Tag: Blake Purnell

Ninth-inning collapse leads to Florida’s first loss of season

An epic ninth-inning collapse led to Florida’s first loss of the season Wednesday night. USF splits the season series with a 10-9 win.

Florida (4-1) led for most of the game against USF Wednesday night, but a ninth-inning meltdown led to the Gators blowing a five-run lead and taking the loss, 10-9.

There was plenty to like from UF, including a decent outing from freshman right-hander [autotag]Yoel Tejeda Jr[/autotag]. in his first-career start, but the late collapse is going to overshadow any positives from the evening. For what it’s worth, every Florida starter got a base hit, and [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] was stellar out of the bullpen.

Game Recap

Tejeda got the start for Florida and lasted three innings. He had a clean first inning despite walking Bobby Boser on four pitches, but the second and third were tough for Tejeda. He got out of a jam in the second, stranding a pair of Bulls in scoring position, but wasn’t as lucky in the third.

Tejeda started what should have been a 1-6-3 double play, but shortstop [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] made an errant throw to first and allowed a run to score. The 6-foot-8-inch freshman should have been out of the inning, but he surrendered another run after giving up a walk and a single instead.

At that point, Florida’s offense hadn’t gotten going yet and only managed to score a single run through the first two innings. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] homered in the first, but it took until the second time through the lineup for Florida to add some more runs.

[autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] hit a long sac fly into foul territory to tie things up in the bottom of the third, and Rivera came through with a single to left-center that scored him and gave Florida the lead. Caglianone was intentionally walked in between the two at-bats.

Ficarrotta was strong in relief for the Gators. He lasted 3 2/3 innings, striking out seven without giving up a base on balls. Ficarrotta surrendered just one run on the evening and limited damage to get out of a fifth-inning jam that started with three-straight singles.

Florida also had a big fifth inning and scored three runs. [autotag]Dale Thomas[/autotag], who got his first start of the season at second base, started things off with a double, and [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] moved him over to third on a bunt single.

Langford struck out looking at three pitches, but Caglianone drove in Thomas with a single to right field. Rivera followed that up with his second RBI single of the day, and [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] singled in a run as well. A double play from [autotag]Tyler Shlenut[/autotag] ended the run.

Left-handed freshman [autotag]Chris Arroyo[/autotag] got the final out of the seventh for Florida after Ficarrotta allowed a pair of baserunners. Arroyo returned for the top of the eighth but was immediately pulled after giving up a base hit to start the inning. Kevin O’Sullivan gave him a pat on the back after taking the ball from him, which probably means that he was pulled to fit the matchup against a pinch hitter rather than for poor performance.

[autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] was the third arm out of the bullpen for Florida and got out of the eighth without issue. He did walk USF’s No. 9 hitter with two out but nothing came of it.

[autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] could have earned his second save of the season, but Florida added what it thought was a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth.

[autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag] scored after doubling and getting knocked in by Thomas. Robertson extended the lead to five runs with an RBI single of his own, and Langford doubled on a checked swing to put men on the corners. Caglianone drew his second intentional walk of the night, but Rivera couldn’t come up big again despite entering the at-bat hitting .660 with runners in scoring position.

Purnell came back out to pitch the ninth but things went south pretty quickly. He gave up a leadoff home run to start the inning and never recorded an out after an error in right field and walking a batter. O’Sullivan turned to [autotag]Fisher Jameson[/autotag] next, which turned out to be a mistake.

Jameson struck out the Bull with the highest average on the team for out No. 1, but it was all downhill from there. USF catcher Nelson Rivera singled in a run to cut the lead to three, and then center fielder Jackson Mayo sent the ball out of the yard to tie things up.

Disaster.

[autotag]Anthony Ursitti[/autotag] replaced Jameson but gave up a two-out triple to blow the lead. To rub some salt in the wound, USF scored what wound up being the deciding run on a passed ball.

[autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] pinch hit for [autotag]Deric Fabian[/autotag], who entered as a defensive replacement at third base for Tyler Shelnut, and drew a one-out walk to start a ninth-inning rally. USF ignored him on the base paths, so he easily got to third while [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] pinch hit for Heyman.

Riopelle struck out, but [autotag]Matt Prevesk[/autotag] batted for Lastres and singled in Kurland to put the Gators within one of a tie game. Unfortunately, [autotag]Richie Schiekofer[/autotag] grounded into a fielder’s choice on the very first pitch he saw to end the game.

Key Takeaway

The bullpen completely melted down after Purnell struggled to start the ninth. Jameson and Ursitti can’t afford to pitch like that when Sully puts them in a tense spot, and he’s unlikely to forget what happened.

