The No.5 Florida Gators defeated No. 24 Alabama 3-0 on Thursday night, taking the first of a three-game series inside Condron Ballpark.
Brandon Sproat made history in tonight’s contest. The junior tossed his first career complete game one-hitter while recording a career high 11 strikeouts against one of the Nation’s top offenses.
This was as good of a pitching performance as I have seen from Sproat since he’s been in Orange and Blue, and that may be understating his performance.
The one hour and 52-minute game didn’t find any runs until the bottom of the sixth inning when Gators freshman Cade Kurland blasted a two-run home to left field with two outs in the inning.
One inning later, Ty Evans is credited with an RBI after grounding out to the pitcher and scoring Josh Rivera from third base, extending Florida’s lead to 3-0.
Florida only totaled three hits in the game, but they were able to capitalize on the scoring chances they got, leaving just one runner on base in eight innings at the plate.
Alabama’s pitching staff deserves a ton of credit for the way they dealt tonight. Hagan Banks made his first start of the 2023 season and impressed, tossing 3.1 innings and allowing just one hit. Hunter Furtado took over and was just as dominant before running into trouble in the bottom of the sixth.
The Gators’ defense was nothing short of outstanding tonight. Colby Halter, Josh Rivera, and Cade Kurland were all seen flashing leather on Thursday night. Michael Robertson continues to provide great range in center field.
Florida sits in a good place heading into tomorrow as they didn’t need to dig into their bullpen to start the series. There’s a possibility of two nine inning games being played tomorrow, so having a full bullpen is a huge benefit for the Gators.