After getting blown out on consecutive days to conclude their weekend series against LSU, the No. 14 Gators scored a big-time win on Tuesday night in Jacksonville, defeating No. 5 Florida State, 6-3.
Both teams put plenty of runners on base, as the Seminoles recorded nine hits and benefited from six walks and the Gators pounded out 11 hits and reached base on a couple of errors. However, neither team executed very well in clutch situations, hitting a combined 1-for-21 with runners in scoring position.
UF (18-7, 3-3 SEC) put the only crooked number on the scoreboard, though, plating three runs in the bottom of the fifth. That big inning gave them a 5-2 lead and control of the game.
“We did just enough,” Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We did make some mistakes, walked too many guys. We walked three in that one inning, and two of the three walks were 0-2 counts. We ended up walking a run in. We threw a wild pitch there later in the game that advanced the runner to third and gave up the third run. We had second and third with nobody out, and we didn’t move the ball. Credit their pitchers.”
Josh Rivera came a triple shy of the cycle, while Sterlin Thompson also notched three hits. BT Riopelle joined them in the multi-hit club with two singles.
But left fielder Wyatt Langford was the player who had the biggest impact on the outcome of the game, despite finishing just 1-for-5. He robbed what would’ve been a three-run homer and made a sliding catch in foul territory in the third, and his leadoff triple ignited the fifth-inning outburst.
Florida State (16-8, 6-3 ACC) opened the scoring in the second inning against UF starter Garrett Milchin. Brett Roberts led off with a double down the left-field line. Jackson Greene advanced him to third with a sacrifice bunt, and Colton Vincent lined a single to left field to score him.
The Gators used some two-out magic to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. With two outs and an 0-2 count against him, Deric Fabian poked a single through the right side of the infield against the shift.
Rivera followed by chopping the first pitch he saw from FSU starter Carson Montgomery over third baseman Logan Lacey’s glove and into the corner. Left fielder James Tibbs bobbled the ball, which caused the Gators to send Fabian toward the plate. The relay throw was late, and Fabian slid in safely.
A hit batter and a single by Tibbs put two runners on with one out in the third and led to Nick Ficarrotta entering out of the UF bullpen.
After a nine-pitch at bat, Ficarrotta hung a slider right down the middle of the plate. Lacey crushed it toward left for what looked like a go-ahead three-run home run. Instead, Langford leapt, reached over the wall and made the catch for the second out. On Ficarrotta’s very next pitch, Alex Toral hit a fly ball near the wall in foul territory down the left-field line. Langford got a great jump and made a sliding catch to end the inning.
“I couldn’t tell, from my angle, if he had caught it or not, but, obviously, that was an unbelievable play,” O’Sullivan said. “Then the other one was really hard, too. He was running towards the line. The wind is blowing from left to right, so the ball’s going to come back towards the field. That’s a really tough play. Those two plays probably made a big difference in the game.”
UF capitalized on the momentum that Langford generated by taking the lead in the bottom of the inning.
Jud Fabian battled back from a 0-2 count to draw a one-out walk against Montgomery. Thompson followed by slapping a single against the shift right where the shortstop would normally play. Because there was no one covering third, Fabian went from first-to-third on the play.
Langford fell behind 0-2, including an ugly bunt attempt, but eventually did his job by putting the ball in play on a slow roller to the shortstop. They got the out at second, but Langford beat the throw to first to give the Gators a 2-1 lead.
A bunt single by Riopelle and an error on a slow chopper off of the bat of Kendrick Calilao loaded the bases with two outs, but Montgomery struck out Deric Fabian swinging to keep the UF lead at one.
The top of the fourth was probably the biggest turning point of the game. Roberts led off with an infield single that just got under the glove of Deric Fabian at third. Ficarrotta jumped ahead of Greene 0-2 before throwing four consecutive balls to walk him. After Vincent laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position, Ficarrotta issued another walk after jumping ahead 0-2, this time to former Gator Jordan Carrion.
Ficarrotta made it three walks in the inning by issuing a free pass to Reese Albert to tie the game at two.
To get out of the jam, O’Sullivan called on freshman Brandon Neely, who entered the game with a 5.68 ERA and who had given up three earned runs in each of his previous two outings.
Neely did exactly what the Gators didn’t do on Saturday or Sunday – he made clutch pitches. He struck out Jaime Ferrer and Tibbs to end the inning and preserve the tie.
Neely worked around a leadoff double by Lacey and a one-out walk to put up another zero in the fifth and set the stage for the Gators’ big inning at the plate.
Langford led off the inning by nearly going down to his knees to basically scoop the ball into the left-center field gap for a leadoff triple. Riopelle gave the Gators the lead with an RBI groundout to second.
Calilao got hit by a pitch, and, two batters later, Rivera lined an 0-1 fastball over the wall in left field to extend the lead to 5-2.
Florida freshman reliever Philip Abner faced the minimum in the sixth before running into trouble in the seventh. Lacey lined a single up the middle with one out, and Abner followed by walking Toral.
“We got some young pitchers out there in some big spots, and they performed well tonight,” O’Sullivan said. “Brandon Neely came in with the middle of the order and got two big strikeouts. Philip that one inning got the big double play, the 6-4-3. We’re really young on the mound, but, hopefully, games like this give them a little bit more confidence.”
With the potential tying run at the plate, O’Sullivan gave the ball to sidewinder Blake Purnell, the team’s most consistent reliever.
Purnell uncorked a wild pitch that moved the runner to third, and Roberts cut the lead to 5-3 with a sacrifice fly to right. Purnell struck out Greene to avoid further damage.
The Gators got that run back in the eighth when Thompson reached base via a two-base throwing error by pitcher Davis Hare with two outs. Thompson scored shortly thereafter following a pair of wild pitches by Hare.
Purnell struck out two batters in the ninth to nail down his second save of the campaign.
The Gators won’t get to savor their rivalry win for very long, as they’ll begin a series at No. 23 Georgia on Thursday evening.