SEC Baseball Tournament: Florida sends Gamecocks packing, 7-2

We’ve all seen this script before.

Historically Hoover has not been very nice to the South Carolina Gamecocks, and that trend continued Thursday afternoon as the number 1 seed Florida sent number 4 seed Carolina packing thanks to another poor SEC tournament performance by the Gamecocks, falling 7-2.

What started out as a very promising afternoon turned quickly. The Gamecocks sent sophomore lefty Jack Wynkoop to the hill and jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead early on off of Florida starter A.J. Puk. The second inning started off with a Joey Pankake double, later scoring on a double from Tanner English to give Carolina a 1-0 lead. Kyle Martin added another in the third, blasting a solo home run to dead center field.

With the Gamecocks leading 2-0 in the third, and a smooth start to the bottom half for Wynkoop, the wheels fell off.

After two quick outs, a single kept the inning alive for Florida. With a runner on first, Wynkoop was unable to field a bunt cleanly and hit the next batter to load the bases. A pair of singles followed and just like that, Gamecocks trailed 3-2 with Florida never looking back. The 3 run inning would chase Wynkoop and bring on Cody Mincey, who would give up two more runs the next frame.

That seemed to be enough for Florida, as the Gators would call former starter Bobby Poyner to the mound for what ended up being the final 5 innings allowing only two hits and no runs while receiving two more insurance runs to power Florida to a 7-2 win over the Gamecocks. Poyner would earn the win, Wynkoop getting the loss although no runs of the 3 given up were earned.

The loss sends the Gamecocks back to Columbia after another disappointing trip to Hoover. With the NCAA Tournament selections coming up, the Gamecocks will have time to relax and refocus for what seems to be another opportunity to host the first round Regional, with another chance to end up in Omaha.