When the ball jumped off Seminole left fielder Mike McGee’s bat for a three-run home run in the first inning Tuesday night, there were plenty of flashbacks to the game two weeks ago in Tampa. This time however, the Gators regrouped and swung their bats to an 8-5 victory over Florida State in front of 4,773 at McKethan Stadium.
After the Seminoles scored seven runs in the first inning to defeat the Gators two weeks ago, the three scored in the first inning Tuesday looked ominously familiar. They took an early lead and had all the momentum through half of an inning.
But the Gators did something on Tuesday that they didn’t do in Tampa. They responded.
Florida’s Josh Adams drove a fastball to the opposite field that squeaked inside the right-field foul pole for a two-run home run. It made the score 3-2 after one inning, and even though the Gators didn’t have the lead back yet, it sent a message that wasn’t there during the first game: The Gators were ready to fight.
“It’s always big when you get down in the first inning,” Adams said. “You want to come out swinging the bats well. Just those two runs kind of gave the team a little boost. Hitting is contagious, so everyone followed after that.”
The Seminoles didn’t back down either. They scored two runs in the top of the second inning on a double from Tyler Holt and an RBI ground out from James Ramsey, pushing their lead to 5-2.
However, Holt’s second-inning double would be the last hit for the Seminoles until the eighth inning. The Seminoles went the final seven innings of the game recording only one hit.
Florida starting pitcher Hudson Randall settled into a groove after the second inning. He ended his outing by sitting down seven straight hitters. The freshman right-hander gave the Gators four innings, allowing six hits and five runs. He could have continued but was pulled because he may be needed to start this Sunday against Mississippi State.
While the Florida bullpen had the game in control, the offense went to work.
Mike Zunino started the inning by reaching first after being hit with a pitch on the hand, and Kamm Washington reached on an infield single to second base. Matt den Dekker singled to center field to load the bases for Adams, who singled to left field and scored a run. Preston Tucker flew out to the right-center field fence, missing a grand slam by a few feet, but scoring Washington, moving den Dekker to third and Adams to second.
“Off the bat, I didn’t think it was going out,” Tucker said with a grin, reminiscing of the grand slam he wanted badly. “It was a changeup, and I didn’t even think he threw a changeup. In that situation I’m just trying to hit the ball to the outfield and drive a run in. If it went out, it was just a bonus.”
Austin Maddox followed by lining out to right field, scoring den Dekker to tie the game at 5-5.
Just as they did last year, Tucker’s RBI are beginning to come in bunches. He now has 13 RBI in his last four games, including four Tuesday night. He smacked a home run, however only of the solo variety, deep over the 365-foot sign in right-center field in the third inning. He also had an RBI single in the seventh inning that pushed Florida to an 8-5 lead they wouldn’t give up.
But the biggest sign of Tucker’s reemergence may have come in the fifth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Tucker received the Barry Bonds treatment as he walked on four straight pitches that were nowhere near the plate, bringing in a run.
“He’s starting to swing the bat really good now,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I know he was a bit frustrated—the first 10, 12 games he wasn’t getting pitched to a lot. We kept telling him that at some point they’re going to have to pitch to you.”
As the Gator offense put them further ahead, the bullpen was dialed in. Nick Maronde relieved Randall in the fifth inning and went two innings, walking three batters and striking out three. He got himself into some trouble during the sixth inning with two walks, but struck out the final two batters to work out of it.
The production from Maronde was good for a couple reasons. It held the lethal Florida State offense at bay, but it was also a solid rebound. He went 1.1 innings, allowing one hit and four walks while giving up two runs on Sunday against Charleston Southern. His control wasn’t good over the weekend, and it wasn’t sparkling on Tuesday, but he worked through it to have a productive outing.
“I’ve always said that when a guy doesn’t do as well as you’d hoped, I truly want to get him out there as quickly as we possibly can,” O’Sullivan said. “If they’re good, they’re good. It just shows that we have confidence in them.”
Even the position players were happy to see the rebound performance from Maronde. They face the Gator arms daily in practice and know how good their pitches can be, so it made the Florida hitters feel better to see someone else struggle to hit what they see in practice.
“Man, that was great to see,” Adams said. “Those guys needed it because the past couple outings haven’t been that great. They came out tonight against a good team and proved that they can pitch. It’ll be fun this weekend to see what they can do.”
However, the most impressive outing on the mound came from left-hander Kevin Chapman, who picked up his third save of the season. He threw the final three innings, allowing only one hit and striking out three batters, while touching 95 mph on the radar gun.
The junior missed the 2008 season because of elbow surgery and only threw 11 innings in 2009 because he still wasn’t completely recovered. However, now his arm is completely healthy, and he hasn’t allowed a run in 11.2 innings this season.
“Those two lefties (Chapman and Maronde) are pretty good,” O’Sullivan said. “They’ve got good arms and have to locate, but I was really proud of the way they attacked the strike zone and didn’t fall behind a whole lot.”
The Gators begin Southeastern Conference play at home this weekend against Mississippi State. The first pitch Friday night against the Bulldogs will be at 7 p.m. Sophomore left-hander Alex Panteliodis (4-0, 1.10 ERA) will get the start on the mound for the Gators.