Tag: Ryan Slater

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.

Florida baseball falls in regional finals to Oklahoma following 5.5-hour delay

Wyatt Langford tied the school record for home runs in a season, but Florida couldn’t pull off the ninth-inning comeback after blowing the lead late in the game.

It wouldn’t be a Gainesville Regional without a rain delay, and Mother Nature made her presence felt in a big way during the final game of the tournament on Monday. Florida and Oklahoma waited out a five-and-a-half-hour weather delay only for the Gators to blow a 2-1 ballgame and fall, 5-4.

Before the break, [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] was on pace to get through seven innings of work without a ton of trouble. Aside from a Kendall Pettis home run in the fifth, the Sooners struggled to figure him out despite knocking Neely out of Saturday’s game in 2 1/3 innings. He allowed just one run through 6 2/3 innings on four hits and no walks while striking out five. At 97 pitches on the night, and nearing 150 pitches on the weekend, Neely’s night was likely done after that batter regardless of the rain.

Designated hitter [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] got Neely the early lead in the second inning with a solo shot — home run No. 7 on the year for the freshman. Things stayed relatively quiet after that until Pettis’ bomb in the fifth prompted the Gators to get the lead right back in the bottom of the frame. [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] reached on an error to start the inning off, and [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] drove him in three batters later.

Then, the rain came and changed everything.

Pettis struck out on the first at-bat back from the delay, but there would be plenty of scoring to come. Halter walked on four pitched to lead off the bottom of the seventh and was eventually driven home on a [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] sacrifice fly. Gators lead, 3-1.

That’s when the Sooners put up a four-spot to take total control of the game with only six outs to go. [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag], who came in for Neely in relief, gave up four straight hits, including a two-run, game-tying homer from Peyton Graham. Josh Rivera was forced to trade the go-ahead run for out No. 2 of the inning, and Jackson Nicklaus came through with an RBI single to the right side.

[autotag]Fisher Jameson[/autotag] came in to get the final out of the eighth, but Florida’s lead and morale was long gone. [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag], in what will likely be his final out as a Gator, flew out to right, Rivera grounded out to second and Guscette line out to deep right-center on a ball that had a chance.

Jameson got the Sooners down quickly in the ninth and Florida came up to the plate with three outs left in the season. Halter struck out looking, but Wyatt Langford sent home run No. 26 out of the ballpark to put things within one run and to tie Matt LaPorta’s single-season home run record at UF. Sterlin Thompson grounded out to first for an unassisted out on a 3-2 count, and up came Riopelle with everything on the line.

The transfer from Coastal Carolina did a lot for Florida in 2022, but he couldn’t extend the season once more and struck out swinging to end the Gators’ season.

Oklahoma advances to its first super regional since 2013, and Florida once again falls short of a trip to Omaha.

[mm-video type=video id=01g4x9sxkqj5b02yvm0n playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g4x9sxkqj5b02yvm0n/01g4x9sxkqj5b02yvm0n-1f23b1406a5a63277a7998d2b1493c0d.jpg]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Let us know your thoughts and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today!

Florida baseball opens up regionals with win over Central Michigan

Brandon Sproat is pretty good at this pitching thing, folks. Florida’s ace led the way to a regional win Friday night against Central Michigan.

Florida took down Central Michigan, 7-3, in the first game of the Gators’ regional run Friday night.

The Chippewas threw their hard-throwing ace Andrew Taylor, but [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] won the pitching duel and went seven strong innings for the Gators. Home runs, as they so often as have this season, put the Gators out in front and the bullpen held on to the lead to advance to the winners’ bracket.

The Chippewas threatened early with a pair of singles to lead off the game. Sproat needed 21 pitches to get out of the inning, but he stranded the runners in scoring position. [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] tried to get out to an early lead with some small ball in the bottom half of the frame, but [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] struck out swinging to leave [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] on second.

CMU stranded two more runners in the second and struggled to pull out in front. Taylor struck out the side despite hitting [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag], giving his squad another chance to strike first blood.

Shortstop Justin Simpson led off the third with a base hit to right-center, and things got worse from there. Jakob Marsee grounded out to the right side to move Simpson over to second, and Danny Wuestenfeld and Aidan Shepardson delivered hits No. 5 and 6 on the evening to break the tie. Chippewas up, 1-0.

