The Gators had a nice bounce-back on Saturday night after a comedy of errors led to them losing their first Friday game since the 2019 season against Jacksonville. In Game 2 against the Dolphins, Florida’s defense shut out the JU lineup, securing a 9-0 win.
UF’s pitching was strong all night, but the play of starter Jack Leftwich for the Gators (12-4) was particularly noteworthy. In six innings of work, he allowed just two hits and no runs while striking out seven JU (4-9) batters. He exited the game in the seventh inning with what appeared to be a leg injury of some sort, and Florida will hope he’s alright moving forward. According to Gators Territory’s Nick De La Torre, he was suffering from a cramp.
Jack Leftwich was cramping in the 7th when he was taken out.
— Nick de la Torre (@delatorre) March 14, 2021
With Leftwich pitching well, the UF lineup took advantage. Josh Rivera started the scoring in the second with a solo home run after also hitting one in his final at-bat on Friday. Nate Hickey joined in the party in the third, with a two-run homer that pushed the Gators’ lead to 3-0.
JU’s Mike Cassala kept Florida from adding to its lead over the next three innings, but he was pulled at the start of the seventh for Adrian Garrastazu, who let Colby Halter add a run off a wild pitch.
Sam Brunnig entered for Jacksonville in the eighth inning with the bases loaded, and before even throwing his first pitch, he brought a run home on a balk. Jud Fabian followed it up with a two-RBI single, and Kirby McMullen added two more on a homer, pushing Florida’s lead up to nine runs.
After Jordan Carrion didn’t allow any hits in his two innings of work, Brandon Sproat entered the game to close it out in the ninth. He retired the Dolphins batters in order to close out the game for the Gators.
UF will look to take the series in the rubber match on Sunday afternoon. First pitch for Game 3 against JU is set for 1 p.m. EST at Florida Ballpark.
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