The third time against Brian Johnson proved to be the charm for South Carolina.
Johnson gave up five earned runs on eight hits in just four innings against the Gamecocks (46-17) as the Gators (47-19) dropped their College World Series opener 7-3 Saturday.
South Carolina tagged Johnson for all five runs in the fifth inning to build a 5-2 lead against Florida.
“Yeah, that was a really bad inning,” UF assistant coach Brad Weitzel said.
Johnson loaded the bases to lead off the fifth inning after giving up an Evan Marzilli leadoff double, a single to Christian Walker and a free pass to Adam Matthews.
The next batter, Erik Payne, stepped up to the plate and hit a bases-clearing triple that gave the Gamecocks the lead for good. It took an RBI double from LB Dantzler before UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan pulled Johnson from the game.
“Left on left to lead off the inning, Marzilli got a double, and downhill from there,” Weitzel said. “Dantzler got a hit — he’s left on left. Those are the two guys that hurt us, those two lefties. Got to get those guys out with your left-handed pitcher (Johnson).”
Johnson had opportunities to clean up his mess at the plate, but turned in a bad night with the bat as well. Johnson finished 0 for 4 with a strikeout and a team-high six left on base.
The Gators designated hitter stepped into the batter’s box three times representing either the tying or go-ahead run. However, Johnson did not bring any runs home.
“When you get at this level, in this situation, you got to bring your ‘A’ game,” Weitzel said. “I don’t think Brian had his ‘A’ game, and I don’t think we had our ‘A’ game as a team.”
Despite a rough night from Johnson, Florida managed to keep the game close at 5-3 until the ninth. Then, South Carolina doubled its lead.
The Gators sent Keenan Kish, Steven “Paco” Rodriguez and Ryan Harris in the game’s final inning, and each pitcher recorded a single out. Kish was pulled after a wild pitch allowed Walker to advance to third after a leadoff walk, but Rodriguez did more damage.
Rodriguez’s first pitch after coming in for Kish was wild and allowed Walker to plate a run. After fanning Payne, Rodriguez had the ball slip out of his hand as he was fielding a ground ball off Dantzler’s bat.
Two batters later, Chase Vergason reached second base, and Dantzler scored after Vickash Ramjit made a throwing error trying to retire Vergason at first. The play gave South Carolina a 7-3 lead that held.
“Very sloppy on defense, especially late in the game,” Weitzel said. “We still [had] a chance, we [were] two runs down.”
After a loss to open play in Omaha, Florida will play an elimination game against Kent State on Monday at 5 p.m. Hudson Randall will start for the Gators.
“South Carolina beat us in every phase of the game,” O’Sullivan said. “They outpitched us, they obviously outhit us and they played better defense. … We’ve got enough pitching to get through this tournament. Obviously, we’ll take it just one game at a time and see what happens.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Contact Joe Morgan at joemorgan@alligator.org.
Florida's Brian Johnson yells after lining out to South Carolina right fielder Adam Matthews in the seventh inning of an NCAA College World Series baseball game in Omaha, Neb., Saturday, June 16, 2012.