Thompson responded immediately though, with a home run to left field in the bottom of the third. Taylor struck out [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag], [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] and Fabian (again) to get out of the inning. The strike zone was questionable all night, but both teams suffered equally for the most part.

Both pitchers settled in for the fourth, but Taylor slipped again and gave up a homer to [autotag]Colby  Halter[/autotag], who hit the ball in almost the same spot as Thompson did earlier. Sproat secured his fifth-straight quality start by working through a pair of base runners in the fifth and setting down the Chippewas in order in the sixth. Central Michigan ran into the final out of the fifth to help Sproat get out of what should have been a two-out jam with men on the corners, and gave him extra life to come back out for the seventh.

Things got easier for Florida once Taylor came out of the game. Garrett Navarra, a two-way player-struggled right out of the gate. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] added an insurance run off him in the bottom of the sixth on a one-out double to score Fabian and make it 3-1. That was enough to send Sproat into Justin Verlander 2012 mode, and he came out pumping 98 and 99-mph fastballs with 96 pitches already under his belt in the seventh.

After losing Simpson to a walk on a full count, Sproat called off Sully and demanded a chance to finish the inning. He’d get it done in two more pitches with a line out to left. Sproat’s final line: 7.0 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 114 total pitches.

For a guy that was struggling to settle into the No. 2 spot when [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag] went down, Sproat has been every bit of the ace Florida needed. Battling through a rough start and holding CMU to one run through seven innings is almost a metaphoric start for his season. Florida needed an ace to beat Taylor, and Sproat answered the call.

[autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] pitched the final two innings for UF, and it was a roller coaster of a finish. A leadoff single in the eighth proved to be harmless, but things got scary after Slater loaded the bases on two hit batters. He induced the second swinging strikeout of the inning, and Florida sat three outs away from a date with the Oklahoma Sooners.

Caglianone drove in two more runs with a single in the bottom of the eight to make it 5-1, and Navarra’s night came to a close. Ryan Insco came in to face two batters and then handed the ball to Jake Jones who gave up a two-run double to Halter. Langford struck out for the third time to cap off an uncharacteristic 0-5 night, but the 7-1 lead was more than enough for Slater to close things out.

CMU score two more runs in the ninth, but Slater didn’t need any relief and Florida saved another arm for tomorrow’s matchup against Oklahoma at 7 p.m. EDT. Central Michigan plays an elimination game against Liberty early on in the day. The winner of that game will play another elimination game against the loser of Florida-Oklahoma.

[mm-video type=video id=01g4jsyyjkkjddstswzn playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g4jsyyjkkjddstswzn/01g4jsyyjkkjddstswzn-780ce28ae76926c85d91fc45304f2258.jpg]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Let us know your thoughts and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today!

SEC Tournament: Florida edges South Carolina in extra innings

After giving up the tying run in the ninth, Florida bounced back to win it in the bottom of the 10th versus South Carolina.

Florida baseball third baseman [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] hit a fly ball to center field with two runners in scoring position with only one out in the bottom of the 10th inning. The Gators’ right fielder [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] tagged up at third base as South Carolina’s Evan Stone made the catch. Stone then heaved the ball home that beat him home by a country mile and Gamecocks’ catcher Talmadge LeCroy tagged Evans out. But the baseball popped out of his glove after the tag.

The home plate umpire ruled Evans safe, and Florida will live to fight for another day as it beats the Gamecocks, 2-1, in the opening round of the SEC tournament in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday. The No. 7-seeded Gators advance to the second round where they will play No. 2-seeded Texas A&M on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. EDT.

Through the first three innings, Florida’s lineup only registered two hits and a walk. Head coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag]’s team then scored its lone run of the game in the fourth inning. Shortstop [autotag]Joshua Rivera[/autotag] doubled down the right-field line. Designated hitter [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] followed by singling to shortstop and then South Carolina committed a throwing error to plate Rivera.

Starter [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] outdueled Gamecocks’ starter Will Sanders who went seven innings while only surrendering four hits, three walks and one run that was unearned. Sproat meanwhile went 8 1/3 innings and finished allowing four hits, one earned run and a walk while striking out seven Gamecocks. He also carried a no-hitter until the seventh inning.

