USC-Florida Game 3 Blog - Sun. 5/4
posted by Scott Hood, Sunday, May 04, 2008
4:50 - 1 out to go. 1-1 on den Dekker. There's a line shot into RCF. Double. Runner on 2nd, 2 outs. Now it's 2-1 on Barber. He has a HR today. 3-1. Godwin needs to rally here. Walk. Tying run comes to the plate. Here comes Tanner. Here comes Parker Bangs to face Riley Coopr, who has 2 HR in the series.
4:45 - Godwin backout for the 9th. He does a good job today. He's the pitcher of record. There's a drive to deep RF. Lail makes the ctach up against the wall! 1 out. Big out right there. Great play by Wingo!! 4-3 for the 2nd out. 1 out to go.
4:40 - Darnell K's. 2 outs. Disher up. He's 4-for-4 today. A fifth hit would set a career high. Wild pitch. Smoak goes to third. Insurance run is 90 feet away. UF will now IBB Disher. Runners at 1&3, 2 outs for Lail. Here comes the UF pitcher. Pitcher stays in. Lail up. 3-2 count. Disher will be off with the pitch. He lines one foul to LF. F-9 for the third out. WE GO TO THE NINTH WITH USC LEADING 9-6.
4:35 - Merrifield F-9. 1 out. Smoak up. He walks for the third time today. 44 walks for Smoak this seaosn. There's a stolen base for Smoak! 2nd SB of his career. The hit-and-run was on. Darnell up.
4:30 - Line drive to Wingo at 2B! He snags it and throws to first for the DP! USC is out of the inning. We go to the B8 with USC leading 9-6.
4:25 - Umpire rules UF batter was hit by a pitch. Tanner is out arguing. But to no avail. UF has a runner on 1st with 1 out. Leadoff batter up. He's batting .392 this seaosn. Big at-bat for Godwin. Base hit to LF. Runners on 1&2, 1 out.
4:20 - USC down 1-2-3 in the B7. The 7th inning didn't take much time at all. We go to the T8 with USC ahead, 9-6. Godwin still pitching for USC. P-6 for the 1st out. Godwin has retired 6 in a row.
4:15 - 1-2-3 for Godwin in the T7. That's the first perfect inning of the game for either team. We go to the B7 with USC leading 9-6.
4:10 - Lail F-8 and Crisp X-3. We go to the T7 with USC leading, 9-6. USC has 12 hits today. Godwin still pitching.
4:00 - Smoak walks with 1 out. Darnell up. He wallops one to LF. It's gone! 2-run HR gives USC a 9-6 lead. 15th HR of the season for Darnell. He has 65 RBI. Disher singles to CF! That's 4 hits for him today, tying his career high for hits. Here comes the UF coach. New pitcher coming in.
3:50 - UF comes back with a run here in the T6 on a SF to LF. An infield single and bloop single to CF had put runners on the corners with 1 out. 2 outs now with 1 runner on. Wild pitch. 1-3 for the third out. UF scores one run. We go to the B6 with USC leading 7-6.
3:40 - Havens pops to 2B for the final out. The VERY LONG fifth inning is finally over. It took 35-40 minutes to play the 5th inning. The good news id USC leads 7-5 after scoring four times in the B5. We go to the T6. Hopefully, the pace of the game will pick up.
3:35 - Here comes the UF coach again. That's it for Mullaney. A LHP will come into the game with a 2-1 count on Havens. USC leads 7-5 in the B5. We've passed the 2-hour mark.
3:33 - Great at-bat by Crisp. SF to CF drives in Disher with the go-ahead run. USC leads 6-5. Mack up. Wild pitch. Lail to 2B. Mack is 0-for-2 today with 2 K's. He scorches down the 1B line. It gets past the 1B!! Lail scores from 2B. USC leads 7-5. Nice response to the 2 runs scored by UF in the T5. Wingo is hit by a pitch! 14th time this season. Here comes the UF coach. The pitcher stays in.
