Gamecocks Prevent Sweep By Gators

Baseball: USC prevents sweep, find reason to smile

In lieu of SEC title, Gamecocks take momentum into SEC tournament

Written by NEIL WHITE
nwhite@thestate.com

Posted on 05.22.10

SEC Tournament

Wednesday

No. 2 Auburn vs. No. 7 Alabama, 10:30 a.m.
No. 3 USC vs. No. 6 Ole Miss, approx. 2 p.m.
No. 1 Florida vs. No. 8 LSU, 5:30 p.m.
No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 5 Vanderbilt, approx. 9 p.m.

Thursday

Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 10:30 a.m.
Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, approx. 2 p.m.
Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, TBD
Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, TBD

Nothing came easy in South Carolina’s final weekend of the regular season. But the Gamecocks gladly will take their 11-6 victory against Florida on Saturday afternoon at Carolina Stadium.

Not only does it mean they will enter the SEC tournament this week with a small slice of momentum, but it kept them from being swept by the Gators, who captured the conference championship with victories in the first two games of the series.

“It was very important,” USC coach Ray Tanner said. “I tried not to let our players know how I really felt. I really wanted to get a ‘W’ today. We needed a win to feel better and a win to have some momentum going into the tournament.”

Sixth-ranked South Carolina improved to 43-13 overall and 21-9 in the SEC to finish the regular season. Fourth-ranked Florida dropped to 40-13 and 22-8. The Gamecocks, who earned the third seed for the SEC tournament, will play sixth-seeded Ole Miss in a first-round game at approximately 2 p.m. Wednesday in Hoover, Ala.

Tanner said he is contemplating not starting ace Blake Cooper in the first game to give him another day of rest. He said left-handers Tyler Webb, Nolan Belcher and Steven Neff would be in the mix to draw the start against the Rebels (36-20).

But for at least one day, Tanner was encouraged by several developments. He received a strong outing from No. 3 starter Jay Brown, and his team hit the ball much harder in key situations than in the previous two games, losses of 3-2 and 5-2. Bobby Haney, who had four hits, and Adam Matthews, who had three hits including a homer for the second straight game, led the 16-hit attack.

“It was really nice to come out and get the clutch hits we struggled to get the past two days,” Matthews said.

Granted, it came with Florida using its No. 3 starter, Brian Johnson, for one inning and with the Gators resting five of their top hitters. Yet they still managed to put a scare in USC by scoring six runs in the seventh to make an 8-0 blowout close.

USC busted the game open with six runs in the sixth inning,
highlighted by Jackie Bradley’s grand slam off the concourse past the right-center-field bullpen.

“That was great,” Bradley said of the win. “Not getting swept at home was big. We just wanted to come back and battle and fight.”

Brown, the senior right-hander, picked up the victory with 6 1/3 solid innings. Brown (3-0) gave up two runs on five hits to stay unbeaten in his USC career in eight decisions.

“I had my fastball going pretty good. I could locate it in and out,” said Brown, who admitted to some tension in the dugout during Florida’s rally but kept his faith in the bullpen.

“These guys have been good all year, so you don’t expect it (the rally) to last,” he said.

Reliever Matt Price pitched the final 2 2/3 innings to close the game.

Tanner, despite his disappointment over losing the series and the title, found a lot of things to like about the last day of the regular season.

There were Haney’s four hits that raised his average to .265. There was Matthews’ eight-hit weekend that saw him deliver again after being moved to the No. 3 spot in the lineup Sunday for the first time. There was Brown stepping up as the captain and team leader to give his team a quality start. And there was the power outburst with homers from Matthews, Bradley and Nick Ebert.

“We bounced back today and feel a little better about ourselves,” Tanner said.

Heading into postseason play, he will take what he can get at the end of a tough weekend.

How did Auburn get the #2 seed?