South Carolina finally broke through in the ninth inning. O’Sullivan made the gutsy call to stick with Sproat with just over 100 pitches thrown. Second baseman Braylen Wimmer and designated hitter Josiah Sightler singled to put runners on the corner with one out.

Florida then called on reliever [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] to try to force a ground ball for a double play. Right fielder Andrew Eyster hit a ground ball to Halter but it was too slow with the glove. The Gators only got the pinch-runner out at second, and South Carolina knotted the game up at 1-1.

Then the Gators walked it off in the bottom of the 10th via Halter’s sacrifice fly.

The Gators will return to the ballpark in Hoover to face the Aggies at 5:30 p.m. EDT and can be seen on SEC Network.

[mm-video type=video id=01g2tjy72gxzzkgtemb2 playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g2tjy72gxzzkgtemb2/01g2tjy72gxzzkgtemb2-58e19f3de57855c69ec31ad89976581f.jpg]

[lawrence-related id=84253,84270,84253,84221]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Let us know your thoughts and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today!

Series Preview: Gators baseball travels to Missouri for weekend series

A sweep this weekend against Mizzou would put the Gators back over .500 in conference play.

Florida baseball has a chance to get back above .500 in conference play this weekend with a three-game series in Columbia against the Missouri Tigers. UF needs a sweep to get it done and history is in the team’s favor after winning 15-straight against Mizzou.

[autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag] has been shut down for the year, but the duo of [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] and [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] has served the Gators well in his absence. Both are better at keeping opponents subdued than their respective counterparts on the Tigers, so the games could get fairly lopsided if the numbers prove true.

Offensively, Florida seems to be hitting its stride after shaking up the top of the order against Kentucky. The top of the order now goes [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag], [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag], [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] and [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag]. Fabian is the only one who is in the same spot as he was when he started the season, and the other two are hitting over .350 since the switch. The trio of Fabian, Langford and Riopelle also leads the nation with a combined 49 homers.

The bullpen has also seen some improvement in recent weeks with the additions of guys like [autotag]Fisher Jameson[/autotag] to mainstays like [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] and [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] who have got it done all season.

Florida could be peaking at the right time, but they’ll need to take this series convincingly to get to where they want to be with only one more weekend left in the regular season.

6-run ninth inning secures series win for Florida over Mississippi State

Florida avoided extra innings on Saturday with a six-run ninth against Mississippi State to claim the series.

Florida baseball broke a close game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs wide open in the ninth inning on Saturday with a six-run barrage to win a 9-3 ballgame.

After driving in six runs in the series opener on Friday, catcher [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] got things going early once again for the Gators with a sacrifice fly to left field in the first inning. The Bulldogs responded almost immediately with an RBI single in the bottom half of the frame and then things fell quiet until the fourth. MSU took a one-run lead in the fourth but lost it in the top of the fifth to a [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] double that split the gap in left-center. [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] and Wyatt Langford came around giving the Gators a 3-2 lead.

On the mound, each club had decent nights from their starter that ended earlier than they would have liked. [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] lasted just four innings for Florida after working his pitch count into the upper-80s with seven strikeouts and four walks. Preston Johnson went five innings for Miss. State and also struck out seven while walking five. Florida struggled to get the Bulldogs’ bullpen until the ninth inning.

KC Hunt came in for his second inning of work and ran into trouble quickly. Thompson reached on an infield single to third base to start the inning off. The umpire gifted two strike calls to Hunt and punched out [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] before Riopelle drew a walk. Caglianone doubled again to left scoring Thompson and giving the Gators the lead. The ball should’ve been playable, but the left fielder took a horrible route and broke inward on a ball that was clearly going over his head.

That’s when the floodgates opened up.

[autotag]Kendrick Calilao[/autotag] somehow kept a double down the right-field line fair and drove in two more. 6-3, Gators. The Bulldogs got finally got the first out of the inning at home plate on a fielder’s choice from [autotag]Colby Halte[/autotag]r. It didn’t matter much, though, as right fielder Ty Evans homered and made it 9-3.

The bottom half of the frame was a formality for [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] who entered as the third UF reliever of the game in the seventh and closed it out. [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] was the first pitcher out of the bullpen for [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] and [autotag]Fisher Jameson[/autotag] followed in his third appearance of the year.

