in their right mind could say that he wasn’t going to score on that ball.”
Mainieri said he believed the run should’ve counted but it “obviously” didn’t effect the outcome of the game. South Carolina outhit Florida 13-8 in the game but left 13 runners on base.
Upcoming South Carolina baseball schedule
- Sunday vs. Florida, weather-delayed doubleheader starting at 1:30 p.m.; Florida leads 1-0 bottom of the third inning of Game 2 (SEC Network Plus)
- May 8 at Auburn, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
- May 9 at Auburn, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- May 10 at Auburn, 3:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
- May 13 vs. Winthrop, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- May 15 vs. LSU, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
- May 16 vs. LSU, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- May 17 vs. LSU, 3 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published May 3, 2025 at 1:31 AM.