3:30 - New pitcher for UF. Kyle Mullaney. Darnell up. 6-3. Disher up. He's 2-for-2 today. He rips one to RF. It;s off the wall. He strolls into second with a double. He needs a triple for the cycle. Base hit for Lail! He snaps out of the slump. First hit of the series for him. Good time for it. Runners at 1&3, 1 out. Score tied 5-5.
3:20 - Merrifield singles to open the B5. He's 2-for-3 today. Good start for USC. Here comes Smoak. He wallops the first pitch over the LF wall for a 2-run HR!!! 58th career HR for Smoak. The score is tied at 5-5.
3:15 - Delayed steal by UF. He's out. The bizarre T5 is finally over. The 3 outs came via 2 pickoffs and a caught stealing. But UF scores twice to take a 5-3 lead. We go to the B5. That might be one of the most bizarre innings you'll see. A batter wasn't even retired.
3:10 - Line drive single under the glove of Havens at SS. UF leads 5-3. That was the score yesterday when USC began its comeback. Parker Bangs is warmingup inthe bullpen. Another pickoff at first!! Wow!! Godwin helping himself here. The UF coach comes out to argue. He loses the argument. 2 outs in the T5.
3:08 - Leadoff bloop single to CF for UF in the T5. Godwin walks the second batter. Base hit to CF. Run scores. UF leads 4-3. No outs in the T5. Runners on the corners. Godwin in trouble here. He needs to make a big pitch here. Pickoff at first! Wow. 1 out. Godwin has a great pickoff move for a RHP.
3:00 - Wingo lines a single to RF! Runners on the corners for Havens. But there's a 4-6-3 DP. UF gets out of it. We go to the T5 with the score tied at 3-3.
2:55 - Crisp leads off the B4 with a single to center. Here comes the UF coach. There is some action in the UF bullpen. Mack up.
2:50 - Godwin comes in and does the job. He gets out of the inning with a 6-3 groundout. We go to the B4 with the score tied at 3-3. Crisp, Mack, Wingo due.
2:45 - Another walk. The 5th of the game for Cooper. Here comes Tanner. That's it for Cooper. Goodwin comes in from the bullpen. His second consecutive relief appearance after 9 starts. Bases loaded, 2 outs.
2:40 - Cooper is struggling here in the T4. 2 outs. He walks the No. 9 hitter. Stolen base! No one covered. UF has 10 stolen bases this weekend. Poor communication there. Leadoff hitter up. Godwin warming up in the USC bullpen. 3-2 on the leadoff hitter. Ball 4. But the umps say the ball hit the batter. USC catches a break because the runner on 2nd was off to the races. Tunners on 1&2, 2 outs. Cooper is laboring. Godwin still throwing inthe bullpen.
2:38 - There's another HR by UF. Riley Cooper, also a FB player at UF, hammers a pitch over the LF wall. It's tied at 3-3.
2:35 - With i out, Cooper serves up a single to RF and a two-run HR to Bryson Barber over the RF fence. It's 3-2 USC in the T4. Calvi out to talk with Cooper.
2:32 - Lail lines to the 3B. That's how it's going for the Indian Land native. He's 0-for-10 in the series, 5-for-46. We go to the T4 with USC leading 3-0.
2:30 - Darnell lines one right at the UF CF. Hard hit ball. But no luck. Disher up. He homered the last time. Disher rips one to RF! It's off the wall. Disher is held to a single and Smoak goes to third. 1&3, 2 outs for USC. Here comes the UF coach for a chat with Keating. Lail up.
2:25 - Merrifield leads off the B3. L-6 on first pitch. Smoak up. USC is not afraid to swing at the first pitch. Keating is a pitcher who likes to get ahead in the count, so USC is trying to neutralize that. 3-1 on Smoak. Good hitter's count. He walks. That's his 42nd walk this year.
2:18 - 1-out single by UF in the T3. Stolen base, UF's ninth of the series. 4-3 groundout. Runner to 3rd. Figueroa up. He's given USC fits this series. 3-0. Cooper is definitely being careful here. Two strikes. Full count 3-2. 6-3 groundout. Nice comeback by Cooper. We go to the B3 with USC leading 3-0.
