Tag: Ryan Slater

Neely holds on for second-straight save, Florida sweeps Mizzou

After being swept a week ago by South Carolina, the Florida Gators brought the brooms out and took care of Missouri.

For the second-straight night, Florida’s closer [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] closed out the game and delivered the Gators an 8-7 win over the Missouri Tigers.

Saves aren’t always notable, but they are when a closer is coming back from being ejected and suspended for four games. That’s what happened to Neely on the final day of the Georgia series, which meant he had to miss all three games Florida played against South Carolina last week. The bullpen seemed uneasy without Neely as an anchor, and the SEC saves leader showed exactly why he’s so important to this club on Sunday against Mizzou.

Neely entered the game after [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] surrendered three straight singles in relief of [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag]. A five-run lead had shrunk to just two, and Kevin O’Sullivan wasn’t risking things. Of course, Neely set the three batters he faced down in order, ending things with a looking strike out on Luke Mann. A run did score on a sacrifice fly for out No. 1, though.

Neely had little margin for error in the ninth, and it was a roller coaster of an inning. The first two outs came like clockwork, but Juju Stevens almost hit a game-tying home run that landed maybe six inches foul of the pole down the left-field line. Richie Schiekofer made an incredible effort on the ball and nearly robbed it. He’ll probably have a sore shoulder tomorrow.

The drama didn’t end there. Stevens reached on catcher’s interference after connecting with BT Riopelle’s glove on what should have been strike three. The training staff took a look at him and let him stay out there to close out the game. Riopelle will be lucky if he avoids any broken bones and was probably just running on adrenaline at the end there.

It can’t be said enough how important Riopelle is to the team, both from an on-the-field standpoint and as a leader. Losing him for any length of time would be detrimental to the team, but all Gator fans can do right now is hold their breath.

[autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] got his usual Sunday start despite not being listed at the start of the series. With [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] throwing a shortened complete game and Florida using up just two bullpen arms on Saturday, O’Sullivan figured he could give Caglianone a shot without worrying about a short afternoon.

Cags lasted through the third and looked decent through those innings, but the fourth was a different story and he got pulled after loading the bases without getting an out. Sully mentioned that batting in the bottom of an inning and pitching in the top can rush Caglianone, and he’s still learning to make that transition.

It’s worth discussing Fisher as the Sunday starter and moving Caglianone to a long-relief or close role for a bit. His power arm might be best served in short bursts, and there won’t be as much pressure to keep some left in the tank for a fourth or fifth inning as a reliever.

Still, splitting innings with Caglianone and Fisher isn’t a bad idea either, especially if the goal is to keep the former on a progression track as a starter. He only gave up one earned run and struck out five on Sunday, after all.

Fisher looked really comfortable, too. He didn’t have his best strikeout stuff today, but it’s good to see him pitch to contact a bit and work out of jams. Pro scouts will be happy to see it as well.

Offensively, [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] led the day with four hits, including home run No. 10 in the first. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] hit No. 25 in the fifth and [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] got No. 13 in the seventh. Florida entered the weekend with the fourth-most homers of any ball club in the country, and the power is only picking up as the season continues.

[autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag] and [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] also had multi-hit days with runs batted in. Tyler Shelnut finally cooled off with an 0-for-2 afternoon, but he still drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.

It was a good win to close out a strong weekend for Florida. Missouri isn’t close to the top of the division, but this is still the SEC and sweeps are hard to come by.

Florida travels to Jacksonville on Tuesday to go for the season sweep against Florida State in the neutral site game. Then, it’s off to College Station to face the Texas A&M Aggies.

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Florida comes alive late against UNF in tight midweek contest

Yoel Tejeda Jr. put together his best start of the season for Florida en route to a 6-2 win over the North Florida Ospreys. BT Riopelle and Luke Heyman each had two runs batted in.

The Florida Gators got back to their winning ways Tuesday night, 6-2, but the offense didn’t explode as many expected them to.