The question is whether O’Sullivan will adjust or not. There were several times throughout the 2022 season when Florida made the wrong call out of the bullpen, and there were shades of that tonight. To be delicate, the only way Florida’s bullpen is below average in 2023 is through mismanagement.

The undefeated season may no longer be feasible, but at least Florida has now faced some adversity and can prove itself over the weekend against Cincinnati.

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2023 Baseball Season Preview: Bullpen

Florida didn’t lose a ton from last year’s bullpen, so the experience should help a good group become great in 2023.

With one day left until the start of the 2023 college baseball season, Gators Wire is looking at Florida’s bullpen.

The first thing that stands out is just how much depth there is separate from [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag]’s starting rotation. The team is returning seven contributing arms from a season ago and has added one key transfer and four freshmen to the ‘pen.

In a big game, it’s fairly clear who would pitch the seventh, eighth and ninth innings for Florida, and there are plenty of options that can go long if a starter has to leave a game early. Florida’s only losing about 20 innings out of last year’s bullpen, so fans should see a considerable amount of growth from the sophomore class.

Leading the way statistically are [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] and [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag]. Junior college transfer [autotag]Clete Hartzog[/autotag] is in line to step into the closing role, at least to begin the season, and there’s a handful of second and third-year guys ready to eat innings.

This should be an efficient group for Florida, but the top of the bullpen is a lot stronger than the middle and bottom.

What’s next for Florida baseball: A post-mortem of the 2022 season

Buckle in, Gators Wire’s 2022 Baseball Season Recap is finally here. We dive into all 35 players one by one and go over where they stand after the season.

The Florida Gators’ 2022 baseball season ended Monday with a 5-4 loss in the regional finals of the NCAA Championship Tournament against Oklahoma. The year was filled with ups and downs, but being six outs away from a Super Regional berth isn’t too shabby for a team with 16 new players on the roster.

Pitching was a bit of a disappointment early on, but a few freshmen started to stand out from the bunch. That depth allowed the Gators to make a deeper run than most expected in the playoffs and finish the year 42-24.

Conference play was a bit of a struggle. UF finished the regular season .500 against the SEC, including series losses to Georgia (sweep), LSU, Tennessee (sweep) and Vanderbilt. A 9-3 finish against the weaker members of the conference (Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri and South Carolina) allowed Florida to finish with a respectable record, but things didn’t really turn around until Texas A&M beat them via the mercy rule.

After that 10-0 loss, Florida played like the team it needed to be all year. It even got legendary performances from the likes of Carsten Finnvold, a freshman who hadn’t seen game action since April when he got the start against Tennessee in theSEC Tournament.

Then there’s the offense. At times, the veteran group didn’t back up the young pitching staff as it was expected to. Jud Fabian was a disappointment down the stretch, hitting just .185 against the conference and going 1-for-30. To his credit, Fabian struck out 10 times less than he did a year ago in about 40 more plate appearances. Walks were also up considerably, so his eye definitely improved despite the low average.

On the other side of things, Wyatt Langford made a complete transformation over the offseason and became one of the best leadoff guys in baseball. He led the team in most major offensive categories and tied Matt LaPorta’s 2005 school record of 26 homers in a season.

There’s a lot to celebrate about with this team, and a lot to address moving forward. Many of them have played their final games in the Orange in Blue, and others are just starting to tell their story.

What will the team look like next year? There’s only one way to properly answer that question and it’s long-winded. Feel free to jump to the sections that interest you the most as we break down the team position by position.

Game Preview: Florida baseball looking to down Oklahoma, advance to regional championship game

The last time Brandon Neely was on the mound for the Gators, Florida was mercy ruled. Here’s hoping things go differently this time around against Oklahoma.

Florida made it past Central Michigan on Friday thanks to a dominant outing from [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] on the mound to outduel the Chippewas’ ace, Andrew Taylor. The Gators won that game 7-3 and earned the right to face Oklahoma on the winners’ side of the bracket for a shot at the regional final.

If Florida takes this game against OU, the Gators will face the winner of Oklahoma and whoever wins the Saturday matinee between Liberty and Central Michigan. If UF loses, the team will play in that early game for a chance to rematch with Oklahoma.

With Sproat used up, [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] will turn to freshman [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] on the bump. Neely has stepped into the role nicely since joining the rotation against Arkansas and moving into the No. 2 spot once [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag] went down. Barco, since we’re talking about him, could be seen on the bench encouraging Sproat with a full arm brace. It appears the Tommy John surgery was a success.

