FINAL: Florida 14 - Carolina 3
TOP 9 - Scolamiero will pinch hit for Arendas. He hits a dribbler to first and can't quite beat it out. Missed his first hit by a half step. Stokes pinch hits for Koch. Stokes hits a hard ground ball back to the mound. Quick reactions by the pitcher to field it and flip to first. Mooney hitting for himself. Probably needs as many ABs as possible. But grounds the first pitch out 5-3 and pulls up gingerly in front of first base. I'll ask about that afterward. FINAL: Florida 14 - Carolina 3. L: Crowe (3-4) The Gamecocks fall to 23-12, 6-7. Saturday's game is at 6 p.m. on SEC Network.
BOTTOM 8 - Reed up. Johnson strikes him out, then gets Schwarz to pop out to center. Pinch hitter Larson, wearing number 66 for some reason, now up. After giving up a single to him, Johnson gets his second strikeout to end the inning. Florida leads 14-3.
TOP 8 - Three up, three down go the Gamecocks. Caldwell grounds out to third. Gore pops out to center. Pinch hitter Bright (for Destino) pops out to right. Florida leads 14-3.
BOTTOM 7 - Reagan back out to the mound and Schwarz, who hit four home runs in a game on Tuesday, launches a pitch deep out of the park in left. Way over the outfield bleachers. That'll end the day for Reagan. Preston Johnson coming in. He walks the first hitter he faces. Then Rivera singles to left. Both runners move up on a wild pitch. Bouncer to first. Runner comes home and Martin throws him out. Another play where the throw beat the runner by a mile but the tag was high and not really in front of the plate. Calls him out anyway. Single to second base scores a run. One out, another in, two on for Martin. Two-RBI single to right for Bader, who is thrown out at second by Caldwell. RHP Tyler Johnson comes into the game and gets a pop out to shallow center. Florida leads 14-3
TOP 7 - Cone walks on five pitches, but is cut down on a double play. Nice play by Martin at shortstop sliding behind the bag, coming up with the ball and getting things started. Been that kind of night. Something goes right, then it all goes wrong. Martin's flare to short is caught for the final out of the inning. Florida leads 10-3.
BOTTOM 6 - Guthrie is hit by a full count pitch to lead off the inning. Reagan comes back and gets the next two though. A pop up to short and a strike out to Bader. Two down but behind in the count 2-1 to Alonso. RBI double to right field. Gore fires a strike home from left field to cut down Alonso at the plate after Reed's single. The throw beat him by a mile but I'm not sure that the tag was down on him before the foot was on the plate. Umpire thought about it. Maybe I just didn't see it right. Florida leads 10-3
TOP 6 - Three up, three down go the Gamecocks. Arendas flies out to right. Koch flies out to left. Mooney grounds out to first. Florida leads 9-3.
BOTTOM 5 - After a long wait in the dugout, Crowe is back to the mound and throws three straight balls to nine-hole hitter Hicks. Count goes to 3-1 and he hits a line drive over the right field wall to give Florida the lead again. Jerry Meyers out to the mound. Just can't sustain anything positive right now. Another liner to right, but this one is caught by Caldwell. Martin singles to right. Bader hits a ground ball inside the third base bag. DC a little slow to react again. Ball is cut off by Gore. Martin motors all the way around from first. I don't know how that happens. Gore's throw in is off line and I think it was Mooney's relay from foul territory running towards the Florida dugout isn't strong enough to get the runner at home. Koch throws to third where Schrock is covering and it appears to me that call was blown. Called safe. Didn't think the left hand ever got the bag from up here. Maybe yall saw something different. Infield in with Bader on third base and Alonso at the plate. He singles through the left side to bring home another run. That'll be it for Crowe, who gives way to Vince Fiori. I mean, Crowe had 10 straight outs before this inning. A 2-1 wild pitch moves the runner up to second base. RBI double by Reed to right center. Cone couldn't get there. Cody Mincey coming in. First pitch strike from him. Needed. Second pitch is a double inside the third base bag again. Now it's 8-3. Lazy fly ball falls in front of Gore. Ugh, this defense. Runners on the corners with one down. RBI ground out by Rivera. At this point, you take what you can get, I guess. Hicks up for the second time this inning. Jerry Meyers back to the mound. He calls in Josh Reagan. Count goes 2-2. He goes down looking to end the inning. Boy, oh boy. Florida leads 9-3
