No.4 Florida defeated the Seminoles 7-5 in Tuesday night’s Jacksonville finale, completing the season sweep of FSU after taking the first two games of the series by scores of 9-5 (Tallahassee) and 5-3 (Gainesville) earlier this year.
The Gators got off to a quick start offensively, striking for four runs in the top of the first inning, knocking FSU’s starter Ben Barrett out of the game after throwing just 24 pitches and recording one out.
FSU answered back with five runs of their own in the bottom half of the first, forcing Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan to remove Florida’s starter Clete Hartzog before he recorded a single out.
While it seemed as if it would be a long day for the Gators’ bullpen, the trio of Nick Ficarrotta, Blake Purnell, and Philip Abner combined for nine innings of shutout relief, striking out 14 batters and walking just three.
RHP Nick Ficarrotta took over in an unexpected spot early in this game and did a good job of simply getting outs. After three scoreless innings from Ficarrotta, Purnell took over and was nothing short of sensational. The redshirt sophomore tossed five innings, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out a career-high eight batters.
LHP Philip Abner took over in the ninth with a couple of lefties due up for the Seminoles, putting a stamp on this one in Jacksonville. Abner struck out the first two batters he faced before right fielder Tyler Shelnut threw out FSU’s De Sedas at second base, who was trying to extend his single into a double. Abner recorded his second save of the 2023 season.
I loved the move to turn to Abner in the ninth as the left hander needed a confidence boost heading into another SEC weekend series. The Gators need Abner to be on top of his game entering postseason play.
FSU totaled 12 hits and did a great job of getting their leadoff runners on base early on, but the Gators’ bullpen limited free passes and recorded plenty of strikeouts, avoiding any more Seminole runs.
Back-to-back home runs by Wyatt Langford and Jac Caglianone led the way to a three-run fifth inning, giving the Gators their second and final lead of the night.
Caglianone’s long ball marks his 26th of the season, tying Wyatt Langford and Matt LaPorta’s single season home run record at Florida. Caglianone’s multi-hit night included two RBIs and two runs.
Langford reached base in four of his five plate appearances in the contest, improving his season batting average to .408 and his on base percentage to .536+ (stat from before tonight’s game).
Florida has not lost a season series to FSU since 2015 and has won 22 of their last 26 meetings. The Gators are 34-19 vs. FSU under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan and 14-11 all-time in neutral-site battles.
Dude, please provide the opponent’s record, it’s an incomplete story without it. Might as well leave out the scores.
I provide all records in the preview of the game. For midweek games, It’s provided in the message boards prior to the game.