Back to Neely, though. He seemed to hit his stride in the final game of the regular season against South Carolina, striking out 10 and hurling seven scoreless innings. Facing Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament, the first time around, was a different story, though. Neely left after 4 1/3 innings and three earned runs. The Gators would get mercy rules and have flipped a switch since.

If Neely has another short outing, the bullpen is ready to go. [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] is coming off an impressive 6 1/3-inning, 90+ pitch outing against Alabama in the conference tournament, and [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] is available to eat some innings too. Winning this game is crucial because whoever loses will have to play two on Sunday to force a final tiebreaker game on Monday.

Offensively, [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] broke out of his little slump with a game-tying solo shot in the third Friday night and [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] went big fly to put the Gators out front. Those were two of the hottest bats for Florida at the start of the season (Thompson has been good all year), so it’s good to see them going.

[autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] struggled against CMU, going 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. Chalk that up to some nerves or pressure and expect him to bounce back against Oklahoma. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] continues to be the best non-redshirt decision of Sully’s lifetime. He drove in three on a pair of hits Friday, and fellow freshman [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] has also been a difference-maker at the plate and in the field.

Oklahoma is a good team. They beat up on Liberty en route to a 16-3 victory, and Gator Nation isn’t forgetful of the fact that the Flames took two of three to start UF’s season off sour. If Neely and Co. can keep the Sooners’ offense at bay, the Gators should have a chance to win this game.

Florida falls short in SEC Tournament championship game against Tennessee

The Vols were clearly the better team, but Florida’s run to the SEC Tournament championship game had the team in much better spirits heading into regionals.

Florida fell just short of winning it all in Hoover, Alabama, on Sunday losing to the Tennesee Volunteers, 8-5, in the final round of the SEC Tournament.

The Gators threw [autotag]Carsten Finnvold[/autotag], a freshman out of American Heritage Del Ray in Palm Beach County, Florida, and he kept Tennessee quiet through four innings. His low-speed fastball kept the Volunteers off balance and quiet through four innings, but the No. 1 team in the country got going in the fifth.

[autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] sent a ball to first that [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] couldn’t snag to put a runner on second with no outs. Blake Burke singled Evan Russell over to second and Finnvold got Cortland Lawson swinging. Seth Stephenson bunted for an RBI-base hit on a ball that Finnvold could’ve made a play on if he wasn’t tripped up by his own team. Luc Lipcius took strike three looking for out two in the inning.

[autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] decided to walk the bases loaded for Tennessee’s No. 4 hitter Drew Gilbert and it almost paid off. Finnvold got a fly ball to left field, but [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] came in on the ball and let it go over his head to clear the bases. Four runs were scored in the inning and none of them were earned for Finnvold.

[autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] came in to get out of the inning, but he’d get back into trouble in the sixth. The Vols put up a three-spot on the Gators’ best reliever and took a commanding 7-0 lead. [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] pitched the eighth for UF without much trouble. Only a Stephenson single threatened throughout the inning.

[autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] finally broke through in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run shot against Ben Joyce, who was throwing over 100 mph. Joyce was Tennessee’s fourth pitcher of the night after lefty Camden Sewell gave the Vols a five-inning start. Will Mabrey and Mark McLaughlin were first out of the bullpen, then Joyce and Zander Sechrist, and finally Kirby Connell finished it up through eight.

The Gators added one more run on a two-out [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] single, but [autotag]Mac Guscette[/autotag] hit a weak grounder to third for an easy tag out of Jud Fabian.

Gilbert got ahold of another one in the ninth and made it 8-3 with a solo shot. Lipscomb doubled and knocked Abner out of the game for [autotag]Tyler Nesbitt[/autotag]. Russell almost took another ball out, but Langford got it on the warning track.

Redmond Walsh finished it off for the Volunteers. Pinch hitter Kendrick Calilao popped up on a 2-2 count into foul territory for the first out of the inning. Langford doubled to start the final push, and [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] doubled him home.

Riopelle moved Thomspon over to third, and [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] drove him in on an error by the second baseman who was shifted out of position. [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] gave a ball a ride, but the left fielder tracked it down and Florida’s rally fell short. It’s a disappointing end to a great run by the Gators, especially considering four of Tennessee’s runs came unearned.

Going into the tournament, Florida’s postseason hopes looked bleak. A win or two in the regional round seemed to be the best possible outcome, but this SEC Tournament run has Florida in the conversation to host a regional. The NCAA will announce hosts at 8:30 p.m. EDT Sunday night.

