The No. 11 Gators won both games of their Saturday doubleheader against Seton Hall on Saturday by scores of 16-4 and 11-9.
The Gators (13-3) used 15 hits, including six for extra bases, to blow out the Pirates in game one.
Sterlin Thompson and Wyatt Langford hit back-to-back wind-aided triples to right field off of Hunter Waldis to get the Gators on the board in the bottom of the first.
Two innings later, Jud Fabian drilled a two-run homer into UF’s bullpen in right center field to make it 3-0.
“He threw a fastball inside 0-0, and I knew he would probably come back with it because he got me to check swing on it in the first AB,” Fabian said. “I was sitting heater and got it and kept my hands inside on that one.”
The Gators exploded for five runs in the fifth inning to blow the game wide open. Thompson laced a two-run single to left-center field, and then Langford welcomed reliever Daniel Frontera to the game by smashing the third pitch he threw well past the wall in left-center field to plate three runs and make it 8-0.
UF piled on six more runs in the sixth. Colby Halter picked up an RBI with a sacrifice fly to right. Jud Fabian, Langford, Kendrick Calilao and Josh Rivera all notched RBI singles in the frame to make it 14-0.
The Gators tacked on two more runs in the eighth on Rene Lastres’ RBI single and Rivera’s RBI fielder’s choice.
Langford finished 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBI, while Jud Fabian went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Thompson went 2-for-3 with two RBI, and BT Riopelle went 2-for-3. Calilao went 2-for-5 with a couple of RBI.
“I just saw the ball really good,” Langford said. “The wind kind of helped out a little bit on that first triple, pushed it out there a little bit. I was seeing it good and putting good swings on the ball.”
Meanwhile, Florida starter Hunter Barco got off to a bit of a sluggish start, as he hit a batter and gave up a hard-hit single in the top of the first. He struck out three batters to avoid giving up a run in that inning, and he cruised from there.
Barco pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up no runs on two hits. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out six batters.
“I thought Hunter was really good,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It’s a short week for him. He loses a day, obviously, because we got rained out [on Friday]. That’s why we took him out, but I thought he was good. Today was not an easy day to pitch in. If you’ve ever pitched in wind, it does get a little bit difficult. The ball is slick, but I thought he did a really nice job.”
The Pirates (0-12) broke up the shutout with a pair of runs in the seventh and one in the eighth off of Karl Hartman. Anthony Ursitti walked Collin Sheehan with the bases loaded in the eighth to plate another run.
The second game of the doubleheader got off to an inauspicious start for the Gators. The Pirates hit Brandon Sproat hard in the first inning to the tune of two singles and a two-run triple by Will Gale.
The Gators cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning when Kris Armstrong walked with the bases loaded. Still, Riopelle and Matt Prevesk both struck out with the bases loaded, so the Pirates avoided a big inning.
Seton Hall got that run back in the top of the third when Oscar Murray singled with two outs, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Mac Guscette and scored on Gale’s single to right field.
Then, as was the case in the first game, the Pirates’ pitching staff simply couldn’t hold the Gators down for long, and their wildness didn’t help their cause.
Jud Fabian manufactured a run to start the bottom of the third. He drew a walk from Drew Conover, advanced to second and third on wild pitches and scored on Langford’s infield single. Two batters later, Thompson scored on a wild pitch. Guscette then got hit by a pitch from Michael Ciminiello with the bases loaded to give the Gators a 4-3 lead. Halter walked with the bases loaded to make it a two-run lead.
The Fabian brothers combined to drive in four more runs in the fifth inning. Deric Fabian lined a two-run single to left field, and Jud Fabian lined a two-run shot over the wall in right for his second long ball of the day.
“I just got myself in a good hitter’s count on the last one,” Jud Fabian said. “3-1, got a fastball, and I knew the wind was blowing out to right, so all I had to do was get it in the air and try to keep my hands inside it.”
Jud Fabian walked with the bases loaded to bring in another run in the seventh to make it 10-3. Thompson nearly followed with a grand slam, but Murray reached over the right-field wall to make a catch. The flyout was still good enough to score Deric Fabian and make it 11-3.
Meanwhile, Sproat eventually got into a rhythm after the rough beginning to his outing. He put up three consecutive zeroes and retired the final nine batters that he faced. He gave up six hits and three earned runs in six innings, with one walk and five strikeouts.
Blake Purnell replaced him to start the seventh and pitched two scoreless innings. Carsten Finnvold entered to start the ninth and gave up six runs, including a grand slam to Murray that made it 11-9. Brandon Neely came in and got the final two outs to earn his first career save.
Halter was the only Gator to record multiple hits in game two, though he exited the game in the bottom of the seventh with an injury. According to O’Sullivan, Halter’s quad muscle tightened up, and he didn’t seem too considered about his status moving forward.
Guscette pulled a hamstring earlier in the second game, and O’Sullivan didn’t comment on his availability moving forward.
Other than the injuries, the only other real disappointment from the day was the way that some young pitchers struggled to finish both games. The Pirates scored all four of their runs in the first game in the seventh and eighth innings, and they loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. In game two, Finnvold gave up those six runs in the ninth and forced them to start warming up Nick Ficarrotta, one of their top bullpen arms.
Seton Hall entered the weekend with 16 runs in 10 games this season. They nearly matched that total with 13 runs on Saturday against UF.
O’Sullivan’s quest to find more bullpen depth will last at least one more day.
“We talked about it at the end of the first game,” O’Sullivan said. “We just need to get some outs, and certainly with a big lead. It is disappointing. On the other side of that, I thought Brandon [Neely] came in and did a really nice job.
“It just got away from us so quickly that we didn’t have Fic ready. I didn’t think in my wildest dreams that we were going to have to use Fic in the ninth there. [Neely] was ready to go. He came in and did a really nice job in a two-run game. Certainly, that could’ve gotten a little bit scary there if they got a runner on.”
Florida and Seton Hall will wrap up the series on Sunday at noon.