Sully opted to give Evans a rare start in this one. Thompson moved into the infield at second base shifting Halter over to third and pushing [autotag]Deric Fabian[/autotag] out of the lineup. We suggested in a midseason review of the team that removing him temporarily could be a way to shake up the lineup, but it seems this is only a night off for the younger Fabian, according to On3’s Nick de la Torre.

The Gators will go for the sweep on Sunday against projected starter Cade Smith. After a solid freshman year out of the bullpen, Smith has stepped into a starting role and served as the third-man nicely. Florida’s starter is unknown at this point. First pitch is at 2 p.m. EDT.

[mm-video type=video id=01g1gqdecftzmqk82b42 playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g1gqdecftzmqk82b42/01g1gqdecftzmqk82b42-a08b663706c51a760c462832c7e3b72c.jpg]

[listicle id=83466]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Let us know your thoughts and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today!

BT Riopelle carries Florida to victory over Mississippi State

Florida baseball catcher BT Riopelle had a perfect night at the dish, carrying the Gators to victory over Mississippi State on Friday.

Florida baseball catcher [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] recognized every pitch the Mississippi State Bulldogs threw at him Friday night. He finished four for four with a double and a home run to go with six RBIs. Riopelle lifted the Gators to an 8-6 victory over Mississippi State in the opening game of their weekend series in Starkville, Mississippi.

Florida quickly spotted starter [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] two runs before he even took the rubber. The Gators loaded the bases, and Riopelle drove in left fielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] and right fielder [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag].

The Gators picked up where they left off versus the Bulldogs’ starter Brandon Smith. They tacked on four more runs when Langford blasted a solo shot and Riopelle rocketed a three-run homer two batters later.

Florida scored one more run in the fifth when first baseman [autotag]Kendrick Calilao[/autotag] singled to bring home Riopelle in the fifth giving it a commanding 7-0 lead.

Mississippi State broke through for two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Sproat surrendered back-to-back singles to open the inning. After a strikeout, shortstop Lane Forsythe singled in a run and then second baseman RJ Yeager used a sac fly to drive home another to bring the score to 7-2.

The Gators answered in the next half-inning. Riopelle doubled to drive in Langford.

Head coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] called in reliever [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] to enter for Sproat to start the seventh inning. He finished his evening, going six innings and allowing six hits, one walk and two earned runs along with five strikeouts.

Purnell and the Florida defense struggled in the seventh, however. He surrendered two singles to lead off the inning. Then third baseman [autotag]Deric Fabian[/autotag] committed a throwing error, loading the bases. Purnell recorded two outs via a fielder’s choice and a groundout but then gave up another single before O’Sullivan pulled him for [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag], who struck out designated hitter Hunter Hines to retire the side.

Purnell only lasted 2/3 of an inning allowing three hits and three runs but only one of them was earned due to the Fabian error and allowed Mississippi State to get back within striking distance at 8-5.

Pitcher [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] replaced Abner in the eighth. He gave up a lead-off single then O’Sullivan signaled for [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag]. He walked back-to-back Bulldogs to load the bases but escaped the inning only allowing a run.

O’Sullivan returned to Slater in the ninth. He recorded two quick outs but gave up a single to bring the tying run to the dish. Slater got the next batter to ground out to first to secure the 8-6 win.

Florida and the Bulldogs return to Dudy Noble Field for game two of the series Saturday at 7:30 p.m. EDT and can be seen on ESPNU.

[mm-video type=video id=01g2dx9wd96avactdfad playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g2dx9wd96avactdfad/01g2dx9wd96avactdfad-8c08ea33b7bda5675ed7817b1af25fcc.jpg]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Let us know your thoughts and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today!

Game Preview: Florida baseball returns to midweek action against USF

USF handed Florida a loss in last year’s Gainesville Regional. The Gators get their chance at revenge on Tuesday back at Condron Family Ballpark.

After getting the week off between the Tennessee and Kentucky series, Florida baseball is back to midweek action with a home game against the USF Bulls Tuesday.

The Bulls made history in Gainesville last time they were in town by beating Florida, 5-3, and winning the first regional championship in team history. That sets the table up for the Gators to get some sweet, sweet revenge at a time when [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] needs his club to play their best baseball.

