After they scored five runs in the ninth inning on Saturday night, the Gators’ offense picked up right where they left off in Sunday afternoon’s rubber game at No. 22 Miami.
Hurricanes starter Jake Garland didn’t give up an earned run in his first two starts of the season. The No. 14 Gators roughed him up for three runs in the first inning and bounced him out of the game before the third inning was over.
UF then capitalized on 13 walks by Miami’s nine relievers to gradually expand their lead and cruise to an easy 11-3 win to take the series. The Gators have now won 11 of the last 13 series against the Hurricanes, including the last four in Coral Gables.
“We talked after the game on Friday, with them having to go to their closer, [Andrew] Walters, in the seventh inning and threw 46 pitches and not throwing [Saturday], he’d probably be available for one inning today,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I just told them to keep their heads up, and we won the first game of the year [against Miami in 2021] and then lost the series.”
Wyatt Langford reached base in all six of his plate appearances, with a double, two singles and three walks. He drove in a pair of runs.
Colby Halter was the only other Gator to register multiple hits, going 2-for-5. However, Jud Fabian smashed an RBI double and walked four times. His brother, Deric Fabian, walked three times, and Sterlin Thompson walked a couple of times to go with his RBI single. Josh Rivera drove in two runs despite going 0-for-4.
Timmy Manning got the start on the mound and turned in his best performance of the season, though he still lacked control at times and ran his pitch count up higher than O’Sullivan would have preferred. He gave up just one earned run on three hits in a career-high 4 1/3 innings. He walked two batters and struck out five.
Blake Purnell struck out a career-high four batters in 3 2/3 scoreless frames to pick up the win, and Ryan Slater recorded the final three outs of the game.
For the second game in a row, Halter got the Gators’ offense going from the get-go with a leadoff base hit. Jud Fabian followed by lining a 2-2 pitch from Garland just inside the third-base bag and into the corner for an RBI double. Three pitches later, Thompson beat the shift by poking a single into left-center field to make it 2-0.
Langford made it four consecutive hits to open the game with a groundball that snuck through the right side. BT Riopelle moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, which allowed Rivera to make it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly to right.
Jud Fabian led off the third inning with a walk and advanced to second on a one-out single by Langford.
That marked the end of the day for Garland, who was replaced by Jordan Dubberly.
Dubberly set the tone for the rest of the afternoon by walking Riopelle to load the bases. Rivera notched his second RBI in as many at bats with a soft groundball to third to make it 4-0.
After retiring the first eight batters that he faced, Manning got himself into some two-out trouble in the bottom of the third. Dominic Pitelli found a hole up the middle for a single, and then Manning drilled CJ Kayfus with his next pitch.
Jacob Burke made Manning pay for his lack of control with an RBI single to right to get Miami (8-3) on the board. That brought Miami’s top power hitter, Yohandy Morales, to the plate with a chance to tie the game if he got a hold of one. Instead, Manning bounced back and got him to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
Back-to-back walks with one out in the fifth led to Purnell’s entrance.
“I don’t think the start with Timmy was real sharp, to be honest with you,” O’Sullivan said. “He had a hard time finding his breaking ball. His changeup was a little bit hard today, but he did compete with his fastball.”
Purnell escaped the inning by getting Burke to ground into a fielder’s choice and Morales to fly out to center.
Purnell retired 11 of the 14 batters that he faced to get the Gators (10-3) through the eighth inning.
In the meantime, Florida’s offense gave him plenty of insurance to work with.
Kendrick Calilao led off the sixth with a long home run to left field off of Alex McFarlane. Three walks in the inning, one of them of the intentional variety to Jud Fabian, loaded the bases with two outs. Langford greeted Anthony Arguelles to the mound by lining a double into the left-field corner to score two runs and make it 7-1.
Three walks by Ronaldo Gallo loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, and Jud Fabian scored on a wild pitch by Alejandro Torres.
The Gators benefited from three more walks and a hit batter to score three runs in the ninth. Kris Armstrong had an RBI single, Jud Fabian drew an RBI walk and Thompson hit into a double play with the bases loaded to plate a run.
While the offensive and defensive performances left little to be desired, O’Sullivan was clearly aggravated by the way the ninth inning went on the mound. Freshman lefty Philip Abner, one of the most prized recruits in the Gators’ top-2 class, walked two batters, gave up a hit and threw a wild pitch against the three batters that he faced. He was charged with two earned runs and didn’t record an out.
Ryan Slater, who O’Sullivan has used as the Gators’ closer in the early portion of the season, yielded an RBI single to Kayfus and walked Burke to make things just a bit dicey. He wound up striking out three batters to end the game.
So far, Purnell and Nick Ficarrotta have been the Gators’ most reliable relievers, with Slater right there in the mix as well. O’Sullivan would like to have more than just a three-man bullpen once SEC play begins, which means that some of the true freshmen are going to have to step up.
Abner had a chance to prove something in a 10-run game in the ninth inning on Sunday. Instead, he now owns a 13.50 ERA in 4 2/3 innings this season.
“We’re playing Miami, we’re up 10 and we just need to throw the ball across the plate,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s not like we’re asking them to do too much and pitch backwards and those types of things. We need help from other guys, and these innings are important.
“The inconsistencies with some of our pitchers is head-scratching at times because, just on Wednesday against [Florida A&M], it was really, really promising. And then today, obviously, it didn’t work out the way we wanted it to at the end. At some point, we’re going to have to get some help from some other guys in some crucial situations because SEC starts here in a couple weeks.”
The Gators should have plenty of chances to develop bullpen depth this week, as they’ll host Jacksonville for a pair of midweek games and then play a Seton Hall team that is 0-9 after Sunday.
“We’ve got to get better,” O’Sullivan said. “I told the players [that] I’m really pleased with winning two out of three games this weekend on the road. It was the first road test for us series-wise. We faced some really good starters [Saturday] and on Friday and faced Walters, arguably one of the better closers in the country. But, the fact of the matter is, looking at the big picture, I expect to come down here and win a series, and I expect us to get better.”