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Florida baseball bounces back in SEC Tournament against Arkasnas

Florida lives to see another game in the SEC Tournament. The Gators looked better in just about every way imaginable on Friday against Arkansas.

In a surprising turn of events, Florida baseball went from being one-hit and mercy-ruled on Thursday in the SEC Tournament by No. 2 seed Texas A&M to looking pretty dominant against No. 3 seed Arkansas Friday. With both teams facing elimination, the Gators knocked out the Razorbacks by a final score of 7-5.

[autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag] was strong for five innings but ran into some trouble in the sixth. He gave up back-to-back home runs to Cayden Wallace and Michael Turner to lead off the inning and was quickly replaced by [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag]. Other than those two pitches though, Pogue looked good in the biggest game he’s pitched in since returning from Tommy John surgery.

Pogue struck out a career-high eight batters and limited the Hogs to just four hits on the day. His efforts gave the offense time to jump out to an early lead on a [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] two-run single in the second. Caglianone added another with a solo shot that hit that scoreboard in the fifth, and [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] followed up with a solo home run of his own a few at-bats later.

That ended the day for Arkansas’ Connor Noland, who was far more successful his last time out against Florida. That’s baseball, though. Evan Taylor got out of the inning and was replaced by Brady Tygart in the seventh. [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] hit his second home run since May 4 to make it 6-2 and Tygart hit Caglianone and [autotag]Kendrick Calila[/autotag]o to put two men on.

Tygart left with an apparent injury, and the broadcasters later provided an update that he was simply not feeling well enough to pitch. That brought in Zebulon Vermillion, who Halter promptly singled up the middle to score the seventh Gators run of the day.

Slater took over for Purnell in the seventh after a leadoff single and got the Razorbacks to go down in order. He’d also get through the eighth with a clean bill aside from a Sterlin Thompson error on a ball hit right to him at second base.

Some drama came in the ninth, but the five-run cushion was enough for Florida to hold on to in the end. Slater walked the leadoff man and let him move around the bases only to score on a passed ball. 7-3, no big deal. With two outs, Slater walked another batter on a full count and then gave up a home run to Braydon Webb after eight pitches. 7-5, uh oh.

Mercifully, Cayden Wallace hit a grounder to second to end things and Slater held on for the win after throwing 68 pitches. It was shaky at the end, but Florida looked like the team it’s supposed to be in this one.

With the win, the Gators are set to face the loser of the Alabama-Texas A&M game that takes place at 5:30 p.m. EDT. Once the matchup is decided, the two teams will duke it out on Saturday with a scheduled start time of 4:00 p.m., meaning Florida will be facing a team on less than 24 hours rest.

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Florida baseball drops regular season finale vs South Carolina Gamecocks

Florida finishes the regular season 35-20 and 15-15 in SEC play after losing to South Carolina 4-1 on Saturday.

Florida baseball starter [autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag] tossed a strong 6 1/3 innings on Sunday in the Gators’ regular-season finale where he only allowed five hits and three earned runs while striking out six hitters. However, his lineup didn’t offer much support. They only tallied one run on three hits in a 4-1 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday at Condron Ballpark.

Pogue settled down after allowing three runs through the first innings. He allowed a home run to designated hitter Josiah Sightler in the first, a double and an RBI single in the second and then another Sightler solo shot in the third. He didn’t allow another hit afterward but was pulled by head coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] with only one out recorded in the seventh after he hit a Gamecock batter with a pitch.

After the rain delay in the top of the seventh, reliever [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] entered the game and gave up another run to make it 4-1.

Florida’s lone run only came in the bottom of the second when right fielder [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] scored on a third baseman [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] single. Second baseman [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] was the only other Gators batter to tally a base knock.

The rest of the team was a combined 0-19 to go along with five strikeouts. However, they earned nine walks with two of them coming from Evans and left fielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag].

South Carolina dodged the series sweep on Sunday after dropping the first two games. Florida finished the regular season 35-20 with a 15-15 record in SEC play.

The Gators’ next game will be in the SEC tournament that starts on Tuesday at Hoover, Alabama.

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Brandon Neely strikes out 10 in shutout win vs Gamecocks

Florida baseball’s Brandon Neely was dealing as he struck out 10 batters in seven innings in a 8-0 win over South Carolina.

Florida baseball starter [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] bounced back in dominant fashion versus South Carolina after an uncharacteristic start against the Missouri Tigers last weekend where he allowed four earned runs.

