Florida looked to be cruising to a 5-0 start until the Gators’ bullpen allowed seven 9th-inning runs, blowing their comfortable 8-3 lead.
The Gators would strike for one more run in the bottom of the ninth, but that was all she wrote for Florida.
Freshman right hander Yoel Tejeda Jr. made his first collegiate start for Florida, throwing three innings, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks.
Jac Caglianone got things started for Florida once again on Wednesday night, jumping on the first pitch he sees and clearing the right-center wall for his second homerun in as many days. Caglianone finished the day 3-3 at the plate with two runs, two RBIs and two walks. The two-way player has been the best hitter and pitcher for the Gators on the young season.
Despite losing the game, Florida totaled 17 hits in the contest, hitting .415 as a team against USF on Wednesday night.
Florida hit .429 with two outs, .524 with runners on, .500 with runners in scoring position, and .667 with runners on 3rd base with less than two outs.
The only area Florida struggled at the plate was with leadoff batters, in which the Gators hit just .222.
Blake Purnell and Fisher Jameson were each credited with two earned runs in the ninth inning, leading to Florida’s heartbreaking loss.
The Gators’ pitching staff wasn’t sharp tonight, but we saw a great outing from Nick Ficarrotta, who made his first appearance of 2023. The redshirt sophomore threw 3.2 innings, giving up one run on four hits while striking out seven batters. Ficarrotta had great command and wicked movement on of all his pitches tonight.
Three defensive errors allowed three unearned runs to cross the plate for the Bulls. Florida didn’t have their best defensive lineup on the field with Halter, Kurland, and Fabian on the bench, but the Gators had inexcusable errors tonight from veteran players.
Rene Lastres looked slightly uncomfortable behind the plate in his first start of 2023, allowing several passed balls on what looked like catchable pitches.
Florida threw six different arms tonight while allowing two positional players to make their first start (Dale Thomas and Rene Lastres).
The Gators will look to bounce back against Cincinatti in a three-game weekend series inside Condron Family Ballpark.