Tag: baseball

Florida baseball takes opener against Georgia in low-scoring game

A two-out single from Josh Rivera in the eighth inning made the difference in a 4-3 win for the Gators in their opener against Georgia.

Both Florida and Georgia struggled to pull away from each other in Game 1 of their weekend series on Friday night. Though the squads combined for 17 hits, they also stranded 15 players on base in total. But an eighth-inning run put the Gators ahead, and they took a 4-3 win in the opener.

Tommy Mace returned to his role as the Friday night starter, and he had an overall solid performance (albeit one that didn’t net a win in the statsheet) despite allowing seven hits. He allowed a single in the first inning but worked clean through the second.

At the bottom of the second, Kendrick Calilao crushed a bomb of Georgia (28-19, 11-14 SEC) over the center-field wall with two outs to give the Gators (34-15, 16-9 SEC) an early lead.

But the Bulldogs managed to respond at the top of the third. Cole Tate led off with a single, and Josh McAllister hit another one to bring the tying run across. With runners at the corners, a sac-fly on the next at-bat gave UGA the lead.

UF wasn’t to be outdone, though. Sterlin Thompson hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the frame, and a Cory Acton sac-bunt advanced him to third. Jacob Young hit an RBI groundout to bring Thompson across and tie the game back up.

Mace got through the fourth relatively unscathed, and though he started the fifth with a pair of flyouts, another single from McAllister followed by a walk put two aboard. Mace couldn’t keep the lead intact, allowing an RBI single from Connor Tate to put Georgia back on top.

Once again, however, Florida answered. With one out in the bottom of the frame, Acton singled, and a double on the subsequent at-bat from Young brought him all the way around from first to score the tying run.

Mace retired the side in order in the sixth, and though UF got two runners on in that inning of a walk and hit-by-pitch, it couldn’t score the go-ahead run. Mace looked like he was going to get through the seventh, but with two outs, he allowed a double to McAllister (his fourth hit of the game) and Kevin O’Sullivan pulled the plug on Mace, who gave up three earned runs and struck out 10 in his 6 and 2/3 innings.

Trey Van Der Weide entered for his 19th appearance of the season (tied for second-most on the team), and he struck out his first batter to end the inning. But Florida’s offense continued to struggle. Acton singled at the bottom of the seventh, but nothing came of it as the other three batters struck out.

Jack Leftwich came in at the top of the eighth inning, and he once again impressed in his new closer role (though it wasn’t a save situation). He retired the Bulldogs lineup in order, and UF came up to bat once again trying to break the tie.

Jud Fabian led off with a flyout, but Georgia reliever Ben Harris put two on with a walk and a hit-by-pitch. After an advance on a flyout and a steal, both of those runners were in scoring position. With two outs, Josh Rivera came up clutch with his only hit of the game, a single to left field, that brought Kris Armstrong across to score the go-ahead run.

UGA had something going in the top of the ninth as a pair of singles Leftwich allowed put runners at first and second. But two-straight strikeouts stopped the rally in its tracks as Leftwich took his seventh win of the season, striking out five in only two innings of work.

With the Game 1 win locked up, UF will try to take the series against the Bulldogs in Game 2 on Saturday, which is set to start at 6:30 p.m. The Gators will hope their strength at home, which has given them a 27-6 record at Florida Ballpark this season, continues in that one.

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Series Preview: No. 9 Florida baseball hosts Georgia Bulldogs this weekend

Here’s a look at the starting pitchers lined up for this weekend’s series along with the projected starting lineup and some fun facts.

The No. 9 Florida Gators (33-15, 15-9 SEC) host the Georgia Bulldogs (28-18, 11-13 SEC) this weekend in the penultimate regular-season series for both teams as summer quickly approaches. For UF, the three-game tilt represents a chance to pad its win column with the SEC Tournament on the horizon, while UGA looks to play spoiler for its most fierce rivals.