Winning the first two games of the Kentucky series in such a dominant fashion (9-2, 9-1) is what’s expected of this team, but they need to keep it up down the stretch. Pitching is still an issue after [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] and [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag]. [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] got touched up early against the Wildcats on Sunday and [autotag]Karl Hartman[/autotag] had a short night against Stetson last time the Gators played midweek.

It remains unclear who will get the ball in Tuesday’s matchup, but starters should be announced at some point over the afternoon. With that in mind, Florida’s offense will need to be productive enough to overcome any pitching woes that could, and likely will, come up.

The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT Tuesday night at Condron Family Ballpark.

Florida’s pitching staff implodes in series finale versus Kentucky Wildcats

The Kentucky Wildcats dodged the series sweep versus Florida baseball on Sunday, winning 8-1 at Condron Ballpark.

Florida baseball’s pitching staff struggled mightily on Sunday. The Gators surrendered eight runs on 11 hits in the season finale after only giving up three in the previous two games that allowed the Kentucky Wildcats to the take series finale, 8-1, at Condron Ballpark.

O’Sullivan named pitcher [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] the Sunday starter. He entered the weekend rotation after ace [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag] was ruled out indefinitely on April 20 with elbow discomfort. Slater only went 3 1/3 innings, giving up seven hits and four earned runs.

Kentucky’s third baseman Chase Estep kicked off the ball game with a single to center field. He advanced to third after a ground out and a wild pitch and was then driven home on a sacrifice fly.

First baseman Jacob Plastiak then doubled the Wildcats’ lead when he blasted a Slater pitch to center field. The Florida starter ran into more trouble in the fourth inning. He allowed a lead-off single, and then center fielder John Thrasher went yard to increase the Wildcats’ lead to 4-1.

O’Sullivan’s bullpen then imploded in the final innings allowing four more runs, letting Kentucky dodge the series sweep and win 8-1.

The Gators will host South Florida on Tuesday at Condron Ballpark at 6 p.m. EDT. The game can be seen on SEC Network+.

[mm-video type=video id=01g1gqdecftzmqk82b42 playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g1gqdecftzmqk82b42/01g1gqdecftzmqk82b42-a08b663706c51a760c462832c7e3b72c.jpg]

[lawrence-related id=83266,83199]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Tennessee blasts past Florida baseball in series opener

Renaming the baseball stadium to Condron Ballpark was the lone bright spot in Tennessee’s 8-2 drubbing over Florida on Friday night.

The lone bright spot in the Gators’ opening matchup versus the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers was when Florida Ballpark was rebranded after Gator booster Gary Condron, who has donated more money than any other single donor, to Condron Ballpark (yes, the game was that bad for Florida.) The Volunteers plated seven runs against Florida baseball in the top of the second, allowing them to cruise to a comfortable 8-2 victory.

Tennessee’s batting practice started in the second inning when starter [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] walked first baseman Luc Lipcius. Slater was starting in place of ace [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag] who was ruled out for an indefinite period of time due to elbow discomfort. Catcher Evan Russell then doubled to put two Tennessee runners in scoring position before designated hitter Christian Moore singled to drive in Lipcius.

Then the dam broke.

Shortstop Cortland Lawson singled but right fielder [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] committed an error attempting to field the ball, scoring Russell and Moore. Slater finally tallied the first out of the inning with a foul out but then plunked the next batter. Right fielder Josh Beck singled to right field, plating Lawson. Then after an infield fly, Slater surrendered a three-run blast to Trey Lipscomb to conclude Tennessee’s offensive outburst.

Florida broke the shutout when Thompson grounded out to score second baseman [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] in the third. Florida and Tennessee plated another run in the fifth inning to get to the final score of 8-2.

Head coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] wanted to save his bullpen for the rest of the series and didn’t pull Slater in the second inning. He finished going 4 1/3 innings, giving up seven hits, four walks, eight earned runs and two strikeouts.

Florida, in the batter’s box, did manage to push across two runs while only recording three hits. Designated hitter [autotag]Mac Guscette[/autotag] went one for three and an RBI. His lone hit was a solo shot to left field.

The Gators will attempt to regroup for Game 2 Saturday at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

[mm-video type=video id=01g18kqwrc1n641w98bh playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g18kqwrc1n641w98bh/01g18kqwrc1n641w98bh-312f50a5c5c3081ed712a3ac53ad56e9.jpg]

[listicle id=82796]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.