Justin Smoak, James Darnell, and Phil Disher -- the No. 3, 4 and 5 hitters in the USC order -- went deep. Add in the workman-like relief outing from senior Nick Godwin, and the Gamecocks gained a much needed win with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

"You're supposed to win games when the guys in the middle of the order hit home runs," USC coach Ray Tanner said. "I know they were three two-run shots, but you get seven, eight or nine runs and you're supposed to win. We had to hang on for dear life, but everything is important right now."

The win moves USC (33-15, 13-11) into a tie for third place with the Gators (28-18, 13-11) in the SEC standings with six conference games remaining. South Carolina had lost four in a row, including being swept at LSU last weekend, before taking the final two against Florida. The Gamecocks are 3-1 in Sunday games after splitting the first two games of the series.

"Saturday's game was a good little bounce back," USC outfielder Andrew Crisp said. "That's always a good feeling after you get beat, and we've been pretty good on Sundays so far. We feel confidence with the pitching and hitting that we have on this team."

Six teams remain within 2.5 games of third place, and the two teams the Gamecocks finish with - Arkansas on the road and Tennessee at home - trail the Gamecocks but are within striking distance in the standings.

Only the top eight teams make the SEC tournament in Hoover, Ala.

Disher was the first to connect for USC. His 16th home run of the season gave the Gamecocks a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

Florida, known for its small-ball approach, flexed its power for the first time during the weekend. Bryson Barber and Riley Cooper hit back-to-back home runs to tie the score in the third.

The Gators went ahead 5-3 in the top of the fifth, but Smoak tied the game in the bottom half of the inning with his team-leading 19th home run of the season. It was Smoak's 58th career home run, moving him into a tie for ninth on the NCAA SEC career list.

Crisp gave USC the lead with a sacrifice fly later in that inning, and DeAngelo Mack added an RBI single to push the lead to 7-5.

• FLORIDA STATE 13, CLEMSON 4 -- In Clemson, so much for the confidence Clemson gained in its five-game winning streak against lesser competition.

Saturday's collapse may have wounded the Tigers' psyche, but their 13-4 trouncing at the hands of No. 5 Florida State seemingly restored the sense of helplessness they experienced during last month's record-setting losing streak.

Clemson yielded runs in five of the first six innings as its pitching and suspect outfield defense picked up where it dubiously left off late the previous night.

Three runs in the final two innings prevented the Tigers (24-22-1, 10-15-1 ACC) from suffering its worst margin of defeat this season.

FSU (39-7, 21-5 ACC) can clinch the Atlantic Division title with a win in today's 4 p.m. series finale.

Meanwhile, the Tigers are in jeopardy of suffering their second conference sweep at Doug Kingsmore Stadium this season after having just one in coach Jack Leggett's previous 14 seasons (FSU, 2002).

Consecutive losses have also dwindled Clemson's cushion for making the eight-team ACC tournament.

The seventh-place Tigers own just a half-game lead on eighth-place Duke (8-14-1) and are one game ahead of ninth-place Wake Forest (8-15), both of which played out of conference during the weekend.

After today's game, Clemson has one remaining conference series - next weekend at Georgia Tech - while Duke and Wake Forest have two apiece, including head-to-head next weekend.