Florida was hitless heading into the bottom of the third inning.
Back-to-back walks by center fielder Jud Fabian and second baseman Blake Reese set up a golden opportunity for shortstop Brady McConnell to break the scoreless tie.
The sophomore delivered, blasting his seventh home run of the season high over the right-field wall to give the Gators an early 3-0 advantage.
McConnell’s homer sparked a six-run, six-hit inning for UF’s baseball team as it defeated South Carolina 9-5 at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium on Thursday night.
“It was a first-pitch slider that he left over the plate,” McConnell said. “I sat on it well and took it the other way. I was just glad to lead the game off like that and get the lead.”
First baseman Kendrick Calilao laced the first pitch of his at-bat into right field to score left fielder Austin Langworthy and pick up his team-leading 37th RBI of the season.
One batter later, third baseman Cory Acton forced one back up the middle to earn his own RBI single and give UF (23-13, 5-8 SEC) a 5-0 lead. He went 3 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs on the night, upping his season total to 19.
Fabian capped the scoring in the third with a two-out RBI single that landed just in front of South Carolina right fielder Jacob Olson.
Gamecocks starter Reid Morgan came into the night with solid numbers, but UF’s offensive surge in the third sunk the junior and handed him his second loss of the season.
Morgan went five innings and gave up seven earned runs off nine hits. He walked three batters and only struck out two.
Florida starter Tommy Mace redeemed himself from last weekend’s start against South Carolina.
The sophomore struggled with command at times, walking four through six innings. He made up for it in strikeouts with six, claiming his sixth victory of the season after giving up just two earned runs off three hits.
The Gamecocks (20-14, 3-10 SEC) picked up two unearned runs in the seventh to cut the lead to 7-3 after relief pitcher Hunter Ruth threw two wild pitches in the same at-bat.
The Gators added a couple insurance runs in the bottom half of the eighth. A wild pitch from South Carolina reliever Cole Ganopulos scored Calilao from third, and Fabian’s sacrifice fly gave him his second RBI of the game, scoring Acton.
Crisp was given the ball for UF to finish the game in the top of the ninth, but two walks and an RBI double caused coach Kevin O’Sullivan to go to reliever Ben Specht to close it out.
Florida won an important SEC game at home, but the vibe from the team wasn’t celebratory after the game.
“It was great to get the win,” McConnell said. “But it was a frustrating win, definitely not the way we wanted it to go.”
Eight walks and four wild pitches left O’Sullivan scratching his head.
“I don’t know what to say to be honest with you,” O’Sullivan said. “We’re just not throwing the ball across the plate, and it’s kind of been the same thing all year long.”
Follow Evan Lepak on Twitter @evanmplepak and contact him at elepak@alligator.org.
Florida first baseman Kendrick Calilao went 3 for 4 with an RBI in UF's 9-5 win over South Carolina at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium on Thursday.
