The dominance of South Carolina ace Michael Roth hit a speed bump to start the fifth inning. After pulling ahead of Gator designated hitter Brian Johnson 0-2, Roth threw three consecutive balls before hitting the sophomore to give him a pass to first. Sensing a rare opportunity to get to the brillant Gamecock hurler, first basemen Vickash Ramjit immediately came to the plate and smashed a single to right field.
College World Series, Game 2 Score: Karsten Whiston Pulled, South Carolina Leads 3-1 After Five
That would be as far as the Gators got though, as Roth quickly regained his composure, struck out Cody Dent swinging, and induced Bryson Smith into a double play to end the top of the inning. Thus far Roth has pitched a stellar five innings of three-hit ball.
With his offense failing to come alive, Karsten Whiston returned in the bottom of the fifth determined to not dig the Gators into a deeper hole. He quickly induced senior second baseman Scott Wingo into a groundout to first, and then struck out Jackie Bradley Jr. looking.
But then Christian Walker, the eternal thorn in Florida’s side, came up and hit a dribbler to the left side for a two-out single. The rally continued as Brady Thomas matched his teammate with a single to left that led to another managerial visit out to the mound for Kevin O’Sullivan.
The right-handed freshman convinced O’Sullivan to keep him in the game, only to promptly reward his skipper by hitting yet another batter. With two outs and the bases loaded, O’Sullivan made the call to the bullpen, bringing out junior reliever Tommy Toledo to try to finish the job. The decision proved to be a wise one, as Toledo struck out Jake Williams with a blistering fastball to end the fifth inning.
For more on the South Carolina baseball and Florida baseball teams, visit SB Nation’s South Carolina blog Garnet and Black Attack and Florida blog Alligator Army. For more on the 2011 College World Series, visit our CWS hub.
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