Everything fell apart for Florida in the ninth inning against Georgia on Thursday night.
The Gators entered the final frame of the evening with a two-run lead courtesy of a Jud Fabian two-run homer in the top of the inning, but that lead would be short-lived. [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] turned to [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] for the final out of the game and Georgia’s bats came to life. Garrett Blaylock singled home a run to cut the lead to 6-5 before Josh McAllister ripped a double down the left-field line that brought in the winning run. Gators lose, 7-6.
UF played catch-up all night after Hunter Barco allowed two first-inning runs on four consecutive hits, including a leadoff home run. He settled down after surrendering the early lead and managed to rack up six strikeouts before turning the ball over after five innings. Barco was in line for the loss but wound up getting a no-decision after [autotag]Mac Guscette[/autotag] lifted his own two-run shot over the fence — the first homer of his career.
[autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] took over for Barco in relief and went 3 2/3 innings. He was charged with two of the three runs that scored in the ninth, but Purnell eats the loss on the stat sheet.
The Orange and Blue have now dropped three-straight games against conference opponents dating back to the LSU series and it’s clear that UF’s pitching is being stretched thin right now. Purnell threw 44 pitches against FSU on Thursday, which would normally earn him two days of rest at a minimum. Florida found itself in a jam late against Georgia and called his name one too many times.
It was good to see the Gators fight back from being down 2-0 and 4-2, but they couldn’t hold on to a series-opening win that would have meant a lot to the program. On Friday, the Bulldogs have Jonathan Cannon on the mound, a top-75 MLB draft prospect, so things aren’t going to get any easier for the Gators.
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