Tag: Michael Robertson

Florida mercy rules Mizzou to kick off weekend series

Florida is back to its winning ways against the SEC. The Gators finished things in seven innings Friday night with an 11-1 win over the Missouri Tigers.

Florida looked dominant once again in an 11-1 win over Missouri Friday night that only needed seven innings to reach a conclusion.

[autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] pitched a complete game, striking out seven over as many innings while allowing just three baserunners. His only walk of the night came in the top of the seventh, and he threw 70% strikes. The changeup was dynamite tonight and the fastball had some nice run on it early on.

The offense did most of the scoring in the second inning when both [autotag]Tyler Shlenut[/autotag] and [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] each hit three-run homers. Shelnut is getting his shot in right field in place of a struggling [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag], and a 2 for 4 night with four RBIs should keep him there through Sunday.

Caglianone’s homer was his 24th of the year, and he is now three away from breaking the program record that Wyatt Langford tied a season ago. It’s not a question of if but when with Caglianone, and it might get done within the next week if he can stay hot.

[autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] hit his first collegiate home run, and everyone in the stadium was happy for him. Robertson is a fantastic center fielder with elite speed, but he’s not exactly a power hitter. He got a hold of this one, though, sending it 374 feet and 105 mph off the bat.

[autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] homered in the fifth and had a nice 2 for 3 night with a walk after struggling recently. If Riopelle can return to First Team All-SEC form just ahead of the playoffs, the Gators will be better for it and have a real shot at winning it all.

[autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] drove in [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] in the sixth, Riopelle scored on a wild pitch in the seventh and Shelnut walked it off with an RBI single to put the run rule into effect.

This was the kind of night Florida needed, even if it is against a Missouri team that might not be up to par with the rest of the SEC. The Gators are back at it on Saturday at noon to avoid some nasty weather coming in later in the day, so set your alarms!

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Florida baseball humbled and swept by South Carolina

Well… at least the weekend is over and Florida can reset with UNF on Tuesday. Tough series for the Gators in Columbia against a dominant South Carolina club.

The Florida Gators have held onto the No. 3 spot in the D1Baseball.com rankings for over a month, but a sweep at the hands of No. 6 South Carolina over the weekend should change that.

UF dropped Game 3 of the weekend series, 7-5, on Saturday, following up a 13-3 mercy rule loss and a 5-2 affair on Friday night.

South Carolina jumped on [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] early. Left fielder Dylan Brewer hit a leadoff double and shortstop Braylen Wimmer homered to left. Caglianone struggled with command a bit, but this was more of a case of the Gamecocks hitting the ball well all weekend.

Kevin O’Sullivan got some options warming up in the bullpen, but he didn’t have to go there until the fourth. A leadoff walk ended Caglianone’s day on the mound, and he shifted to designated hitter as [autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag] came in to pitch.

Fisher gave up a double to Ethan Petry that scored two, making it 5-1 in favor of South Carolina. Jonathan French drove in one more in the bottom of the fifth, right after [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] hit his second home run of the day for the Gators. Fisher struck out six over three innings, and then Sully turned to [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] for the final two frames.

Slater gave up multiple hits in each inning, but South Carolina only managed to add one insurance run between both threats. Florida’s offense finally came alive in the top of the eighth, but two runs weren’t enough to tie up the game. Caglianone and [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] got the RBIs.

[autotag]Deric Fabian[/autotag] scored as a pinch runner for [autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag], who singled into center field to start the ninth, but [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] struck out with [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] on deck to end the game.

Florida really struggled to hit South Carolina’s pitching staff this weekend, and starter Matthew Becker kept everyone but Kurland at bay for five innings. James Hicks was strong for his first two innings of relief, and Chris Veach got the save despite a shaky ninth.

There’s no way to sugarcoat a loss like this. Gators Wire predicted a 3-0 sweep from Florida and received the exact opposite result. It’s a reality check for what is still one of the top teams in the nation, but now it’s LSU and South Carolina at the top of the SEC.