It has not been the greatest season for the Dawgs out on the diamond, posting a losing record in conference play — albeit it, in the best baseball conference in the country. They come into the series having lost two of three against the top-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks last weekend and winning just four of their last 10 games. Despite stealing one from the Hogs, there just have not been many signature victories for Georgia this season.

Historically, Florida has a firm grasp on the all-time series notching a 189-110-2 record since the schools first met in 1931. Georgia won seven of the first 10 games against the Gators and ran off its best run of nine-straight from 1939 to 1946 before the Orange and Blue took over. UF’s best streak of 12 games occurred between 1990 and 1993, and recently won seven straight from 2016 to 2018. However, UGA has won the last four meetings dating back to 2018.

Here is a look below at the starting pitchers lined up for this weekend’s series along with the projected starting lineup. Scroll down further for interesting excerpts from the media guide.

Gators News: Five Florida teams in action this weekend plus one on Monday

Welcome back for a (mostly) successful weekend for Gators sports as four of the five active teams came away victorious these past few days.

Welcome back for a (mostly) successful weekend for Gators sports as four of the five active teams came away victorious these past few days. The baseball team bounced back from a series-opening loss while the softball team swept its final series of the season. The men’s tennis team continues to roll along in the NCAA Tournament; unfortunately, the women’s tennis team’s season came to an end in their tourney. Then there is the lacrosse team, which clinched its regular-season conference title. Lastly, the women’s golf team kicks off their own tournament today as they vie for the sweetness of a national championship.

Gators take series against Kentucky behind dominant performance from Barco

Hunter Barco had his best start of the season as UF held the Wildcats off the scoreboard for the first seven innings.

Things were pretty bleak through the first 17 innings of Florida’s series against Kentucky. It lost in Game 1 and trailed entering the final inning of Friday’s Game 2. But a four-run ninth inning from UF forced a rubber match, and Game 3 on Saturday was an all-Gators affair. Florida scored a 9-2 win behind shut-down play from starting pitcher Hunter Barco and the bullpen.

It was arguably the best performance of the season from Barco, whose record is now 8-2 after he earned the win. He barely flinched in his 6.2 innings of work, allowing no runs and just two hits while striking out 10 batters. He didn’t give up a single hit until the fourth inning.

Meanwhile, Florida’s offense managed to score in each of the first three innings. After a triple from Nate Hickey in the first, a Jud Fabian sac-fly got the first run across. With runners on first and second in the second inning, Jacob Young singled to score a run, and a single from Kendrick Calilao in the third scored Kris Armstrong, who reached base on a walk.

After Kentucky’s first hit led to nothing, starting pitcher Zach Lee led off the top of the fifth by walking Calilao, which ended his day. Reliever Alex Degen loaded the bases with a single from Josh Rivera and a fielding error that allowed Cory Acton to reach base. Another sac-fly, this time from Young, brought Calilao across to make it 4-0, Gators.

Barco was finally pulled in the bottom of the seventh after hitting Cam Hill with a pitch, and after walking his first batter, Christian Scott put the inning away with a strikeout. Florida managed some insurance in the eighth when Young led off with an RBI and was brought home by a single from Armstrong.

Scott ran into some trouble in the bottom of the inning, though. Cleanup hitter Coltyn Kessler hit a home run down the left-field line, and on the next at-bat, Oraj Anu sent another one yard to cut Florida’s lead to 5-2. After another walk, Scott was pulled for Jack Leftwich, who didn’t give up any more runs in the frame.

Any chance at a Wildcats comeback ended in the ninth, though. The Gators quickly loaded the bases, and a single from Young (his fourth of the afternoon) brought two of the runs across. Hickey stepped up to the plate next, and a gorgeous double that barely dropped fair in deep right cleared the bases and gave UF an insurmountable seven-run lead.

