Entering Saturday’s game two against Georgia State, the Gators were hitting just .239 as a team and averaging 4.8 runs per game. They had recorded more than seven hits in a game just twice in their first six games.
That lack of offensive production from a veteran lineup has been a source of frustration for coach Kevin O’Sullivan. He wants to be able to get some of his younger players into the games in low-pressure situations, which is only possible if the offense opens up a sizeable lead.
Because that hadn’t happened, the young pitchers have been forced to develop through trial by fire, and the freshmen position players not named Deric Fabian have been an afterthought.
On Saturday, O’Sullivan finally got his wish. The No. 15 Gators pounded out a season-high 16 hits, scored a season-high 13 runs and blasted a season-high four home runs to blow out the Panthers, 13-4. UF will go for the series sweep on Sunday afternoon.
Sterlin Thompson went 3-for-3 with three RBI, while Wyatt Langford went 3-for-5 with five RBI. Colby Halter and Deric Fabian each notched two hits. Of the 12 Gators to record an official at bat, only Ty Evans and Corey Robinson didn’t get a hit.
“Tonight was obviously our best offensive night of the year,” O’Sullivan said. “I think we had four guys with multi-hit games, and I think the top-5 guys in the order had 10 hits among them. When you’re getting production at the top of the order like that, it’ll probably end up being a really productive offensive day.
“It was one of those games that I’ve been kind of talking about, to kind of open it up to kind of get these guys going and give some other guys some opportunities.”
The Gators (5-2) got the party started right out of the gates when Halter launched a leadoff home run to straightaway center off of Georgia State starter Ryan Watson.
“3-1, definitely sitting dead-red heater,” Halter said. “Don’t miss those. It’s a lot of fun when you don’t miss them.
“Definitely just putting in a lot of work in the weight room and in the cages and stuff and got a little juice in there.”
The Panthers (4-3) tied the game up in the top of the second. Griffin Cheney coaxed a leadoff walk out of freshman Philip Abner, who made his first start after Pierce Coppola was scratched due to a back injury. He advanced to third base with one out after two wild pitches by Abner. He scored on Will Mize’s single up the middle.
Abner’s wildness continued into the third inning and threatened to dig the Gators into a deep hole. He plunked Josh Smith with the first pitch of the inning before surrendering a double to Max Ryerson.
Blake Purnell replaced Abner and got Cameron Jones to hit a chopper back to the mound. Purnell fell down while trying to field the ball. Once he got up, he decided to throw home. Smith just snuck under the tag of BT Riopelle to give the Panthers the lead.
Two batters later, Dalton Pearson lined a single to right field to make it 3-1. Purnell avoided further damage by getting Mize to ground into a double play to end the inning.
From that point on, it was all Gators.
Deric Fabian led off the bottom of the third with a single to left, and Halter followed with a walk after a 10-pitch at bat. Jud Fabian laid down a sacrifice bunt, which allowed Thompson to drive in a run with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Langford then belted a two-run shot to center field to give the Gators the lead again.
UF tacked on a run in the fifth inning on Riopelle’s RBI groundout.
Kris Armstrong led off the sixth inning with a home run off of Duncan Lutz that just tucked inside the right field foul pole. Later in the frame, Halter worked a two-out walk against Trent Reddick. He advanced to second on Jud Fabian’s single up the middle and then stole third when the Panthers left the base vacated while implementing a shift.
“Their third baseman completely vacated, and I played a lot of baseball growing up, and it’s just a bad baseball play,” Halter said. “So, it was a free base, and we took advantage, and I think it opened up a hole for [Thompson].”
Thompson used that extra space to hit a slow roller to shallow right center field that was good enough for an RBI single to make it 7-3.
Riopelle led off the seventh with a single to right field off of Chad Treadway. Smith misplayed the ball, which allowed Riopelle to advance all the way to third. He came in to score on a bizarre play that saw the home plate umpire inadvertently trap a wild pitch between his side and his right arm. The umpires ruled that the umpire touching the ball took away a scoring opportunity, so Riopelle was awarded home plate.
The Gators blew the game wide open with five runs on five hits in the eighth inning, highlighted by freshman catcher Rene Lastres’ pinch-hit no-doubter to left field in his first collegiate plate appearance against David White.
“He’s got some tools,” O’Sullivan said. “I’ve been saying it all along; we’ve got some really talented freshmen. We really do, and the improvements he’s made offensively since he’s been here are a lot. He’s always been able to catch, and he’s got a really, really strong arm, but he has really learned how to handle the outer part of the plate better, and he’s big and strong. He’s a good player. He’s going to play for a long time.”
Thompson also had an RBI double and Langford had a two-RBI single in the inning.
Florida’s pitching staff also did a nice job of filling in for Coppola after Abner’s shaky start. Purnell scattered four hits across three innings and didn’t give up a run to get credit for the win. Garrett Milchin tossed two scoreless innings, and Brandon Neely tossed a scoreless frame. Anthony Ursitti, making his first career appearance, struck out two batters in the ninth and just made one mistake that resulted in a home run by Cheney.
But this night was all about the bats. They finally answered O’Sullivan’s challenge and turned this into a drama-free game with several cool moments for the freshmen over the final couple of innings.
Now they’ve got to use this game as a launching pad and keep the big hits coming.