Florida could get a chance at redemption in the SEC or NCAA Tournament, but the stakes will be even higher then. Until then, it’s time to shake off a bad weekend and reset with a Tuesday game against North Florida. Following that, Missouri and Texas A&M sandwich a neutral site game against FSU on the schedule, so Florida has a good chance to recover before hosting No. 4 Vanderbilt.

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Despite ump show, Florida takes down Georgia to claim series

Despite the antics of home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, the Florida Gators prevailed over the Georgia Bulldogs, 11-6, Sunday afternoon behind an all-around performance from Jac Caglianone.

Florida defeated Georgia, 11-6, on Sunday, but it was the poor officiating that took center stage just before the Gators put together a five-run eighth to seal the deal.

[autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] entered the game in the top of the eighth with two outs and the bases loaded. Ryan Slater had just walked in a run to cut Florida’s lead down to two, and the Gators needed their best bullpen arm to come through.

The SEC saves leader needed just five pitches to strike out Parks Harber, but he was quickly tossed by the home plate umpire, Brian deBrauwere, after celebrating the punchout. All Neely did was pump his fist as he walked toward his dugout and glanced at Georgia while shouting, “Come on!”

If that’s not allowed, then what is? Is the rule a declaration of no fun in baseball? The umpires have been atrocious all year in the SEC, particularly this weekend, but this was another level.

The fans let deBrauwere hear it, but the offense couldn’t let things slide either. [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] singled, [autotag]Tyler Shelnut[/autotag] walked and [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] singled to drive in a run. [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] took a pitch on the elbow and [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] delivered his second home run of the day (and 21st of the season), a grand slam to left field that put Florida up 11-4.

At that point, losing Neely wasn’t a problem. [autotag]Chris Arroyo[/autotag] walked a lefty to lead things off, and Sully quickly brought out [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag]. He got the first two outs of the inning without any issues, but gave up a homer to cut the lead to five. An error extended things, but Ficarrotta got a fly ball to end the inning and claim Florida’s fifth-straight series win against SEC clubs.

The big question coming into the day was whether Caglianone could rebound from a string of bad starts or not. The left-handed sophomore answered with five innings of two-run ball and struck out four. Caglianone featured his best fastball control in over a month and fooled some of Georgia’s hitters with his slider, too. At the plate, he went 2 for 3 with seven RBIs and a walk.

Kevin O’Sullivan turned to the bullpen for the final four frames of the afternoon, but he had everyone on a short leash after Friday’s disastrous finish. [autotag]Tyler Nesbitt[/autotag] started the sixth, but he was pulled in favor of [autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag] after allowing a pair of baserunners on a hit and a walk.

Fisher got three groundouts to finish the sixth, but Georgia’s best hitter, Charlie Condon, got to him for a run in the seventh. [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] got the final out of the inning and started the eighth, but it took two more arms to get out of the frame with just a two-run lead.

[autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] loaded up the bases for Connor Tate — the same Bulldog that hit a ninth-inning, game-tying grand slam on Friday — and got him to pop out into shallow center. Although the run was briefly prevented, Slater lost Condon on a full count in the next at-bat, walking in a run.

That’s when all of the Neely drama happened.

Lost in all the late-inning commotion was a strong performance from Florida’s offense against Georgia’s best arm, Liam Sullivan. [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] got to him early for a two-run homer and finished a triple shy of the cycle. Rivera is having an all-time season for the program and has played himself into a first or second-round draft pick.

Robertson drove in another run in the second and Caglianone’s first home run came in the second as well.

Florida is now 30-7 overall and 11-4 against the conference. Up next is a midweek game at home against Florida A&M, and then the Gators have a major road series against South Carolina on the road, starting Thursday.

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Gators walk it off against Georgia to even up series

Florida and Georgia played another game that was decided in the ninth inning, but this time it was the Gators who came out on top.

After a 24-run affair on Friday night, Florida and Georgia combined to score just three in the second game of their weekend series on Saturday. The Gators came out on top, 2-1, thanks to a walk-off RBI single from center fielder [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag].

Second baseman [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] got the winning rally started for Florida drawing a four-pitch walk from Georgia right-hander Chandler Marsh. Third baseman [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] found the gap in the very next about to send Kurland around third, but the base coach threw up the stop sign and delayed the celebration.