Leftwich returned for the final half-inning and struck out the first two batters he faced. UK managed to get a runner on base with a single, but a flyout from John Rhodes ended the game and gave Florida a much-needed series win.

The Gators will be back in action on Tuesday night when it takes on Stetson in Deland at 6:30 p.m. They will go for the season sweep of the Hatters in the final match of the four-game series. After that, UF returns to Gainesville for its penultimate SEC series against Georgia.

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Rat, raccoon or cover-up? What actually happened in the Mets’ tunnel?

I guess we’ll never know for sure what happened in that tunnel.

The New York Mets were the talk of the baseball world on Friday night, and it had nothing to do with their 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in extra innings and everything to do with a common New York debate between rat and raccoon — and possibly a possum.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, something happened in the Mets’ tunnel between infielders Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil, which was enough to draw the attention from several Mets running toward it and out of sight of the cameras. Then, as if nothing had happened at all, everyone came back out on the field and the game resumed.

But, for the sake of context, it’s worth noting that a notable seventh-inning miscommunication between Lindor and McNeil — which allowed Arizona’s Nick Ahmed to reach on an infield single — happened just moments before the tunnel incident.

After video surfaced, people speculated that Lindor and McNeil had gotten into some kind of altercation, which was impossible to know for sure given there was no video of what actually went down in the tunnel.

Naturally, there were questions after the game — and it wasn’t about the Mets’ 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks in extra innings. Lindor fielded questions about the tunnel incident, for which he had an interesting explanation involving a rat, a raccoon or a potential cover-up.

“It was funny,” Lindor said. “I told [McNeil] that I’d never seen a New York rat. So went down sprinting. I wanted to go see a New York rat. And he’s like, ‘No, it’s not a rat. It’s a raccoon.’ I was like, ‘Hell no! It’s a damn rat. It’s a New York rat.'”

It seemed like a ridiculous explanation, and Mets beat writers had their doubts. But Lindor stuck to his story — no matter the skepticism — and even McNeil backed up Lindor’s story about the rat-raccoon debate.

“Like [Lindor] said,” McNeil said, “a nice debate about a rat or a raccoon. To be honest, I thought it was actually a possum. So not a raccoon, but a possum.”

But people aren’t buying it, believing that it was something else that caused half the dugout to rush down into the tunnel.

Whatever happened in that tunnel, we’ll never know. That’s between Lindor, McNeil, the Mets and the rat/raccoon/possum.

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Kendrick Calilao’s three-run shot lifts Gators past Kentucky in Game 2

The bomb broke a tie in the ninth inning and gave Florida an opportunity to win the series against Kentucky on Saturday.

Florida spent much of its Friday night game against Kentucky playing catch up. Heading into the ninth inning, the Gators looked poised to take a series loss against the Wildcats. But instead, a monster ninth inning (bolster by Kendrick Calilao, who crushed a three-run homer over the left-field wall during pinch-hitting duties) gave UF an equalizing 8-5 win, forcing a decisive Game 3.

Both starting pitchers in UK’s Sean Harney and Florida’s Tommy Mace were fantastic out the gate. They each progressed through the opposing lineup in order in the first inning. Though Harney gave up the first hit of the game at the top of the second, Mace was the first to flinch significantly, giving up three singles in the bottom of the inning. The latter one from Cam Hill brought two runs across to give the Wildcats the early lead.

UF (32-14, 14-9 SEC) quickly evened it up in the third, though, when Harney walked Nate Hickey and a homer from Jud Fabian cleared the bases. Not yet satisfied, he went yard again in the fifth for a solo shot that scored the next run of the game, giving the Gators a one-run lead.

That lead wouldn’t last, though. In the bottom of the inning, Mace allowed a pair of RBI singles as Kentucky (27-16, 11-12 SEC) regained the lead, albeit at a slim 4-3 margin.

Wildcats reliever Dillon Marsh and Mace both worked through the sixth inning cleanly, and neither allowed a hit in the seventh. Following the inning, rain caused the game to be briefly delayed, but Kirby McMullen led off the eighth with a double.

