Brian Johnson kept Florida's streak of stellar starting pitching alive against South Carolina.
Backed by a complete game from Johnson, the Gators (42-17) avoided elimination from the Southeastern Conference Tournament with a 7-2 victory against the Gamecocks (40-17) on Friday in Hoover, Ala.
Johnson (7-4) gave up just two earned runs on five hits, striking out five and walking none. The junior left-hander did not allow a run until the sixth frame, when UF had a 7-0 lead.
After a quiet game at the plate in Thursday's 2-1 loss to Vanderbilt, Florida racked up seven runs and 11 hits against South Carolina. It was the fifth time in the last six games the Gators had double-digit hits.
Mike Zunino did the early damage offensively to put the Gamecocks behind early. With runners on the corners and nobody out in the first, Zunino reached on a fielder's choice that allowed Nolan Fontana to score.
Leading 2-0 in the third, the junior catcher stepped into the batter's box with Fontana on first and one out. On the second pitch he saw, Zunino homered over the left-field wall and doubled UF's lead to 4-0.
In the fifth, the floodgates opened after a lead-off fly out by Josh Tobias. Back-to-back singles by Fontana and Tucker, and an intentional walk to Zunino loaded the bases for Johnson.
Johnson walked, which scored Fontana. The next batter, Daniel Pigott, struck out swinging.
With two outs, Casey Turgeon hit an 0-2 offering into the left-field grass for a two-run single. Tucker and Zunino scored to make the score 7-0.
The victory against South Carolina puts Florida in the SEC Tournament semifinals against Vanderbilt. Karsten Whitson will start for the Gators against the Commodores.
UF will play Vandy 30 minutes after the last out of the other semifinal matchup, which will begin at 1 p.m., between Kentucky and Mississippi State