On Friday, he struck out a career-high 10 batters and only gave up three hits along with no free passes while shutting out South Carolina for seven innings. He also tossed an impressive 70 strikes in only 96 pitches. The Gators also poured on eight runs to shutout the Gamecocks and also grabbed the series victory on Friday at Condron Ballpark.

Florida scored three runs in the third and two runs in the fifth and the seventh and one in the eighth. Center fielder [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] and shortstop [autotag]Joshua Rivera[/autotag] both went long in the contest.

Fabian’s home run was his 20th of the season, which made quite a bit of history. He became the second Gators hitter ever besides [autotag]Brad Wilkerson[/autotag] to smash 20 dingers in back-to-back seasons. Left fielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] also entered Florida’s record book besides Fabian. They are the only two Gators hitters to record 20 plus homers in a single season.

Fabian finished the evening three for four with two RBs. Second baseman [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] also tallied two hits. He went two for four with an RBI.

Head coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag]’s team registered eight runs on 10 hits and earned six free passes.

After Neely was pulled in the eighth, reliever [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] and [autotag]Anthony Ursitti[/autotag] followed and picked up right where their starter left off. They finished the game without allowing a hit and struck out a Gamecock.

The Gators will gun for the sweep on Saturday at 2 p.m. EDT when they play South Carolina to conclude the regular season. The contest can be seen on SEC Network+.

It’ll also be Florida fans’ last chance to listen to Mick Hubert. He’s retiring as the voice of the Gators following the game.

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Series Preview: Gators baseball closes out regular season against Gamecocks

One more weekend series to close out the year for the boys in Orange in Blue. South Carolina visits the swamp for the first time since 2019.

Florida baseball didn’t have the 2022 season it expected to with a decent amount of returning bats and a top-notch recruiting class to bolster the pitching staff. With three games left to play in the regular season, the Gators need to take two of three games against the South Carolina Gamecocks this weekend to finish 15-15 in conference play.

The pitching staff has taken a step forward recently, but that comes after team ace [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag]’s season ended early with Tommy John surgery. [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] and [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] have stepped up nicely, and it appears that [autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag] has recovered enough from his own Tommy John surgery to be considered the team’s No. 3 starter. [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] has received a bit of help in the bullpen with the emergence of [autotag]Fisher Jameson[/autotag] in recent weeks as well.

[autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] continues to be the team’s best bat with a .365 batting average and 19 home runs, and [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] is coming off a three-homer game against FSU where he also delivered a walk-off, two-run shot. [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] has also been clutch for the team, both at the plate and behind it. A betting man would put money down on Riopelle going in the top seven rounds of the draft this year.

On the other hand, [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] is in the slump of his life. He has just one hit in his last 30 at-bats and hasn’t put together a multi-hit game since May 3. A few weeks ago, it seemed like Fabian’s gamble to come back for one more year would pay off, but the decrease in strikeouts and increase in walks only goes so far when you’re batting .162 against the conference.

South Carolina isn’t the toughest team in the SEC to beat, so Fabian and Florida have a good chance at turning things around this weekend against them.

Nick Pogue, Khris Armstrong, Joshua Rivera lift Gators over Mizzou to take series

Starter Nick Pogue and batters Khris Armstrong and Joshua Rivera lifted Florida baseball to a 4-3 victory over Missouri on Sunday.

Starter [autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag], first baseman [autotag]Khris Armstrong[/autotag] and shortstop [autotag]Joshua Rivera[/autotag] lifted Florida baseball to a 4-3 game and series victory over the Missouri Tigers on Sunday in Columbia, Missouri. Pogue quieted the Tigers’ offense for 6 2/3 innings while only allowing five hits and three earned runs. Armstrong went 3-for-4 with two RBIs while Rivera finished 1-for-4 with a two-run home run.

After three scoreless innings, Missouri struck first in the bottom of the fourth via back-to-back jacks from third baseman Luke Mann and left fielder Trevor Austin.

The Gators responded quickly in the top of the fifth via Rivera’s two-run blast to left field. They then grabbed the lead 4-2 ย in the next inning when Armstrong singled with the bases loaded, driving in designated hitter [autotag]Jac Cagilanone[/autotag] and second baseman [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag].

The Tigers earned a run back in the bottom of the seventh when their right fielder Ross Lovich singled with runners on first and second, which also signaled the end of Pogue’s outing. Head coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] called on reliever [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] who got the final out of the inning to end the threat.

Florida would hang on in the eighth and ninth innings to secure the 4-3 victory and grab the last contest of the weekend for the series win.

The Gators head into the final week of their regular season and are back in action on Tuesday at Condron Ballpark versus No. 21 Florida State.

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