[autotag]Yoel Tejada Jr[/autotag]. delivered his best start of the season, allowing zero runs across four innings of work. He ran into trouble a few times but got timely strikeouts and ground balls to get out of whatever jam he found himself in.

Tejeda could have easily set a new career-high in innings pitched or strikeouts had he come out in the fifth, but Kevin O’Sullivan isn’t in the business of overusing arms.

Unfortunately, [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] struggled in the fifth and gave up a pair of runs. That’s all North Florida would get to him for, but it’s a blemish an otherwise decent outing.

Ficarrotta sat the Ospreys down in order in the sixth, but he was removed after surrendering a leadoff walk in the seventh. Left-hander [autotag]Phillp Abner[/autotag] took over and got out of the inning without any trouble, but he struggled in the eighth giving up back-to-back singles.

[autotag]Ryan Slater [/autotag]saved Abner with a strikeout and a lazy fly out into shallow left field.

Florida’s bullpen was overall shaky Tuesday night, but the same can’t be said about North Florida’s relievers. Tony Roca entered the game with an earned run average above 9.20, but he kept the Gators hitless for three-straight innings.

UF finally got to him in the eighth. [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] produced a leadoff single, and Josh Rivera walked before [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] came up with a much-needed RBI single. Riopelle has been in a slump and striking out a ton, so it’s good to see him get one after a really tough series against South Carolina.

Riopelle’s RBI single was technically an insurance run since Florida had been leading all game, but it had been half a ball game since the Gators last scored and felt a whole lot bigger. Rivera singled, [autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag] homered (8) and Riopelle got a lucky sacrifice fly RBI on a foul out in the third to give Florida the three early runs.

Heyman came through in the eighth after Riopelle for an RBI single of his own, so it was a big day for the catchers altogether. [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] added another to the lead with a sacrifice fly, but that was all UF could muster up.

Slater finished off the ninth, stranding a man a third base on a game-ending fly out to the warning track.

Florida hosts Missouri over the weekend starting on Friday at 7 p.m. EDT.

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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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Questionable ejection could leave Florida without closer

The NCAA rulebook says that pitchers are suspended for four games after an ejection for unsportsmanlike conduct, which means Florida will be without closer Brandon Neely next weekend.

Florida’s series-clinching win over Georgia on Sunday was marred by the events that transpired after the final out of the eighth inning.

Closer [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] had come in with the bases loaded to get the Gators out of the jam and into the final frame. He struck out Payton Harber and celebrated by pumping his fist and shouting while looking toward the Georgia dugout.

Neely said something encouraging to himself and his team — I’m no lip reading expert but it’s fairly clear he said “come on” as the adrenaline surged — and home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere ejected him for what could only have been unsportsmanlike conduct directed at another team.

The biggest problem with this questionable ejection isn’t that it was unjustified, though. Neely is going to miss Florida’s upcoming weekend series against No. 6 South Carolina, according to the NCAA 2023 and 2024 Rulebook Section 27-E.

“Whenever a pitcher is ejected for disputing an umpire’s decision or for
unsportsmanlike conduct or language directed at an opponent or umpire
(including a post-participation ejection), the suspension will be for a total of four (4) games,” reads the rulebook.

Florida’s options behind Neely aren’t bad, but he’s their best bullpen arm and the SEC leader in saves. Not having him during a series against a top-10 club is like starting a chess game without a knight or bishop. It’s one more arm that Kevin O’Sullivan will have to dig into the bullpen for at some point over the weekend and makes the end of close games far more uncertain than usual.

DeBrauwere’s decision has the potential to lead to Florida’s first series loss of the season and isn’t something the fanbase is likely to forget any time soon. An appeal could delay the suspension, but the likelihood of it getting overturned is slim based on similar situations from the past.

There’s been no official word on Neely’s suspension, but the assumption here is that the NCAA is going to enforce its own policy.

The likely options to replace Neely are [autotag]Phillp Abner[/autotag] and/or [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag]. They have been the most consistent arms out of the bullpen this season and offer Sully a lefty and righty option. Platooning them over the weekend seems realistic knowing that Neely will return after the week.