2:10 - 2 outs here in the B2. Crisp P-6, Mack K. Wingo up. USC is 17-8 this season when it scores in the first inning and 24-8 when they score first. Wingo walks. Havens P-5 for the final out. We go to the T3 with USC leading 3-0.
2:00 - The homeplate umpire has a fairly tight strike zone today. Some of his calls on Cooper have been questionable. Walk with 1 out. Cooper picks the runner of first!! There's poetic justice. 5-3 for the 3rd out. Nice play by Darnell. We go to the B2 with USC leading 3-0. Crisp, Mack, Wingo due.
1:53 - Darnell P-4 for the 1st out. Disher up. He's belts a laser beam towards LCF. It's over the wall! 2-run HR. No. 16 for Disher. USC leads 3-0. Great start for the Gamecocks. Keating is throwing a lot of pitches here in the B1. Lail K. We go to the T2 with USC leading 3-0.
1:50 - Havens leads off for USC. He's 2-for-8 in the series with 3 runs and 1 HR. He walks for the 47th time. I'm guessing Merrifield will be sacrificing here. There's a bunt. It's a beauty!! Right down the 3B line. Merrifield reaches base. Runners at 1&2, 0 outs for Smoak. Potential big ining. Chopper to first. Throw to 2B for the force. But the relay throw goes into the USC dugout! No one covered first! Havens scores. It's 1-0 USC.
1:42 - Another walk by Cooper. Here comes Tanner for a quick chat. Cooper is missing with fastball early. Cooper entered today's game with just 14 BB in 64.0 IP, so he's already he's already reached his quota. Strikeout looking. Blew the fastball by him! We go to the B1 with the score 0-0.
1:40 - 5-3 for the first out. There's a grounder towards RF. Great play by Wingo! 4-3 for the 2nd out. He showed great range right on that play. Walk with 2 outs. Cooper just missed with a 3-2 curveball. Cooper falls behind 3-0 to the cleanup hiter.
1:38 - We're just about ready for baseball. The nationalanthem has been played. Blake Cooper is going through his final warm-ups. The first UF batter steps in. We're playing baseball.
12:50: Here are the SEC East standings heading into Sunday's action:
Georgia 16-6-1
Vanderbilt 13-9
Florida 13-10
South Carolina 12-11
Kentucky 11-12
Tennessee 11-12
A win today by USC would catapult them to 3rd place in the division, since they would own the tie-breaker over UF. Vanderbilt will remain second because they worst they can be is 13-10, 1/2 game ahead. UGA has a 3.5 game lead. USC is 7-3 on Sundays this year. USC is 23-7 at home.
12:35 - Here is USC's starting lineup today with current stats:
Havens - 6 (.384-13 HR-44 RBI)
Merrifield - 8 (.307-3-20)
Smoak - 3 (.400-18-53)
Darnell - 5 (.312-14-63)
Disher - 2 (.291-15-44)
Lail - 9 (.251-4-22)
Crisp - 7 (.311-1-13)
Mack - DH (.254-4-11)
Wingo - 4 (.218-6-13)
Cooper - P (5-4, 3.52 ERA, 64.0 IP, 69 hits, 31 runs, 31 K, 14 BB, .279 OBA)
Enders is out, replaced by Mack at DH. This is the first time this season Disher has caught 2 consecutive games. Cooper is 12-6 overall, 9-1 at home, in his career. So, I like USC's chances.
12:10 - We're here at Sarge Frye Field for today's rubber game of the 3-game series between USC and Florida. Another huge game for the Gamecocks. They're facing an unbeaten pitcher today in UF's Patrick Keating. He's 8-0 with a 2.69 ERA. However, other than his W-L record and ERA, his numbers aren't dominating. He's allowed 69 hits in 60.1 IP and fanned 38 compared to 14 walks. The OBA is .289. It sounds like he's a control pitcher (sinker?) that simply lets his defense make plays behind him. Blake Cooper will start for USC today. He's 5-4 with a 3.52 ERA in 64.0 IP. He'e yielded 69 hits with 31 K's and 14 BB.
