Gators suppress Rebels

The Florida baseball team kept pace with No. 3 South Carolina and No. 2 Vanderbilt atop the Southeastern Conference standings with a 9-3 win against Mississippi on Friday night at McKethan Stadium.

The No. 4-ranked Gators (32-10, 15-4 SEC) belted out 17 hits against a UM pitching staff that has allowed more than an average of seven runs over the Rebels’ last 14 games.

“I think our offensive approach was outstanding tonight,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We scored in every inning but one. The only glitch in the whole deal was when we had bases loaded with nobody out in the fifth and we didn’t push anything across. We scored in every other inning, so it’s hard to be upset about that one inning, but obviously we need to do a really good job in situational hitting.”

Despite leaving 13 runners on base, O’Sullivan was pleased with the performance of the Florida offense.

“We applied pressure the whole night,” O’Sullivan said. “We got a lot of runners on, we got a lot of two-strike hits. I think we had five guys with multiple hit, so it was up and down the lineup.”

Florida senior second baseman Josh Adams and redshirt sophomore first baseman Vickash Ramjit each batted 4-for-5 to lead the Gators’ offense.

“I couldn’t remember (the last time I had a four-hit game),” Ramjit said. “I played summer ball, but this is the one I’ll probably remember the most.”

Adams improved his team-leading batting average to .384 while Ramjit raised his average to .471 after entering the game with only 12 at bats on the season.

“It felt great,” Ramjit said. “To contribute to this team means a lot to me. It’s just Day One.”

Ramjit made his first start at first base in a Florida uniform after two starts at designated hitter earlier in the year.

“I take every opportunity I get,” Ramjit said. “Our team is stacked. With (Brian) Johnson and (Austin) Maddox playing first, I’m just happy to contribute.”

Ramjit had two doubles and two singles, including a bunt hit in a sacrifice situation. He also stole a base and scored two runs, earning enthusiastic applause the crowd of 3,739 fans in attendance, but his performance did not come as a surprise to his teammates.

“It’s awesome,” Florida catcher Mike Zunino said. “He works his tail off all the time. He’s always in the (batting) cages, he’s always waiting for his opportunity to step in and play a part and he got that opportunity. He’s doing a great job to keep himself in the lineup.”

Zunino drove in two runs on a single in the fourth inning, scoring Ramjit from third and Bryson Smith from second base, to give the Gators a lead they would not relinquish.

“I was just looking for a pitch early to drive to the outfield, a sac fly would have been good with me,” Zunino said. “I got a changeup, I was a little out in front, but got enough to get in front of the outfielder. Luckily, Bryson got a good jump on it and a good read so he was able to score too.”

UF starting pitcher Hudson Randall (8-1) held the Rebels (24-18, 9-10) to six hits and three runs over 7.1 innings and struck out a season-high six batters to earn the win.

“Especially on a Friday night, we want to keep the bullpen out of it for the most part, same for the rest of the weekend in case we get in trouble,” Randall said. “Luckily, I did a good job again and ate up some more innings and we only used three guys this time.”

Three Florida relief pitchers threw a combined 34 pitches to shut out the Rebels over the final 1.2 innings of the game. Nick Maronde allowed a hit and recorded a strikeout, Greg Larson allowed two hits in one inning and struck out a batter, then Daniel Gibson struck out the final batter of the game.

Gainesville native and Buchholz alumnus Will Allen, a freshman first baseman for UM, got a bloop hit in the ninth inning.

Randall allowed a pair of solo home runs in the victory, including a fifth inning shot by Mississippi third baseman Austin Anderson on a change-up.

“Two bad pitches on my part,” Randall said. “I left some pitches up and they definitely made me pay for it every time. One was a change-up, the other was a fastball.”

Mississippi sophomore second baseman Alex Yarbrough hit a fastball out in the first inning, but Zunino didn’t think Randall threw a bad pitch.

“The hitter dove in,” Zunino said. “He was looking for a fastball and was able to barrel it up and just lift it out. I think the only mistake (Randall) made was that changeup that got hit out. Other that that, he was spot-on today.”

O’Sullivan, who also serves as the Gators’ pitching coach, didn’t fault his ace pitcher for either pitch.

“I don’t think they were bad pitches, sometimes you have to tip your cap,” O’Sullivan said. “If you get 7.1 innings and he allows three earned runs, you’ll take that every time.

“He pitched great. They’re a very offensive team. They’ve got some strength, they’ve got some guys who are 6’2”, 6’3”, 215-220 lbs., and they’re aggressive.”

Randall shrugged off both home runs and remained focused on the next batter.

“Sully always tells us ‘If you give up one, don’t give up two, you’ve got to keep the bleeding to a minimum and give our offense a chance to come back,’” Randall said. “Luckily, we did early in the game and gave myself the lead and the bullpen did a great job finishing it out.”

O’Sullivan credited Randall’s ability to respond to adversity to the pitcher’s demeanor on the mound.

“Earlier in the year when he had his rough start against Mississippi State, he had a great start the next Friday,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s him. He doesn’t have a long-term memory. He puts things behind him and doesn’t let things rattle him. He’s got poise and that’s what separates him from most kids.”

Eight of Florida’s nine starting players had at least one hit, with Smith, Preston Tucker, Maddox and Johnson each contributing a pair of hits. Johnson led off the fifth inning with a home run that hit the top of the scoreboard behind the right field wall to chase Mississippi starter Matt Crouse (L, 6-3).

Crouse and Smith were teammates at Young Harris College in 2009, where they finished the year as the No. 4-ranked junior college in the country with a 44-12 record.

Smith got a hit on the first pitch of the game from Crouse, then hit another single off of his former teammate in the second inning before getting hit by a pitch in the fourth inning.

The Gators have seven batters with at least 100 at bats with a batting average of at least .307 and are batting .318 as a team. With so much production from the entire lineup, O’Sullivan will have a favorable challenge when filling out the lineup card.

“Anybody that hits eighth or ninth, they’re quality hitters,” O’Sullivan said. “We’ve gotten a lot of production from our 7-9 hole hitters. It’s a quality lineup from top to bottom and it needs to be that way for us to be as good as we want to be offensively.”

Johnson, a sophomore lefty, (6-1, 2.53 ERA) will face Mississippi junior righty David Goforth (3-5, 4.60 ERA) at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

“You’ve got to make some pitches early in the count because if you don’t they’re going to make you pay for it,” O’Sullivan said. “They’re a good offensive team and we’re going to have our hands full tomorrow.”

Zunino hopes the Gators’ success at forcing UM pitchers deep into counts on Friday will pay off during the Saturday and Sunday’s games.

“It helps as hitters as we get to see a lot more pitches and recognize a lot more,” Zunino said. “For them, we get to get deeper in their bullpen and hopefully waste some arms so they are a little bit thin in the back half of the weekend.”