Florida’s midweek struggles continued on Tuesday night, as the team dropped its second-straight game to rival Florida State in Tallahassee 10-2. The No. 5 Gators got down early, and in what was likely an attempt to preserve their best arms for the SEC opener series against Texas A&M this weekend, they burned through seven pitchers as the Seminoles (7-6) continued to pile on runs in a 13-hit performance.
Florida, meanwhile, struggled in the batter’s box. It failed to notch a hit until the fifth in a dominant performance on the mound from FSU’s Carson Montgomery, who struck out nine in 4.2 innings with just three hits and two runs.
Meanwhile, UF’s Garrett Milchin faced his toughest challenge since returning from injury, and he didn’t have control from the get-go. After allowing the first two batters of the game to reach base, he allowed a home run to give the Seminoles an early 3-0 lead.
The FSU lineup came back for more in the second. A two-RBI double from Logan Lacey followed by a pair of RBI singles ended Milchin’s night early, as he allowed eight hits and seven runs in just 1.2 pitched.
Trey Van Der Weide fared better on the rubber, getting out of the second inning with no additional runs and only giving up one hit over the third and fourth. Meanwhile, Florida found some offense in the fifth. Josh Rivera and Jacob Young each hit RBI singles to bring Florida within five runs, but the Gators couldn’t keep the rally going in the sixth.
At the bottom of the frame, Christian Scott got two outs for UF, but coach Kevin O’Sullivan made the decision to keep his pitch count low and replace him with Ryan Cabarcas, who gave up back-to-back home runs on his first two batters, one of which scored two runs.
The Gators didn’t have much left in the tank after that. Franco Aleman and Jordan Carrion kept FSU from scoring additional runs, but Florida couldn’t mount a comeback. It stranded two batters in the seventh and the ninth, and now UF heads back home after suffering another disappointing loss.
The Gators begin SEC play on Thursday at home against the Aggies, with first pitch for Game 1 set for 7 p.m. EST.
[lawrence-related id=38029,37967,37921,37612,37496]
[listicle id=38144]