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4:55 - 14th appearance of the season for Bangs. He's 3-2 with a 3.22 ERA. All relief appearances. Cooper up. Strike. Bangs has a sweeping curve. Ball. Foul. 1-2. Ball. 2-2. Strike Three!!!!!!! USC WINS 9-6. Save for Bangs. USC is 13-11 in the SEC.
4:50 - 1 out to go. 1-1 on den Dekker. There's a line shot into RCF. Double. Runner on 2nd, 2 outs. Now it's 2-1 on Barber. He has a HR today. 3-1. Godwin needs to rally here. Walk. Tying run comes to the plate. Here comes Tanner. Here comes Parker Bangs to face Riley Coopr, who has 2 HR in the series.
4:45 - Godwin backout for the 9th. He does a good job today. He's the pitcher of record. There's a drive to deep RF. Lail makes the ctach up against the wall! 1 out. Big out right there. Great play by Wingo!! 4-3 for the 2nd out. 1 out to go.
4:40 - Darnell K's. 2 outs. Disher up. He's 4-for-4 today. A fifth hit would set a career high. Wild pitch. Smoak goes to third. Insurance run is 90 feet away. UF will now IBB Disher. Runners at 1&3, 2 outs for Lail. Here comes the UF pitcher. Pitcher stays in. Lail up. 3-2 count. Disher will be off with the pitch. He lines one foul to LF. F-9 for the third out. WE GO TO THE NINTH WITH USC LEADING 9-6.
4:35 - Merrifield F-9. 1 out. Smoak up. He walks for the third time today. 44 walks for Smoak this seaosn. There's a stolen base for Smoak! 2nd SB of his career. The hit-and-run was on. Darnell up.
4:30 - Line drive to Wingo at 2B! He snags it and throws to first for the DP! USC is out of the inning. We go to the B8 with USC leading 9-6.
4:25 - Umpire rules UF batter was hit by a pitch. Tanner is out arguing. But to no avail. UF has a runner on 1st with 1 out. Leadoff batter up. He's batting .392 this seaosn. Big at-bat for Godwin. Base hit to LF. Runners on 1&2, 1 out.
4:20 - USC down 1-2-3 in the B7. The 7th inning didn't take much time at all. We go to the T8 with USC ahead, 9-6. Godwin still pitching for USC. P-6 for the 1st out. Godwin has retired 6 in a row.
4:15 - 1-2-3 for Godwin in the T7. That's the first perfect inning of the game for either team. We go to the B7 with USC leading 9-6.
4:10 - Lail F-8 and Crisp X-3. We go to the T7 with USC leading, 9-6. USC has 12 hits today. Godwin still pitching.
4:00 - Smoak walks with 1 out. Darnell up. He wallops one to LF. It's gone! 2-run HR gives USC a 9-6 lead. 15th HR of the season for Darnell. He has 65 RBI. Disher singles to CF! That's 4 hits for him today, tying his career high for hits. Here comes the UF coach. New pitcher coming in.
3:50 - UF comes back with a run here in the T6 on a SF to LF. An infield single and bloop single to CF had put runners on the corners with 1 out. 2 outs now with 1 runner on. Wild pitch. 1-3 for the third out. UF scores one run. We go to the B6 with USC leading 7-6.
3:40 - Havens pops to 2B for the final out. The VERY LONG fifth inning is finally over. It took 35-40 minutes to play the 5th inning. The good news id USC leads 7-5 after scoring four times in the B5. We go to the T6. Hopefully, the pace of the game will pick up.
3:35 - Here comes the UF coach again. That's it for Mullaney. A LHP will come into the game with a 2-1 count on Havens. USC leads 7-5 in the B5. We've passed the 2-hour mark.
3:33 - Great at-bat by Crisp. SF to CF drives in Disher with the go-ahead run. USC leads 6-5. Mack up. Wild pitch. Lail to 2B. Mack is 0-for-2 today with 2 K's. He scorches down the 1B line. It gets past the 1B!! Lail scores from 2B. USC leads 7-5. Nice response to the 2 runs scored by UF in the T5. Wingo is hit by a pitch! 14th time this season. Here comes the UF coach. The pitcher stays in.
