After scoring 98 runs in its last eight games, the Florida baseball team met its match Friday night.
No. 16 Mississippi’s sophomore left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz threw a four-hit complete game and struck out a season-high nine batters in leading the Rebels to a 6-2 victory over the No. 20 Gators at McKethan Stadium.
“He’s really good and you’ve got to tip your cap,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “He threw his breaking ball for strikes. He’s low 90s (with his fastball), (kept) his stuff down and didn’t walk many people.”
The outing was Pomeranz’s first career complete game for Mississippi (27-10, 10-6 SEC West). He threw 122 pitches and never seemed to give the Gators much hope.
The only time Florida (25-13, 9-7 SEC East) really threatened came in the fourth inning. His team trailing 4-1, Florida’s Avery Barnes led off with a double down the right-field line and scored when Preston Tucker singled up the middle. Josh Adams singled into right field, moving Tucker to third base and giving the Gators a prime scoring opportunity with no outs.
Brandon McArthur followed by hitting a pop out to shortstop. When Buddy Munroe was hitting, Adams attempted to steal second base and got in a rundown to give Tucker the chance to score.
Ole Miss second baseman Tim Ferguson executed the play perfectly, throwing Tucker out at home plate as he tried to score. What hurt was that Munroe missed a hit-and-run sign, which left Adams hung out to dry on the bases. Munroe, who had a run-scoring double in the second inning, then struck out to end the threat.
“We had a chance to close the gap in the fourth inning, but a pop up and we missed a hit-and-run,” O’Sullivan said. “We had our chance there, but we didn’t execute.”
Florida starting pitcher Jeff Barfield lasted only 3.1 innings, giving up four runs on four hits. Despite only walking two batters, Barfield’s control looked shaky all night. He left his pitchers up in the strike zone, and the opportunistic Ole Miss hitters capitalized.
“There’s not much you can do when we score two runs and get four hits,” O’Sullivan said. “Jeff (Barfield) had to go out and match (Pomeranz) pitch-for-pitch, but he didn’t. He walked the first two hitters of the game and that kind of set the tone. The next thing you know we’re down three runs before we even get a chance to hit.”
Matt Smith had a two-run double in the first inning and finished with three RBI.
The four hits that Florida batters could muster off Pomeranz all came from separate hitters. Barnes, Tucker, Adams and Munroe were the only ones who recorded a hit, and only Mike Mooney and Adams (twice) were able to work a walk.
“He filled up the zone, and he’s got a plus-slider and plus-fastball.,” McArthur said. “He mixed it up and did a great job tonight. He stayed down in the zone.”
The Rebels managed 11 hits off four Florida pitchers. Kyle Henson, who along with teammates Matt Smith and Zach Miller had two hits each, had a solo homer to lead off the eighth inning off Will Jolin.
Friday night’s effort ended a 14-game home winning streak for the Gators. The task now is to put the loss behind them and rebound in an important conference series. Game Two is Saturday at 4 p.m. Fans showing their Orange and Blue Debut spring football game ticket will get free admission. The series finale is Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
“They’ve got to put this one behind them and let it go,” O’Sullivan said. ”If they let this sink in tomorrow, it’s going to be another long day. We didn’t swing the bat as well as we’d like. It happens. I’m going to challenge our team. The way we’re playing, I don’t think we should lose two in a row.”
Florida will start senior left-hander Stephen Locke (1-0, 2.60 ERA) against Ole Miss junior right-handed pitcher Phillip Irwin (5-2, 3.44 ERA).