Riding high from a walk off win on Saturday the Florida Gators completed a three-game series sweep of the Jacksonville Dolphins with an 8-4 win on Tuesday night.
“We came out with a lot of enthusiasm and just a lot of charisma,” freshman Cory Acton said. “
The first four batters that UF sent to the plate all scored in a big first inning for the Gators on their way to beating Jacksonville. This win finishes off a three-game sweep of the Dolphins in 2019 and sets Florida up for a big road series at LSU starting Thursday.
Nolan Crisp gave up a run on two hits and a wild pitch in the first but the Gators put up a crooked number in the second half of the inning. Brady McConnell’s eighth home run of the season tied the game on Austin Temple’s fifth pitch of the night. Austin Langworthy reached on a throwing error, a pitch hit Kendrick Calilao in the shoulder and Jordan Butler singled to left to load the bases. After sitting a couple times the previous weekend Wil Dalton returned to the starting lineup and singled through the left side to give the Gators a 2-1 lead. Cory Acton singled to score two more. Jacob Young’s single capped the scoring with two outs and gave Florida a comfortable 5-1 lead.
“I think the biggest at bat of the game
After an eventful start the middle innings dragged in a sloppy fashion. Two calls were reviewed, and the teams scattered five hits between them but only two of those came off of Florida bats.
The Gators added to its lead in the sixth inning. Dalton hit a one-out single and moved to second on a Cory Acton ground ball. Dalton came around to score on Jud Fabian’s single to left field making the score 6-1.
The trio of Crisp, Justin Alintoff and Ben Specht combined to throw 6.1 innings, scattered 7 hits and allowed just the lone run in the first inning. Fellow freshman Kris Armstrong didn’t have the same kind of night. Armstrong was greeted rudely by an Angel Camacho home run to make the score 6-2. A single and another home run would end his night after allowing three runs and recording just two outs, while allowing three runs and leaving with a score of 6-4. Nick Pogue replaced Armstrong and earned the first save of his career.
Florida used their final at bat in the eighth inning to extend its lead. A pair of walks between a couple of outs gave Jacob Young an at bat with two on and two out. The freshman lined a ball back up the middle to score both Jordan Butler and Jud Fabian to give Florida an 8-4 advantage.
“I think the big at bat of the game was Jacob Young’s there with two strikes and two on,” O’Sullivan said after the game. “Hit the ball back trhough the middle and gave us two runs there. Jacob Young had areally nice game. He had three hits and some nice base running earlier in the game.”
The Gators will hit the road this week for a series against LSU in Baton Rouge. All three games will be televised with Thursday and Friday being broadcast on SEC Network and Saturday’s finale on ESPN2.