3:30 - New pitcher for UF. Kyle Mullaney. Darnell up. 6-3. Disher up. He's 2-for-2 today. He rips one to RF. It;s off the wall. He strolls into second with a double. He needs a triple for the cycle. Base hit for Lail! He snaps out of the slump. First hit of the series for him. Good time for it. Runners at 1&3, 1 out. Score tied 5-5.
3:20 - Merrifield singles to open the B5. He's 2-for-3 today. Good start for USC. Here comes Smoak. He wallops the first pitch over the LF wall for a 2-run HR!!! 58th career HR for Smoak. The score is tied at 5-5.
3:15 - Delayed steal by UF. He's out. The bizarre T5 is finally over. The 3 outs came via 2 pickoffs and a caught stealing. But UF scores twice to take a 5-3 lead. We go to the B5. That might be one of the most bizarre innings you'll see. A batter wasn't even retired.
3:10 - Line drive single under the glove of Havens at SS. UF leads 5-3. That was the score yesterday when USC began its comeback. Parker Bangs is warmingup inthe bullpen. Another pickoff at first!! Wow!! Godwin helping himself here. The UF coach comes out to argue. He loses the argument. 2 outs in the T5.
3:08 - Leadoff bloop single to CF for UF in the T5. Godwin walks the second batter. Base hit to CF. Run scores. UF leads 4-3. No outs in the T5. Runners on the corners. Godwin in trouble here. He needs to make a big pitch here. Pickoff at first! Wow. 1 out. Godwin has a great pickoff move for a RHP.
3:00 - Wingo lines a single to RF! Runners on the corners for Havens. But there's a 4-6-3 DP. UF gets out of it. We go to the T5 with the score tied at 3-3.
2:55 - Crisp leads off the B4 with a single to center. Here comes the UF coach. There is some action in the UF bullpen. Mack up.
2:50 - Godwin comes in and does the job. He gets out of the inning with a 6-3 groundout. We go to the B4 with the score tied at 3-3. Crisp, Mack, Wingo due.
2:45 - Another walk. The 5th of the game for Cooper. Here comes Tanner. That's it for Cooper. Goodwin comes in from the bullpen. His second consecutive relief appearance after 9 starts. Bases loaded, 2 outs.
2:40 - Cooper is struggling here in the T4. 2 outs. He walks the No. 9 hitter. Stolen base! No one covered. UF has 10 stolen bases this weekend. Poor communication there. Leadoff hitter up. Godwin warming up in the USC bullpen. 3-2 on the leadoff hitter. Ball 4. But the umps say the ball hit the batter. USC catches a break because the runner on 2nd was off to the races. Tunners on 1&2, 2 outs. Cooper is laboring. Godwin still throwing inthe bullpen.
2:38 - There's another HR by UF. Riley Cooper, also a FB player at UF, hammers a pitch over the LF wall. It's tied at 3-3.
2:35 - With i out, Cooper serves up a single to RF and a two-run HR to Bryson Barber over the RF fence. It's 3-2 USC in the T4. Calvi out to talk with Cooper.
2:32 - Lail lines to the 3B. That's how it's going for the Indian Land native. He's 0-for-10 in the series, 5-for-46. We go to the T4 with USC leading 3-0.
2:30 - Darnell lines one right at the UF CF. Hard hit ball. But no luck. Disher up. He homered the last time. Disher rips one to RF! It's off the wall. Disher is held to a single and Smoak goes to third. 1&3, 2 outs for USC. Here comes the UF coach for a chat with Keating. Lail up.
2:25 - Merrifield leads off the B3. L-6 on first pitch. Smoak up. USC is not afraid to swing at the first pitch. Keating is a pitcher who likes to get ahead in the count, so USC is trying to neutralize that. 3-1 on Smoak. Good hitter's count. He walks. That's his 42nd walk this year.
2:18 - 1-out single by UF in the T3. Stolen base, UF's ninth of the series. 4-3 groundout. Runner to 3rd. Figueroa up. He's given USC fits this series. 3-0. Cooper is definitely being careful here. Two strikes. Full count 3-2. 6-3 groundout. Nice comeback by Cooper. We go to the B3 with USC leading 3-0.
