Florida secured their fourth win in the last five games on Wednesday night in dominant fashion against Florida A&M. In the fourth bout of the season with the Rattlers, who UF swept in a three-game series last month, the Gators allowed just two hits in a 10-0 shutout that was called after the seventh inning (the coaches from both teams agreed to a 10-run rule before the game).
It was a bit of a bizarre game. Despite keeping the Florida A&M batters at bay, UF’s pitchers allowed 10 walks as the Rattlers stranded 13 runners on base. But FAMU couldn’t get those runs across the plate, and the Gators’ offense was much more successful at that.
After an extended absence, freshman pitcher Timmy Manning made the start tonight, and though he was only allowed to go for 2.2 innings, he didn’t allow any hits in that span. He did struggle with control, though, as he alone walked six batters. Still, he struck out three batters in the process.
He only gave up one walk in a relatively clean first inning, and Florida’s offense got to work in the bottom of the frame. Jud Fabian continued a positive trend out of his slump with a three-run homer that scored Kirby McMullen and Sterlin Thompson, who reached base on a hit-by-pitch and walk, respectively.
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The Gators got two more runs the following inning when a double from Nate Hickey brought Jacob Young and Cal Greenfield across. In the top of the third, Manning forced back-to-back groundouts to lead it off, but after three-consecutive walks to load the bases, coach Kevin O’Sullivan called it a night for the young pitcher. Chase Centala entered and got Florida out of the inning with the shutout intact.
UF struggled to add on to its lead for a bit after that. It stranded two runners on base in both the fourth and fifth innings, but finally in the sixth, it managed some more insurance. Young and Hickey singled on back-to-back at-bats, and McMullen followed it up with a third single that scored Young and put Florida up 6-0.
The Gators continued the onslaught in the seventh. They loaded the bases after a single, walk and hit-by-pitch, and Greenfield followed with a two-RBI single. After another walk, the bases were loaded again, and a passed ball brought the ninth run across. The passed ball came during an at-bat for Hickey, and later in his plate appearance, he cracked an RBI single to score run No. 10 and trigger the mercy rule, ending the game.
Centala, who was spelled in the fifth inning for David Luethje, earned the win, moving his record to 2-0 on the season. He gave up just one hit in two innings. Luethje didn’t allow any hits in his one inning of work, and Jordan Butler gave up just one pitching for the final two outs in the seventh inning.
With the domineering win in the books, Florida can turn its attention to its weekend series against No. 6 Tennessee, who is 25-5 on the season and ranks second in the SEC East with a 7-2 record in conference play. The Gators have only played one road series so far this season, and it resulted in a sweep at the hands of South Carolina two weekends ago.
If it wants to avoid a similar fate, Florida will have its work cut out for it against UT. The series begins Friday night, with first pitch in Knoxville scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EDT.
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