Florida baseball earned a bounce-back win over the visiting Auburn Tigers on Saturday night at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida, holding off their Southeastern Conference foes for a 12-5 win to even up the three-game weekend series.
The Gators came out flat again on the mound for the second-straight game, but this time, after coughing up an early run in the top of the first they answered with two to take the first lead of the series. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] his Division 1-leading 18th home run of the season with [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] at first after reaching on a single, and the Gators did not look back.
Both teams added to their totals in the third inning but Florida’s five-spot in contrast with Auburn’s two-run effort gave the home team a four-run cushion, to which the Orange and Blue added another in the bottom of the sixth to give them a five-run advantage.
The Tigers, however, proved they would not be easily tamed, answering back with a two-run effort in the top of the seventh in what could have been far more disastrous. Starter [autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag] was replaced between frames after hitting the 100-pitch mark en route to a 10-strikeout evening while allowing three earned runs on four hits and six walks. He gave way to [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag], who loaded the bases but ultimately escaped the jam after surrendering that pair of runs.
Florida answered again in the bottom half with three more runs, but the rally was cut short by a pitch violation strikeout on [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] to end the inning. Still, Auburn simply could not keep up with the Gators’ bats as [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag]’s team continued to respond to their opponents’ efforts with even more runs of their own.
The Gators added one more to the tally in the bottom of the eighth, and in the process, put up their season-best 19 hits. The Tigers threatened in the final frame of the game, but reliever [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] closed the curtains with a two-plus-inning effort that saw two hits, one walk and three strikeouts to seal the deal and earn the save.
6️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ for Sully 🐊#GoGators pic.twitter.com/Xf68zrW1xS
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) April 2, 2023
The two tangle for a third time in the rubber match on Sunday at 1 p.m. EDT at Condron Family Ballpark, with the game slated for broadcast on the SEC Network and can be heard on ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF.
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