The Florida Gators (9-2) took the series-opener 10-4 over Miami in front of 8,081 fans inside Condron Family Ballpark, the second largest attendance since the ballpark opened in 2021.
The Hurricanes got off to a red-hot start on Friday night, lacing three hits in the first inning off Florida’s starter Brandon Sproat, including a three-run moon shot by Miami’s cleanup hitter Yohandy Morales, giving Miami a 3-0 lead.
Florida immediately answered back with a home run of their own off the bat of Wyatt Lanford, the fourth on the season for the Trenton, Florida native. Langford’s solo shot carried an exit velocity of 112 MPH and a launch angle of 20.4.
Sproat settled down and cruised through the second and third innings of work, allowing just one hit while punching out three batters during that span.
The Gators struck for two runs in the bottom of the third inning, knotting the game at three off two RBI singles from BT Riopelle and Ty Evans. Heads up base running allowed Riopelle to advance into scoring position on the throw to the plate, where Evans would later knock him home.
Florida found the scoreboard one inning later, putting together a two-out rally on three hits including an RBI double from Wyatt Langford, which scored Cade Kurland from first base. Jac Caglianone singled through the middle of the infield to extend the Gators’ lead to 5-3.
Miami cut Florida’s lead to one after a sacrifice fly from Dominic Pitelli in the top of the sixth inning. That run was a tough pill to swallow for Gator Nation as it came after a lazy throwing error from Sproat and a questionable ball four call from home plate umpire Jeff Head.
Brandon Sproat’s night was done after six innings. The hard throwing right hander allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits and four walks while striking out nine batters. Sproat earned the victory in the contest, improving to 3-0 on the season.
Gusty is the word I would use to describe tonight’s performance from Sproat. He worked himself into several jams via errors, walks, and questionable calls from the umpire, but he battled through it, not allowing his mistakes to negatively affect him. It’s not easy to settle down after giving up a three-run shot in the first inning in front of your home crowd. It takes mental toughness to do what Sproat did tonight against a good Miami ballclub.
Florida found insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth after Richie Schiekofer blasted a two-run pinch-hit homerun over the left field fence. Kevin O’Sullivan noted Schiekofer’s home run as the turning point in the ballgame.
Wyatt Langford connected on an oppo taco bomb two batters later, extending the Gators’ lead to 8-4. This marked Langford’s first multi homerun game of the 2023 season and the sixth of his career.
Freshman left-hander Cade Fisher took over for Sproat in the seventh inning, completing the final three frames for the Gators. Fisher totaled 30 pitches in three innings of work, allowing zero runs, zero hits, and zero walks while striking out one batter. Fisher pounded the strike zone and worked quickly, trusting his defense will make plays behind him.
Sullivan showed a lot of trust going to Fisher in what was a four-run game, but the freshman proved he’s capable of pitching in a big-time game with a big-time environment.
Fisher will be available tomorrow for an inning if the Gators need him.
Cade Kurland launched his fifth home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth, extending Florida’s lead to 10-4 on the two-run blast, placing a stamp on tonight’s ballgame.
The Gators outhit the Hurricanes 14-4 in the contest with 75% of Miami’s offensive production coming on one swing of a bat. Florida has now scored 10 or more runs in seven of eleven games this season.
Florida will look to win the series tomorrow at 2:00 PM.