TOP 5 - Schrock singles to left, which is his third hit of the night, to lead off the inning. Shore isn't fooling many dudes out here tonight. Martin hits a sharp single back up the middle. Line drive. Schrock froze and looked like he started back to first base. Good thing Buddy wasn't charging hard in center or he may have had a force play on Schrock at second. So two on, no outs for Caldwell. Elliott looking down to third base at Holbrook thinking maybe a bunt? He shows, then pulls back on the first pitch. Caldwell goes ahead in the count 3-0. He takes a 3-1 pitch low to load the bases. LHP Bobby Poyner comes in and gets Gore to ground into a 6-4-3 double play. It ties the game, but threat of a big inning is gone. Martin on third and Destino up. He goes down on strikes to end the inning. Bases loaded, no
outs, one run. Yuck. Score tied 3-3
BOTTOM 4 - Vasquez, the seven-hole hitter, strikes out on four pitches. Rivera hits one on the screws but it's right at Mooney, who catches it just above his ankles for the second out of the inning. Hicks hits a bullet but Arendas makes the catch at third base after taking a step to his left. Crowe at 69 pitches now. Florida leads 3-2.
TOP 4 - Koch leading off the inning and goes behind in the count 1-2. He pops out to left center for the first out of the inning. Shore up to 71 pitches now. Mooney fouls out down the left field line. Running play made by Bader out there. Two down. Show ya how well the ball is flying tonight, Cone just hit one to the track in left for the final out of the inning. Gene doesn't have a heck of a lot of power, and certainly not a heck of a lot of opposite field power. But that carried a ways. Florida leads 3-2.
BOTTOM 3 - Bader, who hit the solo home run, up and grounds out meekly to Schrock. One down. Alonso flies out to the track in right field. The ball is really, really carrying tonight. That fastball was left up though by Crowe. He's got to get the ball down. Blows it by Reed for a strike out to end the inning. Florida leads 3-2.
TOP 3 - Gore grounds out 6-3 to begin the inning. Destino up and takes a tailing fastball on the outside corner for a strike to start it. He pops out to shallow left. Two down. Arendas goes down in the count 0-2, then 1-2, then takes a fastball on the inside corner for the final out of the inning. Shore needed that one. Florida leads 3-2.
BOTTOM 2 - Nine-hole hitter Hicks grounds out 3-1 then Guthrie lines out to left on the first pitch. Two quick outs for Crowe, which was certainly needed. Crowe strikes out Martin to end the inning. He's at 44 pitches. Florida leads 3-2.
TOP 2 - Arendas with a soft liner back up the middle and into shallow center for a single. Koch goes down swinging for the first out of the inning. Mooney tries to go the opposite way but Guthrie scrambles to his left and makes the play at first base. Arendas at second with Cone up. For some reason, Hicks is playing a couple steps on the grass at third base. Not sure why. He backs up a step now but still has his toes in the grass. Cone hits a single remarkably similar to the three-RBI single that Gore had the other night against The Citadel. Ball probably should have been caught by the right fielder but he got a really bad read. That scores one, so that's helpful. Schrock hits a two-strike pitch the other way and into left field. Kyle Martin up with runners on first and second with two outs. He drives a single through the right side. Gene Cone slides head first around the tag. Catcher dropped the ball anyway. Caldwell hits a fairly sharp grounder but it's right at the shortstop, who flips to second for the final out. Shore up to 58 pitches. Florida leads 3-2