[autotag]Richie Schiekofer[/autotag] pinch hit for right fielder [autotag]Matt Prevesk[/autotag], who came into the game during the fifth inning for an injured [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag]. Schiekofer grounded out softly to first, but Robertson was ready to play the hero. He found the same gap in right-center that Halter did, and Kurland strutted into home to tie up the series.

After Friday night’s disastrous finish, Hurston Waldrep did everything he could to give the Gators a chance. He needed just 99 pitches to get through seven innings, and Waldrep was furious when Kevin O’Sullivan told him he wasn’t coming out to set a new career-high at Florida.

Waldrep struck out eight and was in control all night. He carved up the Georgia lineup with his splitter and pitched to contact when he needed to induce a double-play ball. The only blemish of the night was a leadoff double from Harber in the fifth that scored on a sacrifice bunt.

Florida tied things up almost immediately in the sixth with a pair of doubles from [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] and [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag]. Until then, Florida had been held hitless by UGA lefty Charlie Goldstein, who might have earned himself a permanent spot in the weekend rotation with the performance. Goldstein struck out seven and went five strong innings against the No. 3 team in the country. That deserves to be noticed, even in a loss.

[autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] was the only arm out of the bullpen for Florida, and he was lights out en route to earning win No. 5 on the season.

Offensively, things were pretty quiet. Halter was the only Gator with multiple hits and the duo of [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] and [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] combined to go 0 for 8 with four strikeouts. Not great, but there’s always Sunday to bounce back.

The Gators and Bulldogs go at 1 p.m. to decide the regular-season series.

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Gators drop series opener to Georgia following ugly ninth

Florida’s bullpen has been really strong after receiving some early-season criticism, but disaster struck in the eighth and ninth innings Friday night against Georgia.

Florida had everything in place to get its first win over Georgia in two years, but disaster struck in the ninth and the Gators couldn’t recover from a 13-11 final score.

[autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] got the start for the Gators and went seven innings strong against UGA, struggling only in the third inning. A leadoff walk came back to haunt Sproat as Georgia’s best hitter, Charlie Condon, blasted a two-run homer later in the inning. Three runs were scored in total in the frame, but Sproat kept things quiet for the next three innings.

Condon got to him against for a solo shot in the sixth, but that was the only other hit Sproat gave up all day. [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] came in to pitch the seventh for Florida, but he struggled more than he usually does. Condon hit another two-run shot, his third homer of the day, off Abner in the eighth. It’s only the second time this season he’s given up runs, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

[autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] came in to close out the game, but Kevin O’Sullivan’s top bullpen arms simply weren’t at their best tonight. Georgia loaded the bases and Connor Tate launched a grand slam before Condon could even get up to bat. A ground-rule double two batters later gave the Bulldogs the lead, and UGA tacked on two more for good measure

Florida scored fine throughout the day. [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] answered a loud third from Georgia with a salami of his own, and [autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag] also went deep with the bases loaded in the sixth. [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] also drove in a run during each of those innings, raising his team-high total to 49.

They got the bases loaded again in the ninth with Rivera at the plate, but he could only produce a sacrifice fly to score [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag]. [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] drew a full count and was hit for the third time to load the bases back up. Riopelle reached six times on the night, all on free bases.

Unfortunately, Luke Heyman couldn’t hit his second grand slam of the day and struck out to give Georgia the win.

There’s no doubt that Florida will come out with some anger after letting this one slip away from the school’s biggest rival. The Bulldogs aren’t a powerhouse in this sport, yet they have taken nine of the last 11 from the Gators. Something has to change Saturday night.

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Florida claims Game 1 against No. 11 Tennessee

Brandon Sproat bounced back from an ugly start against Auburn with a strong outing against No. 11 Tennessee on Thursday.

A pair of back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning sealed the deal for Florida, as the Gators went into Knoxville and took game one of a three-game set with the Tennessee Volunteers on Thursday night, 6-1.

[autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] delivered a three-run blast to extend a one-run lead, and [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] followed that up with a solo shot to left field. Both of those homers came off right-hander Seth Halvorsen. Neither club scored over the remaining four innings of the game thanks to strong outings by both bullpens (excluding Halvorsen).