It’s an unfortunate hurdle Florida has to jump, but the Gators are good enough to overcome it and clearly took exception to the ejection. If UF can provide the kind of offense it did immediately after the incident took place, it won’t matter who O’Sullivan throws.

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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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OF Ty Evans leads Florida over FSU with clutch 3-run HR

It’s been a tough year for Ty Evans at the plate, but he’s proven himself as a clutch bat several times for the Gators in 2023. The latest example came on Tuesday night as he delivered a go-ahead three-run blast to beat Florida State, 5-2.

Florida and Florida State have provided some must-see matchups over the last couple of seasons, and Gators outfielder [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] etched his name in the record books of this historic rivalry as the catalyst behind a 5-3 Tuesday night win.

Evans didn’t even start the game for Florida. Kevin O’Sullivan gave [autotag]Matt Prevesk[/autotag] a chance to start in right field after Evans continued to struggle against SEC pitching. The result was an 0-for-2 night for Prevesk, and [autotag]Dale Thomas[/autotag] pinch-hit for him in the seventh, further implying that Evans wasn’t the man Florida wanted at the plate.

Finally, Evans entered the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning, and luck would put him at the plate in a two-out situation with a pair of runners on base.

He missed badly on a slider to start the at-bat, but Evans wouldn’t miss it when FSU right-hander Doug Kirkland threw the pitch again. Evans, who has a flare for the dramatic, smashed a no-doubt home run to left field, putting the Gators up by two.

It was Evans’ fourth home run on the year and one that Gators fans aren’t likely to forget the next time questions arise over whether he should be the everyday right fielder at UF or not.

[autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] struck out the side to close the door on his SEC-leading seventh save of the season. The right-handed sophomore has transitioned from a fringe weekend starter to an elite closer masterfully, and there was never really any doubt about the win once Evans hit the home run.

Not to be forgotten are the performances turned in by start [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] and left-handed freshman [autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag] in relief. Slater went six innings for the first time, even if he did run into some trouble in the last frame. He left the game in line for the loss, but Fisher kept things close with two innings of baserunner-free work and earned the win.

Slater isn’t going to deliver a double-digit strikeout game anytime soon, but he’s a strong option to go on Sundays moving forward if [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] can’t get things together on the mound. This was Slater’s audition of sorts, and he passed with flying colors.

Speaking of Caglianone, the nation’s home run leader has hit another mini-slump and is now on a 0-for-10 stretch. That being said, Florida only managed five hits all night against the Seminoles, and four of them came after the fifth inning.

It’s a good sign that the Gators can win games that they don’t hit their best in, but now isn’t the time for Florida to be regressing as a team either. The back half of the conference schedule is still loaded with top-25 opponents, and then it’s playoff time.

Lost in all this might be that Florida has taken the season series against Florida State and has a chance to sweep with a rescheduled natural site game in Jacksonville on May 2.

Florida hosts Georgia over the weekend, starting on Friday.

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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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Gators walk it off against Alabama to claim Game 1 of double-header, series

Josh Rivera didn’t need to hit another big fly to end things Friday afternoon against the Alabama Crimson Tide. A tapper between the plate and mound was enough for Florida to claim the game and series.

The Florida Gators trailed the Alabama Crimson Tide all afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader, but the offense continued to chip away until [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] finally delivered a walk-off infield single to put UF on to, 8-7.

Florida entered the bottom of the ninth down one, but third baseman [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] quickly tied things up with a solo home run to left field. [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] singled up the middle to give the Gators their fastest runner on base with no outs, and [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] turned his back on an inside pitch to take first and move him over.

[autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag], who started the afternoon on the mound for Florida, had his shot to come through, but he didn’t quite make it happen. A fielder’s choice moved Robertson over to third, though, which was crucial to the game-ending play.

Rivera was coming off a strikeout to freshman Riley Quick in his last at-bat and wasn’t seeing the ball well. He made weak contact that essentially served as a swinging bunt, and Quick couldn’t get to the ball in time before Robertson slid into home.

