Seton Hall entered its series versus No. 11 Florida allowing opponents to outscore it 101-16. The Gators as well as center fielder Jud Fabian were aware of those statistics and took full advantage of the Pirates’ struggles during their double-header at Florida Ballpark.
On Saturday after Friday night’s rainout, Fabian blasted home runs in back-to-back games as his team took the opening tilt, 16-4, and survived a late Pirates rally to win 11-9 to grab the series heading into the final matchup Sunday.
Right fielder Sterlin Thompson and left fielder Wyatt Langford hit back-to-back triples to score the Gators’ first run to kick off the scoring in the first inning of the first game.
Third baseman Deric Fabian walked to start the third inning and then Jud blasted a shot to the right-field bullpen to increase Florida’s lead to 3-0.
In the fifth, Thompson singled in two more runs with the bases juiced. Langford came up next and smashed a three-run homer to left field to increase the Gators’ advantage to 8-0. Florida added eight more runs, and Seton Hall tacked on four once each team emptied their bench to get to the final score of 16-4.
Ace Hunter Barco returned to his dominating form after a bumpy start last time out versus Miami. He pitched a gem, allowing only two hits, one free pass and no runs in 6 1/3 innings.
The Pirates used two singles and a triple in the first inning to grab a 2-0 lead to strike first in the second game. Seton Hall added another one in the third before the Gators then earned it back in the bottom half via a bases-loaded walk from designated Kris Armstrong.
Florida passed the bat around in the bottom of the third, scoring four runs on two walks, a wild pitch and an RBI single to reclaim the lead, 5-3.
The Gators recorded another big inning in the fifth. Armstrong doubled to start and then right fielder Corey Robinson reached via a hit by a pitch. Deric singled in Armstrong and Robinson after they advanced via a sacrifice bunt. Jud then went big fly to right field just like he did in the first game to drive in his little brother to increase Florida’s lead to 9-3.
Brandon Sproat took the bump for the second game against the Pirates. He provided a solid outing, surrendering six hits, three earned runs and a walk in six innings.
Sullivan’s team added two more runs in the later innings to get to 11-3 heading into the ninth. Seton Hall gave Florida a scare when it hit a grand slam after giving up two runs to decrease the Gators’ lead to 11-9 with two outs remaining. Reliever Brandon Neely entered for Florida immediately following the monster home run and shut down the Pirates’ comeback.
The Gators and Seton Hall return Sunday to Florida Ballpark at noon EDT for the series finale.
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