BOTTOM 1 - FYI, Florida's top hitter, Josh Tobias, is not here tonight. He's sick and running a fever, so he's not even at the stadium. Guthrie hits a spinner towards short. Mooney charges, fields cleanly and makes the throw. One down. Martin walks. That's his 19th of the season. Not a good guy to walk as he's 11-for-14 on stolen base attempts. Crowe goes ahead in the count 0-1 on a curve ball down the heart to Bader. Bader taking Crowe deep into the at-bat. Count goes full as he fouls off some pitches. Crowe picks off Martin though to erase the runner he walked. Very next pitch, great googily moogily, Bader absolutely crushes his seventh home run of the season. That ball was launched. Wow. It's 1-0, Gators. Crowe walks Alonso and Jerry Meyers has to come visit. First pitch is lined back up the middle by Reed. Schwarz, who hit four home runs on Tuesday in the game, is up. This dude hit four bombs? He looks 5-10 185 from here. (He's listed at 6-1, 205 though.) Crowe falls behind 3-0. Then walks him. Bases are loaded with two outs. Vasquez up and he hits a soft ground ball just inside the third base bag that Arendas can't make a play on. Two runs score. Caldwell makes a fly ball to right a little bit of an adventure but makes the catch at his knees to end the inning. That was 35 pitches for Crowe. Florida leads 3-0
BOTTOM 1 - FYI, Florida's top hitter, Josh Tobias, is not here tonight. He's sick and running a fever, so he's not even at the stadium. Guthrie hits a spinner towards short. Mooney charges, fields cleanly and makes the throw. One down. Martin walks. That's his 19th of the season. Not a good guy to walk as he's 11-for-14 on stolen base attempts. Crowe goes ahead in the count 0-1 on a curve ball down the heart to Bader. Bader taking Crowe deep into the at-bat. Count goes full as he fouls off some pitches. Crowe picks off Martin though to erase the runner he walked. Very next pitch, great googily moogily, Bader absolutely crushes his seventh home run of the season. That ball was launched. Wow. It's 1-0, Gators. Crowe walks Alonso and Jerry Meyers has to come visit. First pitch is lined back up the middle by Reed. Schwarz, who hit four home runs on Tuesday in the game, is up. This dude hit four bombs? He looks 5-10 185 from here. (He's listed at 6-1, 205 though.) Crowe falls behind 3-0. Then walks him. Bases are loaded with two outs. Vasquez up and he hits a soft ground ball just inside the third base bag that Arendas can't make a play on. Two runs score. Caldwell makes a fly ball to right a little bit of an adventure but makes the catch at his knees to end the inning. That was 35 pitches for Crowe. Florida leads 3-0
TOP 1 - Logan Shore on the mound. If memory serves, he's got a 93-94 mph fastball, a decent changeup and a 12-6 curve ball. We'll see what we can see from here. This press box is a little lower than most, so I'll have a better feel for the pitches. Cone up and takes two balls. Count goes to 2-2 and Cone fouls out to the shortstop just a step or two into foul territory. Schrock hits a hanging changeup to right field for a single to bring up Martin. Gators employing a bit of a shift. Shortstop playing about five feet to his side of second base. Third baseman is playing about 25 feet off the bag. Second baseman about normal position. Schrock swipes second base on a 2-2 pitch. Just gets underneath. Fans not happy, but I thought he was safe. Martin fouls off several two-strike pitches. On the 10th pitch of the at-bat, he goes the opposite way with a high fly ball that keeps carrying. Bader back on the track and makes the catch just shy of the wall. Little bit more wind and it might have carried into the Rowdy Reptiles. Shore's pitch count up to 20 already though. Caldwell up and falls behind 0-2. Caldwell hits a bullet through the left side. It's right at Bader. There's no way you can send Schrock, and Holbrook holds him. First and third with two outs. O'Sullivan out to the mound. Gore goes ahead in the count 2-0. Make that 4-0. Bases loaded for Alex Destino. Takes a fastball on the inside corner for a first pitch strike. After ball one, he takes a big hack at a big breaking ball and misses. It's 1-2 now. Now 2-2. Now full. Another quality AB up there. Fouling off some good pitches that are strikes and taking pitches out of the zone. ... Destino just hit about a 360 foot foul ball - the opposite way. Destino ends up grounding out 3-1 to end the inning but Shore threw almost 40 pitches (36, actually) that inning. No score.
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