Florida might be known as a home-run hitting team, but it was small ball that earned them the win at the end on Friday.

Caglianone didn’t have his best stuff on the mound. His fastball was a little flat and it led to a strong day for Alabama’s power hitters, especially lefty clean-up hitter Drew Williamson. He got things started early with a three-run opposite-field home run in the first inning off a Caglianone 97 mph fastball and doubled in a run in the fifth off the slider that usually buckles left-handed hitters. Credit him for being brushed up on the scouting report to win the lefty-on-lefty matchup.

Williamson also drove in a fourth run in the seventh off freshman [autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag], so that might be the last time Kevin O’Sullivan turns to a lefty to get him. Fisher was the second Gators reliever of the game. [autotag]Nick Ficarotta[/autotag] came in for the sixth after five innings from Caglianone, but he got pulled after running into trouble in the next frame.

[autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] ended up closing out the seventh as the third reliever of the night, and [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] came in for him to get the last out of the eight. Abner pitched the ninth, but pitch counts were kept low enough to use some of these arms again in the second game of the doubleheader. Fisher only threw three pitches.

Florida kept pace with Alabama for most of the night. [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] answered Williamson’s three-run home run with one of his own in the bottom of the first to tie things up, and UF scored a run in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

Kurland hit his second home run in as many games against the SEC and brought his total up to seven on the year — that’s more than [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] — Rivera[/autotag] also hit his ninth homer of the year and [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] singled in the run in the seventh.

One of Florida’s biggest advantages is that it has a good enough offense to stay in any game, and that was on full display Friday. Chipping away slowly until the very end works for this club, even if it’s not the way they usually have to play. It’s a good sign to see this kind of fight early on, and it should come in handy once the playoffs begin.

Top Performers

Riopelle: 2-4, HR (3), 2B; 3 RBI

Rivera: 3-5, HR (9); 2 RBI

Kurland: 2-3, HR (7), 2 HBP; RBI

Abner: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

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Florida bats bounce back against Siena in mercy-rule victory

After playing a surprisingly competitive ballgame against Siena on Friday, Florida needed just seven innings to win via the mercy rule on Saturday.

After a closer-than-expected win against Siena on Friday night, the Florida Gators swung the bats well and took care of the Saints in seven innings, 11-0.

Florida scored in every inning but the second. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] got things started in the first with an RBI triple to score [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag], and [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] singled him in three pitches later.

[autotag]Richie Schiekofer[/autotag] doubled in a run in the third, but he ended the inning on the base paths trying to advance to third base. Kurland singled in [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] in the fourth, and Rivera drove in his 30th run of the season after a pitch hit Caglianone. [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] doubled in Kurland to make it 6-0.

The Gators put up another three-spot in the fifth inning. Halter hit a two-run home run to right field with [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] on base, and Kurland scored again on an error. Evans brought the lead to double digits in the sixth with an RBI triple that scored Shelnut, and Halter added another run on a single for good measure.

With an 11-0 lead, [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] closed out the game for Florida as part of a three-inning save. He struck out seven while giving up just three hits.

[autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag] pitched four scoreless innings for the Gators while striking out seven and walking two. The Saints only managed a pair of hits off of him, but Waldrep probably wanted to be a bit more efficient with his pitch count.

Kevin O’Sullivan is clearly planning on short outings for his starters this weekend, and 77 pitches was enough from Waldrep a week out from SEC play.

[autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] didn’t play in this game after taking a foul ball off the groin Friday night. Schiekofer will play left in his place but expect him to be back either on Sunday or during the week.

[autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag] also sat after coming up lame with an apparent hamstring injury while rounding first base on Friday night. [autotag]Rene Lastres[/autotag] caught the last inning of the game as Riopelle shifted to first base.

This was the kind of win Florida was looking for against Siena last night, and it’s good to see the team bounce back after its worst-hitting performance of the season.

The Gators will go for the sweep on Sunday at noon EDT. Remember to move the clocks forward.

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