Baseball Falls in Sunday Matinee at Florida
GAINESVILLE – Five runs in both the second and sixth frames gave Florida an 11-9 win over the University of South Carolina baseball team Sunday afternoon (April 14) at Condon Family Ballpark. South Carolina earned the series win with victories on Friday and Saturday.
The Gamecocks took an early 1-0 lead in the second as Dylan Brewer’s groundout scored Kennedy Jones. Florida scored all five of its runs in the second on home runs, including back-to-back homers from Ty Evans and Jac Caglianone.
Ethan Petry cut Florida’s lead to 5-3 on his 15th home run of the season, a two-run shot to the gap in right field. Florida added a run in the third on Cade Kurland’s RBI single.
Parker Noland got the Gamecocks to 6-5 in the sixth with a two-run double to right, but the Gators answered with five runs in the bottom of the frame.
The Gamecocks battled back for two runs in the eighth. Dalton Reeves then hit a two-run home run in the ninth, but Carolina fell two runs short of the comeback.
Messina, Reeves and Talmadge LeCroy had two hits apiece for Carolina. Reeves, Petry and Noland had two RBI apiece. Matthew Becker was tagged with the loss, allowing six runs and five hits with three strikeouts in 2.1 innings.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Parker Noland and Cole Messina extended their hitting streaks to 13 games and Noland now has a 23-game reached base streak.
- Petry now has 38 career home runs after his third-inning blast and is tied for 12th place with Eric Stanton on Carolina’s all-time home run list.
- Carolina did win the series at Florida for the first time since 2011.
UP NEXT
Carolina heads to Joe Riley Park, home of the Charleston Riverdogs, for a Tuesday night (April 16) game at The Citadel. First pitch is at 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