Calilao then entered as a pinch hitter, and his first hit was an RBI, as well, bringing McMullen home to tie the game. But the Gators couldn’t get anything else after three straight outs, and Kentucky responded at the bottom of the frame.

Trey Van Der Weide entered for Mace, and he gave up a lead-off single and allowed the runner to advance to second on a balk. Following a groundout, Ryan Ritter reached base on a fielding error from Josh Rivera and stole second. Van Der Weide hit a batter to load the bases, and with one out, a run came across on a fielder’s choice from Hill to take the lead.

Entering a do-or-die top of the ninth, Florida got a good start as Jacob Young walked to lead off. But after a strikeout from Hickey and a deep flyout from Fabian, the Gators were down to their final out. Kris Armstrong kept the game going with a single that advanced Young to second, bringing Calilao to the plate.

With one swing, he put three runs across and gave the Gators an insurmountable three-run lead. At the bottom of the ninth, Kentucky’s leadoff hitter Austin Schultz almost sent one over the wall himself on a ball that was just barely saved by Fabian. The Wildcats managed to put a single on the board, but a fielder’s choice and a strikeout from Jack Leftwich, who entered at the top of the inning, ended the game.

With the Game 2 win, UF salvages a chance to win the series heading into the final game on Saturday. First pitch for Game 3 is set for 2 p.m. EDT in Lexington.

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Florida baseball falls short against Kentucky in Game 1

UF opened its weekend series on a disappointing note, falling 7-5 on the road against the Wildcats in Game 1.

Fresh off a series win over the No. 2 team in the country in Vanderbilt, Florida couldn’t keep that momentum going in the first game of their weekend series against Kentucky on Thursday night. The Gators overcame a 5-0 deficit to tie the game, but UK pulled out a 7-5 win over No. 10 UF. Now, Florida will have to win on Friday and Saturday to pull out a series victory.

The Gators (31-14, 13-9 SEC) and the Wildcats (27-15, 11-11 SEC) combined for 22 runs and 12 hits, but the game was a pitching duel through the first three innings.

It was a good start to the game on the mound for Florida’s Franco Alemán, who allowed just two hits in the first three innings and no runs. But Kentucky’s Cole Stupp was even better. He gave up just one hit in the first four innings of the game, and with the Wildcats lineup coming up to the plate at the bottom of the fourth, Alemán started to lose control.

He forced a groundout against the leadoff hitter, but after three straight singles loaded the bases, Cam Hill singled to right field to put two runs across. After a passed ball from catcher Nate Hickey, a third run scored.

UF hoped it could limit the damage at that, and it almost did as Alemán forced a strikeout for out three, but it came on a wild pitch. The runner managed to reach first and a run scored, though a second run was thrown out at home to end the frame, but not before UK took a 4-0 lead. In the fifth, the Wildcats got another run on the board with an RBI single.

Florida’s offense finally awoke in the sixth, though. Josh Rivera led off with a double, and a sacrifice fly from Jacob Young brought him home. In the seventh, Jud Fabian and Kris Armstrong led off with base hits to put runners at the corners. A single from Kirby McMullen put a run across, but Strupp looked poised to avert grave danger, forcing two outs.

But he walked Rivera to load the bases, and another walk against Colby Halter brought a run home. That ended Strupp’s night, but his replacement, Alex Degen, gave up a single to Young that scored two more runs and tied the game at five. A strong drive from Hickey to right field on the next at-bat threatened to bring the tying run across, but it was caught for out No. 3.

Trey Van Der Weide entered for Alemán (who allowed 10 hits and five runs in six innings) at the bottom of the seventh, and though one runner reached base against him on a fielding error, he didn’t allow any hits.

The Gators had their best chance to take the lead in the eighth when they loaded the bases with one out. But a pair of strikeouts from Jordan Butler and Rivera ended the threat, and the Wildcats made UF pay for failing to seize the opportunity.

