HOOVER, Ala.  – No. 15 Florida erased an early, one-run deficit to run away with an 11-3 victory over South Carolina in the first round of the SEC Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on Tuesday evening.
 
With the win, the Gators (38-19, 15-15 SEC) have now won 18 of their last 23 games including 15 of 19 against SEC opponents. Improving to 4-0 against the Gamecocks (28-29, 6-24 SEC) this season, Florida advances to take on No. 7-seed Ole Miss on Wednesday night in the final game of the day, starting approximately 30 minutes after the 4:30 p.m. CT game on SEC Network.
 
Shining on both sides of the field, Bobby Boser (2-for-4) homered and drove in a team-high three runs while fellow senior Ty Evans (3-for-5) tallied three hits, doubled twice and plated one run. Hayden Yost (2-for-4) homered and doubled to finish with two RBI and Brody Donay (2-for-4) swatted his team-leading 17th homer of the season.
 
The Gamecocks (28-29, 6-24 SEC) loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first, but Florida starter Billy Barlow induced a double play and groundout to shortstop to limit the damage to one run. Barlow rebounded for a clean frame in the second to hold the one-run deficit.
 
After two quick outs in the home half of the second, Landon Stripling gave the Gators life with a single to center. Following a Justin Nadeau walk, Boser unloaded on a 2-0 offering for a go-ahead, three-run homer to center field.
 
Holding their first lead at 3-1, the Gators received another zero from Barlow in the third and promptly extended their lead in the home half. Donay smoked a one-out homer to right field while Blake Cyr and Yost drilled back-to-back doubles to make it 5-1 in favor of Florida.
 
Barlow and freshman righty Blaine Rowland combined to blank the Gamecocks in the fourth, as Rowland needed just one pitch to strand a pair of two-out baserunners with a groundout to short.
 
Striking again with two outs, Lawson kept bottom-four alive with a single to right. One batter later, Evans split the right-center field gap for an RBI double to push the UF advantage to 6-1.
 
Rowland navigated around a two-out single to churn out a zero in the top of the fifth, while Yost popped a solo home run to right field in the bottom half to extend the Gator lead to 7-1. Rowland continued to mow through the South Carolina order, chucking scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh to hold the six-run advantage.
 
The Gamecocks scratched across a pair of late runs in the eighth, beginning with a KJ Scobey RBI double that snuck inside the left-field line to bring home Beau Hollins. Jordan Carrion followed with a double to right-center to bring the score to 7-3.
 
Florida got the runs right back and then some, posting a four-spot to bring the score to its final tally of 11-3. Brendan Lawson singled up the middle with the bags juice to drive in two, followed by an RBI single to left by Evans – his third knock of the night. Donay capped off the outburst with an RBI single to right-center field, scoring Lawson for the final run.
 
Freshman righty Christian Rodriguez closed it out behind 1 2/3 shutout, one-hit innings of relief. He struck out two.

Rowland (1-0) earned his first-career victory, firing 3 2/3 innings with two earned runs allowed on six hits. The rookie right-hander struck out two and did not issue a free pass.

 

Barlow did not qualify for the decision, pitching 3 2/3 frames with one earned run allowed on four hits and three walks. The redshirt junior fanned two.

 

South Carolina starter Brandon Stone (2-7) was stung with the loss, surrendering five earned runs on six hits, two walks and three strikeouts across three innings.

 

NOTABLES

• The Gators have won 18 of their last 23 games including 15 of 19 vs. SEC teams.
• Florida improved to 4-0 against South Carolina this season, outscoring the Gamecocks by a 50-11 (plus-39) margin on the season.
• The Gators delivered their 16th comeback victory highlighted by their ninth in the last 23 games.
• Boser launched his 16th home run in the second inning, drawing closer to becoming the second 20-homer/20-steal player in program history (18 steals).
• Donay reclaimed the team lead from Boser with his 17th homer in the third inning.
• Yost blasted his fourth home run of the campaign in the fifth.
• Evans doubled twice in the victory and finished with three hits.
• Rowland pitched a career-high 3 2/3 innings of relief to log his first-career win.
• The Gators are making their 44th SEC Tournament appearance, holding a 78-69 record (.531).
• Florida is now 58-56 all-time against South Carolina including 5-7 at neutral sites.

  • The Gators are 36-24 overall and 4-4 at neutral sites in the series under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan.
  • Florida has won two-straight games against South Carolina in Hoover (2022, 2025).

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
Opening statement…
“I thought we played a pretty complete game.  We got out of a bases loaded jam there in the first and only gave up one, so that was key to us getting off to a good start.  We swung the bats extremely well.  Had some guys playing out of position, and I don’t think we made any errors today.  We’re just excited about the opportunity to play Ole Miss tomorrow.”
 
On the importance of Rowland’s outing…
“Yeah, I mean, it’s another great example, as long as you throw strikes and able to change speeds and it’s a big ballpark.  Obviously, he was playing a little bit smaller today because of the wind, but he just continues to throw strikes and doesn’t hurt himself.  He fields his position really well.  It was really important for us to have a game like this today because now we haven’t used Jake since last Thursday when he threw 29 pitches. We got our No. 1 going tomorrow in Liam.  We can extend Jacob if need be. We’re in as good a shape as can be pitching-wise going into tomorrow’s game.”
 
On playing Ole Miss tomorrow night…
“They’re a different — we played them early in the year, so it’s a totally different Ole Miss team and we’re a totally different Florida team.  I don’t know how much we can take away from that series.  They’re talented. They’re older.  I’m assuming they’re going to throw their No. 1.  We’ve got Liam going for us.  They’re well rested. They’ve had a great year.  So we’ll just go out and play tomorrow and see how it goes.”

UP NEXT

No. 10-seed Florida advances to play No. 7-seed Ole Miss in the second round of the SEC Baseball Tournament on Wednesday night, May 21 on SEC Network (time TBD, last game of day).