2:10 - 2 outs here in the B2. Crisp P-6, Mack K. Wingo up. USC is 17-8 this season when it scores in the first inning and 24-8 when they score first. Wingo walks. Havens P-5 for the final out. We go to the T3 with USC leading 3-0.
2:00 - The homeplate umpire has a fairly tight strike zone today. Some of his calls on Cooper have been questionable. Walk with 1 out. Cooper picks the runner of first!! There's poetic justice. 5-3 for the 3rd out. Nice play by Darnell. We go to the B2 with USC leading 3-0. Crisp, Mack, Wingo due.
1:53 - Darnell P-4 for the 1st out. Disher up. He's belts a laser beam towards LCF. It's over the wall! 2-run HR. No. 16 for Disher. USC leads 3-0. Great start for the Gamecocks. Keating is throwing a lot of pitches here in the B1. Lail K. We go to the T2 with USC leading 3-0.
1:50 - Havens leads off for USC. He's 2-for-8 in the series with 3 runs and 1 HR. He walks for the 47th time. I'm guessing Merrifield will be sacrificing here. There's a bunt. It's a beauty!! Right down the 3B line. Merrifield reaches base. Runners at 1&2, 0 outs for Smoak. Potential big ining. Chopper to first. Throw to 2B for the force. But the relay throw goes into the USC dugout! No one covered first! Havens scores. It's 1-0 USC.
1:42 - Another walk by Cooper. Here comes Tanner for a quick chat. Cooper is missing with fastball early. Cooper entered today's game with just 14 BB in 64.0 IP, so he's already he's already reached his quota. Strikeout looking. Blew the fastball by him! We go to the B1 with the score 0-0.
1:40 - 5-3 for the first out. There's a grounder towards RF. Great play by Wingo! 4-3 for the 2nd out. He showed great range right on that play. Walk with 2 outs. Cooper just missed with a 3-2 curveball. Cooper falls behind 3-0 to the cleanup hiter.
1:38 - We're just about ready for baseball. The nationalanthem has been played. Blake Cooper is going through his final warm-ups. The first UF batter steps in. We're playing baseball.
12:50: Here are the SEC East standings heading into Sunday's action:
Georgia 16-6-1
Vanderbilt 13-9
Florida 13-10
South Carolina 12-11
Kentucky 11-12
Tennessee 11-12
A win today by USC would catapult them to 3rd place in the division, since they would own the tie-breaker over UF. Vanderbilt will remain second because they worst they can be is 13-10, 1/2 game ahead. UGA has a 3.5 game lead. USC is 7-3 on Sundays this year. USC is 23-7 at home.
12:35 - Here is USC's starting lineup today with current stats:
Havens - 6 (.384-13 HR-44 RBI)
Merrifield - 8 (.307-3-20)
Smoak - 3 (.400-18-53)
Darnell - 5 (.312-14-63)
Disher - 2 (.291-15-44)
Lail - 9 (.251-4-22)
Crisp - 7 (.311-1-13)
Mack - DH (.254-4-11)
Wingo - 4 (.218-6-13)
Cooper - P (5-4, 3.52 ERA, 64.0 IP, 69 hits, 31 runs, 31 K, 14 BB, .279 OBA)
Enders is out, replaced by Mack at DH. This is the first time this season Disher has caught 2 consecutive games. Cooper is 12-6 overall, 9-1 at home, in his career. So, I like USC's chances.
12:10 - We're here at Sarge Frye Field for today's rubber game of the 3-game series between USC and Florida. Another huge game for the Gamecocks. They're facing an unbeaten pitcher today in UF's Patrick Keating. He's 8-0 with a 2.69 ERA. However, other than his W-L record and ERA, his numbers aren't dominating. He's allowed 69 hits in 60.1 IP and fanned 38 compared to 14 walks. The OBA is .289. It sounds like he's a control pitcher (sinker?) that simply lets his defense make plays behind him. Blake Cooper will start for USC today. He's 5-4 with a 3.52 ERA in 64.0 IP. He'e yielded 69 hits with 31 K's and 14 BB.
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.