Hill led off the bottom of the inning with a single on a bunt, and a wild pitch moved him to second. After another single, Van Der Weide was pulled for Jack Leftwich, who allowed a single but followed it up with a strikeout. Florida almost escaped without allowing the run, but John Rhodes cracked a two-out single to left field that broke the tie and gave Kentucky a two-run lead.

With UF’s last chance coming at the top of the ninth, Halter and Young struck out. Hickey stepped to the plate as the Gators’ last hope, but he popped up in foul territory for the game’s final out.

The loss is a big-time setback in an SEC series Florida can’t afford to lose. They’ll have to bounce back in Game 2, which starts on Friday at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

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Series Preview: No. 10 Florida heads to Kentucky for three-game tilt

Here is a look below at the starting pitchers lined up for this weekend’s series along with the projected starting lineup for UF at UK.

The No. 10 Florida Gators (31-13, 13-8 SEC) head up to Lexington on Thursday for a three-game weekend series against the Kentucky Wildcats (26-15, 10-11 SEC) riding high on a three-game winning streak. UF took two out of a three-game set last weekend at home against the then-No. 2 Vanderbilt Commodores while sneaking away with a midweek win against the Stetson Hatters on Tuesday.

The Wildcats, on the other hand, enter the weekend having dropped their previous series at the Tennessee Volunteers, losing two of three including their last game on Saturday in which they were pummeled 11-2. Otherwise, Kentucky has had a perfectly mediocre season in the nation’s best baseball conference, though they stumbled with a four-game losing streak before winning three in a row heading into the Vols series.

Historically, Florida holds a massive edge in the all-time series with a 142-69-1 record since the first meeting in 1953. The Gators have been dominant from the get-go, winning the first eight games between the two schools, while registering a series-best 17-game winning streak from 1964 to 1971 while losing no more than four in a row at any point. The last time UF and UK tangled on the baseball diamond was in 2019, when Florida took two of three at home.

Here is a look below at the starting pitchers lined up for this weekend’s series along with the projected starting lineup. Scroll down further for interesting excerpts from the media guide.

No. 10 Gators overcome early deficit to win midweek matchup against Stetson

The two teams combined for 24 hits and 15 runs, but the Gators came out on top in a 9-6 win over the Hatters on Tuesday night.

Florida was back on the field Tuesday night after a huge win in its weekend series over No. 2 Vanderbilt. Now ranked as the No. 10 team in the country, the Gators struggled early in their midweek game against Stetson, finding themselves down two runs after just half an inning. But UF’s lineup came through with 12 hits in a 9-6 home win over the Hatters.

Freshman pitcher Timmy Manning earned the start on the mound for Florida (31-13). He entered this game with just 12 2/3 innings pitched on the season, and this was not one of his better appearances.

He gave up a home run to lead off the game to Stetson’s Andrew MacNeil, a Gainesville native. The Hatters (23-18) got another one off of Manning on a shot to right-center field from Hernen Sardinas later in the inning, and the Gators found themselves in an early hole.

They wouldn’t stay down for long, though, as Kirby McMullen led off the bottom of the second with a walk, and a double from Sterlin Thompson brought him home. With two outs in the inning, Colby Halter and Jacob Young notched a pair of RBI base hits to take the lead. Stetson starter Bret Neilan’s night came to an end after just 1 2/3 innings pitched.

But Manning wouldn’t stay in the game much longer. He quickly loaded the bases at the top of the third with a single and two walks, causing coach Kevin O’Sullivan to pull him for Trey Van Der Weide. He started off with a strikeout, but he couldn’t keep the Hatters completely at bay as a single on the next at-bat scored a run, though a throwout at home prevented the second run from coming across and ended the inning. Still, the game was tied yet again.