Florida’s two other runs came off a [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] RBI single in the second and a [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] home run in the fourth. Kurland finished 2 for 4 after starting off conference play with a sub .250 average. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] also had a two-hit day, but he didn’t drive in any runs.

Kevin O’Sullivan went with a different lineup than usual for this game. He had [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag], Caglianone, Rivera and Riopelle filling out the first four spots in the order, and [autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag] and [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] in the five and six holes.

Langford excelled in the leadoff spot last year, and he was able to draw a pair of walks on Thursday despite ending the night 0 for 3. Sully might be on to something with this new lineup theory. Chase Dollander cruised through the first inning of the game, but Florida was getting to him by the fourth with its best hitters seeing him for a second time earlier than usual.

[autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] got his typical Friday start and was much sharper than he was a week ago against Auburn. He struck out nine Vols through 5 2/3 innings, giving up just one run on four hits and four walks. The free bases aren’t ideal, but it’s hard to knock a guy who earned the win and was one out away from a quality start.

Tennessee’s lineup was incredibly strikeout prone all night, finishing the evening with 18 K’s. The Volunteers’ three and four hitters, Christian Moore and Jared Dickey, finished the night with a combined seven strikeouts.

[autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] continued his spectacular sophomore campaign with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, where he struck out six batters and allowed just three baserunners (two hits, one hit batter). Abner has become Florida’s best reliever and is virtually a lock to pitch a clean inning or two whenever he comes out.

[autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] closed out the ninth for Florida. He ran into a little trouble, walking two and allowing a base hit, but he ended up striking out the side.

Tennessee’s lone run of the night came on a Blake Burke homer in the second, which briefly tied the game.

Game 2 is set to begin at 7 p.m. EDT on Friday night.

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Florida baseball outlasts Auburn, takes weekend series after late surge

There were times when things seems a bit tumultuous, but never give up on the Gators’ offense!

The outcome of the game was uncertain, to say the least, after the first five innings but Florida baseball eventually exploded against the Auburn Tigers to take the rubber match in the weekend series, 17-8.

[autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] got the start for the Orange and Blue, and for the first time this weekend, managed to blank the Tigers in the opening frame — albeit working out of a jam created by an error and a hit-by-pitch. [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] pushed things forward in the bottom half of the inning, plating three on a bases-loaded, two-out single plus a fielding error that gave the Gators the early lead.

Auburn answered quickly with a solo home run to lead off the second and threatened to score more, but a leaping catch in center field by [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] prevented any further damage. The Gators threatened in the bottom half putting runners on thanks to an HPB and a walk, but Calianone was unable to help his own cause, striking out for the second time to end the threat.

Cags managed to get through the top of the third, but not without a little bit of drama that pushed his pitch count to 65 — not exactly a paragon of efficiency. The Orange and Blue failed to capitalize on a leadoff walk by [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] to put up a goose egg in its half as well.

The Tigers slugged their second home run of the game with one on and no outs in the top of the fourth — on a hit-and-run, no less — to knot things up. A single and a double chased Caglianone off the mound after 81 pitches, bringing high-leverage reliever [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] in to put out the fire.

He did not put out the fire but did limit the damage to just one more run, giving the visitors their first lead of the day before giving way to [autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag]. But the Tigers were not done scoring just yet.

Auburn added its third home run of the day — a two-out, three-run shot — to stretch the lead to 8-3 over Fisher and the Gators. After giving up that dinger, the Tigers managed to follow up with a double but a strikeout stopped the bleeding.

The Orange and Blue showed some life in the bottom of the fifth, plating two runs thanks to an RBI single by [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] followed by a bases-loaded walk that pushed the score to 8-6, but unfortunately, [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag]’s squad could not push any more home.

Auburn went down 1-2-3 in the top of the sixth, giving way to a two-run inning for the Gators that began with a bases-loaded walk to Luke Heyman and a subsequent sacrifice fly by Langford that tied the game; a Matt Prevesk strikeout ended the threat.

[autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag], who took over to start the sixth, threw four straight clean innings with four strikeouts. His efforts in the seventh set the table for a two-RBI single from Caglianone in the seventh to reclaim the lead — a lead that would be padded to the tune of a 12-8 score by the end of the frame. A diving catch by Auburn’s centerfielder saved a couple of runs to end the inning.

The scoring continued into the bottom of the eighth, with the Gators adding a whopping five runs that included a grand slam to put the score on the verge of mercy-rule territory. The Tigers failed to respond, resulting in a 17-8 win for the Orange and Blue, with Slater earning the win.

Next up for Florida are the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats who travel to Gainesville to take on the Gators on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT and the game can be followed either on the SEC Network+ or ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF.

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Cade Kurland delivers comeback victory over No. 13 Ole Miss to Florida

Florida’s true freshman second baseman, Cade Kurland, played hero on Saturday in the first game of UF’s doubleheader against Ole Miss.

Florida true freshman [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] has made plenty of noise throughout the first month of the season, but the first game of Florida’s Saturday doubleheader against Ole Miss was undoubtedly the most notable game of his collegiate career so far.

Kurland experienced both the highest of highs and lowest of lows during the 3-hour-and-23-minute affair. Through his first four at-bats of the day, Kurland had struck out three times and grounded out. Staring down the crown of the golden sombrero, he came up for a fifth time in the top of the eighth with the bases loaded and Florida down two.

Facing the Rebels’ third pitcher of the night, right-hander Mason Nichols, Kurland jumped on the third pitch he saw and shot it into the gap in right-center. The ball rolled all the way to the wall, and the bases cleared to put Florida up a run in a game that looked like it was slipping away an inning earlier.

It’s not always fair to put the blame on one guy, but Florida didn’t put up a crooked number until Nichols came in. Starter Jack Dougherty nearly made it through five and struck seven Gators while allowing just three earned runs. The Rebels’ first reliever of the day, Mitch Murrell, was even better through the 2 1/3 innings, striking out three and allowing just one baserunner on a walk.

Although that duo did allow Florida to score three runs over seven innings, neither pitcher ever gave up more than a run in an inning. In contrast, the Gators jumped on Nichols immediately with a [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] solo home run, his 11th of the season. Kurland delivered the big hit, but he doesn’t get the chance to bat if [autotag]Matt Prevesk[/autotag], [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag], and [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] don’t get hits.

The Gators didn’t stop after the eighth either. [autotag]Jac Caglinone[/autotag] hit his second home run of the day and once again claimed sole possession of the national lead in that statistical category. [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] drove in another run on a ground out to put Florida up, 9-6, heading into the bottom of the ninth.

[autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] closed out the final 1 1/3 innings for Florida, pitching the last out of the eighth inning and all of the ninth for Florida. It wasn’t an easy save by any means, but Neely struck out two of the last three batters he faced to close it out despite trading a run for an out. It was his fourth save of the season.

Left-hander [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] was the first arm out of the bullpen for Florida and continues to emerge as one of the team’s top relief arms. He finished the afternoon after 2 1/3 innings of strong work, allowing just an unearned run, which won’t really count against him. He finished with three strikeouts and is clearly the top lefty in the bullpen right now. Abner claimed the win in relief, brining him to 3-0 on the season.

[autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] didn’t have his best stuff in this one, but he still continued his streak of games without taking a loss thanks to the offense. Even a bad day for Sproat means seven strikeouts, but the five earned runs over 5 1/3 innings are going to hurt his ERA a bit.

Control still seems to be a problem for Sproat at times, but then he delivers a game like last week’s against Alabama and reminds everyone how high his ceiling really is.

This wasn’t Florida’s best day on offense aside from the damage done in the final two innings of the game. Caglianone and Rivera each had a multi-hit game, as did right fielder [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag]. [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] went 0 for 4 with a walk in his return to the lineup.

Langford is easing his way back and playing designated hitter to limit how much running he does, which means that [autotag]Matt Prevesk[/autotag] got his first start of the season in left field. Prevesk’s bat has been strong off the bench in pinch-hit situations, so getting him some more opportunities at the plate is a good idea. He went 1 for 5 with two strikeouts and a run.

[autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] has moved to the No. 9 spot in the lineup and is the perfect second leadoff guy for UF. He went 0 for 2 in Game 1 of the doubleheader but drew three walks and scored twice. It’s almost like starting the lineup at the bottom of the order.

Taking the first game of the series makes winning the weekend seem very attainable for Florida. Things were looking bleak through seven, but it’s never wise to give up on the nation’s top offense when they are down just a few runs.

Florida can take the series with a win in Game 2 of the doubleheader, which starts at 7 p.m. EDT.

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Major takeaways from Florida’s first SEC series vs Alabama

Florida started off the SEC schedule with two strong wins over the Alabama Crimson Tide. Here’s what we learned about the team during the series.

Florida’s first SEC series is in the books and the Gators walked away from a three-game set with Alabama Crimson Tide with a winning record of 2-1.

Both teams faced some adversity from Mother Nature. With a storm set to roll into Gainesville on Saturday, the final game of the series was moved to Friday, forcing the teams to play a doubleheader. For the position players, this isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it’s no easy task to manage a pitching staff when there are 18 innings being played in a day.

Of course, both teams were already figuring out their pitching plans due to starting the series on a Thursday, a day earlier than the rest of Florida’s weekend series this season.

UF played two very good games to start the series. On Thursday, [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] did what aces do and threw a complete-game one-hit shutout to lead Florida to a 3-0 victory. The early game on Friday was a different story, though.

Alabama had the lead for most of the ball game, but Florida kept chipping back until finally delivering a walk-off, 8-7, win in the bottom of the ninth. Unfortunately, the Gators fell flat in the second game of the day, 6-3.

It was an encouraging first weekend of conference play in many ways for the Gators. Here’s what we learned about the team.

Florida falls after taking first two games of SEC series against Alabama

Florida couldn’t finish off the sweep of Alabama in the second half of a doubleheader on Friday, but the Gators are still 2-1 to start SEC play.

Florida couldn’t make magic happen twice in one day and fell to the Alabama Crimson Tide, 6-3, in the second game of a doubleheader to close out the first SEC series of the year.

The good news is the Gators secured a series victory earlier in the day, but this would have been a 10th-straight victory for the club. The trio of Grayson Hitt, Zane Probst and Kade Woods kept Florida relatively quiet, and the Tide played with a lead for the entire night.

Hitt outdueled Florida starter [autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag], who lasted six innings and gave up four runs in total (three earned). Waldrep’s command wasn’t great. He walked four and threw a wild pitch with a man on third that somehow went unpunished. He only struck out seven this week, which is low by Wadrep’s standards.

Florida had plenty of chances to score. The Gators had a baserunner in each of the first five innings and killed their own rally in the seventh with a bad baserunning blunder by [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag]. Three of UF’s seven hits on the night came during that inning, but only one run crossed the plate.

Probst wasn’t the best, but Woods was dominant against Florida in the last three innings. He struck out all seven batters he faced and left the fans at Condron Family Ballpark with a bitter taste in their mouths despite an overall successful weekend.

[autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] hit his 10th home run of the season in the loss, which is a career-high for him. He has the second-most homers of any Gator this season behind [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag], who went 0 for 11 this series.

[autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag] got a bloop single when he pinch-hit for [autotag]Dale Thomas[/autotag], who started in left today for [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag]. It’s good to see Heyman back even if his hamstring is still sore, but Langford is the big missing piece right now in the lineup.

[autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] had a two-hit day and is starting to see the ball much better after another 0-for-10 streak. Robertson is also hitting better despite his baserunning mishap.

[autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] pitched the final three innings for Florida and gave up just two runs on a home run from Alabama’s Caden Rose. He finished the night with seven strikeouts.

It was a tough way to end what was a really good weekend for Florida on the diamond, and it’s hard not to wonder how the series would have been different without the weather forcing a doubleheader.

Still, the Gators are 18-4 overall and 2-1 in SEC play. They shouldn’t be moving down any rankings after a performance like this.

Top Performers

Rivera: 2-4, HR (10); 2 RBI

Robertson: 2-3, RBI, BB

Halter: 2-3

Waldrep: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K

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