Gators head coach Kevin O’Sullivan picked up career win No. 600 on Saturday in a lopsided victory over Alabama for the Florida Gators.
What looked like a back-and-forth contest early on turned into a blowout after both teams turned to the bullpen. Neither starter looked comfortable early on. Brandon Sproat was pulled after giving up four earned runs in three innings, and Alabama’s Antoine Jean lasted just 3 1/3 innings.
Ryan Slater took over for the Gators in the fourth and held the Tide to just four runs in five innings of relief. Blake Purnell, who got the final two out of Friday’s ballgame, came in to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Alabama’s bullpen was a different story. Sophomore left-hander Hunter Furtado gave up three homers and six runs in 2 1/3 innings, and junior lefty Jake Leger allowed two runs in the same amount of time. Freshman Braylon Myers had the best night of the bunch pitching a scoreless ninth and striking out two in his third appearance of the season.
Florida totaled five home runs on the evening, two of them coming from left fielder Wyatt Langford. That’s Nos. 6 and 7 on the year for the freshman who has more than earned the clean-up spot he currently bats in. He currently leads the team with a .380 batting average. BT Riopelle, Kris Armstrong and Kendrick Calilao provided the other fireworks for UF.
The Gators will go for the sweep on Sunday and have plenty of arms in the bullpen to lean on if things go south quickly again. Slater won’t be available after tonight’s performance and Purnell might be done after working in back-to-back games. Other than those two, everyone should be available, including Nick Ficarrotta who struggled on Friday.
Florida hasn’t announced a starter for the final game of the series yet, but Alabama’s Sunday guy hasn’t lasted more than four innings this season. The Gators have already cut into the Tide’s bullpen through the first two games, so this one has the potential to get out of hand.
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