Florida’s 5-1 victory over Georgia State on Tuesday night didn’t just result in a win over a mid-major that has given top teams issues this season. It also marked coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s 557th career win at UF, breaking the program record previously set by Dave Fuller, the coach from 1948-75. It took O’Sullivan, the first coach to win a national championship at Florida, just 14 seasons to become the winningest coach in school history.
A win over the Panthers was far from a guarantee. In spite of their 4-9 record entering the game, they’ve had a brutal non-conference slate to start the season, and GSU has managed wins against ranked teams in West Virginia, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt.
Garrett Milchin took the mound for the Gators (10-3) and delivered his best performance of the season. He pitched four innings, allowing just three hits and no runs, earning his first win of the year. He got run support from Florida’s lineup in the early innings.
Kirby McMullen hit a two-run homer at the bottom of the first to start the scoring, and UF added another run in the second with a sacrifice groundout from Josh Rivera that scored Colby Halter. After a single and two walks to start the third inning, Georgia State starter Seth Clark was pulled, but the damage was already done.
Reliever Trey Horton gave up a sacrifice fly, and a fielder’s choice from Halter later in the inning brought another run home, putting the Gators up 5-0. That was the last of the scoring for UF, as it relied on strong pitching to put the game away.
Trey Van Der Weide spelled Milchin after four, and he pitched three nearly flawless innings. He gave up just one hit, but it cost Florida the shutout as GSU scored on a single in the sixth. Still, he walked just one batter and had three strikeouts before Christian Scott entered to pitch the final two innings. He didn’t allow any more runs to score, though he did give up two hits.
The one negative from the game for UF was the end of Jacob Young’s record-setting 30-game hitting streak. With a ninth-inning hit against Florida A&M on Sunday, he became the sole school record-holder, but he couldn’t extend that streak to 31 against the Panthers, going 0 for 4.
The Gators will be back in action at home on Wednesday to take on a 10-3 Stetson team. First pitch is set for 6 p.m EST at Florida Ballpark.
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