After stranding three on base in the third inning, Florida loaded the bases in the fourth on three walks with just one out. It retook the lead off a sac-fly from Kris Armstrong, though that was all the Gators got as they left two runners on base. It was in the fifth inning, though, that UF really took control.

Thompson led off with a single and stole second. He then advanced to third on a balk from Stetson’s Anthony DeFabbia. Josh Rivera made the Hatters pay on an RBI single, and that was just the beginning. A fielder’s choice from Halter put two outs on the board, but Young singled, and a subsequent double from Nate Hickey scored two more runs. Austin Amaral came in for DeFabbia after that, but a double from Jud Fabian put a fourth run across in the inning, stretching UF’s lead to 8-3.

Despite pitching cleanly through the fifth, O’Sullivan subbed David Luethje in for Van Der Weide at the top of the sixth. Van Der Weide earned a win for his efforts, moving his record to 2-1 on the year. He allowed three hits and no runs in 2 2/3 innings pitched.

Luethje walked a batter in the sixth but otherwise had no issues. In the seventh, he put the Hatters lineup away in order. But at the top of the eighth, O’Sullivan pulled him for Ryan Cabarcas, who didn’t fare well. He gave up two singles and a walk to start, loading the bases with no outs, and O’Sullivan swiftly pulled him after just nine pitches for Christian Scott.

Scott couldn’t avert the danger entirely, as a single from Eric Foggo put one run across, but he followed it up with a strikeout, a fielder’s choice and a flyout to get out of the inning. At the bottom of the frame, Armstrong got the Gators some insurance with a solo drive that went over the right-field wall.

Scott gave up a leadoff homer in the top of the ninth (from MacNeil again), and Sardinas hit another homer, as well, with two outs on the board. Stetson continued its challenge with a single, but the rally came to an end on a deep fly ball to right field that was easily caught by Thompson.

The Gators took their third victory of the season against the Hatters and will go for the season sweep next Tuesday when they travel to Deland to face them on the road. Before that, they have a weekend series at Kentucky that begins on Thursday. The Wildcats are just 10-11 in SEC play, while Florida sits just one game behind SEC East leaders Vanderbilt and Tennessee. A sweep over UK could vault UF into first place in the division.

First pitch for Game 1 is set for 7 p.m. EDT.

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Baseball Preview: No. 10 Florida hosts Stetson Hatters for midweek matchup

The No. 10 Florida Gators (30-13, 13-8 SEC) gets set to host the Stetson Hatters (23-17, 9-6) on Tuesday night in the third of four individual meetings this season between the two in-state foes. UF won the first two but SU put up a fight both times, …

The No. 10 Florida Gators (30-13, 13-8 SEC) gets set to host the Stetson Hatters (23-17, 9-6) on Tuesday night in the third of four individual meetings this season between the two in-state foes. UF won the first two but SU put up a fight both times, battling the Gators to a 10-7 finish back in March and a close 7-6 finale nearly a month later. The Hatters look to break the spell when they take the field at Florida Ballpark this evening.

Coming into the game Stetson has had a solid season, though it hit a bit of a rough spot recently losing three of its last four games, including two of three to the pestersome Jacksonville Dolphins and one to the Florida State Seminoles. Otherwise, it has been a perfectly mediocre 2021 campaign for the team from DeLand and that is OK.

Historically, UF holds a commanding 82-34 lead since the two schools first played way back in 1912 when they split a two-game set in DeLand. At one point the Hatters held the upper hand over the Gators — after seven games, SU posted a 4-3 record as of March 15, 1913. That would be the last time Stetson threatened Florida in the all-time series. Under coach Kevin O’Sullivan, Florida is a perfect 7-0 including a sparkling 4-0 record in Gainesville; the last defeat at the hands of the Hatters came in 2007.

Here is a look below at the starting pitchers lined up as well as details on how to follow Tuesday night’s action, along with the projected starting lineup. Scroll down further for interesting excerpts from the media guide.