Tag: Sterlin Thompson

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]ColbyĀ  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.

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Florida falls short in SEC Tournament championship game against Tennessee

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Florida baseball mercy ruled in SEC Tournament by Texas A&M

The bad news: Florida got mercy-ruled by Texas A&M in the postseason
The good news: We only had to watch seven innings of ugly baseball

The Florida Gators baseball team was embarrassed in the SEC Tournament Thursday by Texas A&M. The Aggies won 10-0 thanks to a 7-run sixth inning.

Freshman [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] got the start for the Gators, but he looked far from the pitcher that went seven scoreless innings last week against South Carolina with 10 strikeouts. Getting ahead of batters was an issue all night and eventually, Neely’s lack of control led to a two-run shot from Trey Werner in the third.

During a mid-game interview, head coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] said that he liked what he saw from Neely early on, but things would just go from bad to worse. He’d escape the fourth despite giving up a single, walk and double in the inning thanks to a double play to get the leadoff baserunner.

Offensively, Florida was at its worst. Out ahead of a pitcher who came into the game with a 6.10 ERA, the Gators struck out seven times to Aggies starter Micah Dallas. [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] almost led things off with a leadoff dinger, but Jordan Thompson caught the ball and held onto it as he slammed into the centerfield wall. After that, Florida’s bats looked lost at the plate aside from a [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] single in the second.

A bit of trouble came in the third after [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] reached on an error from shortstop Kole Kaler and [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] stayed in the box to take a ball off the elbow, bringing up [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] to the plate. The junior saw nine pitches in the at-bat but ultimately hit a grounder right to Werner at third for the unassisted final out of the inning.

“(Dallas) has done a really nice job locating his breaking ball,” Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “We got fortunate on the first pitch of the game that that ball stayed in the ballpark. He hurt himself with a few baserunners there, but he made a really nice pitch to Fabian. He’s a tough hitter.”

Sully met with his team before the fifth, but it didn’t change much. Dallas struck out two to close out his final inning of the day in a 1-2-3 fashion. Neely’s day also ended in the fifth, but it came in the middle of an inning after a third run scored on a Jack Moss single. In came [autotag]Jameson Fisher[/autotag] to get the final out of the frame.

Joseph Menefee picked up right where Dallas left off in the sixth, baffling the UF hitters. Langford struck out swinging, Thompson struck out looking and Fabian went do hacking. Pain.

Then, the floodgates opened up. The Aggies put together a 7-spot in the inning they’ve done the most damage all year. According to the SEC Network broadcast, Texas A&M has outscored opponents 64-15 in the sixth inning. To the tune of three homers, TAMU went up 10-0 and put the tournament mercy rule into play. [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] and [autotag]Tyler Nesbitt[/autotag] pitched in relief of Jameson in the inning.

The Gators went down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh, but the game did end in some controversy. Caglianone grounded out on a ball that he never left the box for because he thought it hit his foot. The umpires ruled it fair and the game ended with the play being non-reviewable.

That sets up a matchup with the Arkansas Razorbacks to open Friday for the Gators. Florida did take two of three against Arkansas during the regular season, but the team will be on its third pitcher coming off a blowout loss. That’s not an ideal situation to go into staring down elimination.

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Florida baseball drops regular season finale vs South Carolina Gamecocks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Brandon Neely strikes out 10 in shutout win vs Gamecocks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Wyatt Langford blasts a pair of homers (again!) to beat South Carolina

Florida baseball used two homers from Wyatt Langford to blow by South Carolina on Thursday night at Condron Ballpark.

Florida baseball left fielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] hit a lead-off bomb to kick off the game versus South Carolina and then went long again in the bottom of the eighth inning for his second straight game with two home runs. His power outburst again helped the Gators defeat the Gamecocks, 14-5, Thursday at Condron Ballpark in the opening game of the regular season’s final series.

Langford finished the game 2-for-4 with that pair of solo shots and a walk. His first home run versus South Carolina was his 20th of the season, giving him sole possession of the team lead for the most dingers. He also became the just sixth Florida batter to crush that many round-trippers in a season.

South Carolina briefly grabbed the lead from the Gators in the top of the third. Starter [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] plunked two Gamecocks and walked a third to load the bases. Their right fielder Andrew Eyster then doubled in a pair of runs, 2-1.

Florida knotted it up at two apiece when [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] doubled in second baseman [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag].

Then the Gators provided offensive fireworks. Right fielder [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] homered to center field. Thompson, with the bases juiced, lined out to left field to drive in another run on a sac fly, giving them the 4-2 lead.

The Gamecocks tied the game up once more in the top of the fifth. They scored a run via a shortstop [autotag]Joshua Rivera[/autotag] error and doubled in another.

Florida hit back-to-back-to-back singles to start the fifth. On the third one, designated hitter [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] drove in catcher [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag]. The Gators then pushed across two more runs via sacrifice flies to increase their lead to 7-4. They then tacked on seven more insurance runs while allowing South Carolina to only add one in the final innings to cruise to a 14-5 win.

Sproat went 6 1/3 innings allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits, three walks and three hit batters while striking out three. Florida’s offense muscled an impressive 16 hits leading to its 14-run tally. However, the Gators’ defense was not quite as robust, committing two errors in the field.

Florida and South Carolina will face off again on Friday at 7 p.m. EDT and can be seen on SEC Network+.

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Series Preview: Gators baseball closes out regular season against Gamecocks

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

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

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

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

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

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

Florida baseball hits walk-off HR versus No. 20 Florida State

Florida baseball’s Sterlin Thompson hit a walk-off, two-run bomb to give his team the 7-5 victory over Florida State on Tuesday.

Florida baseball second baseman [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] entered his at-bat in the bottom of the ninth in a tied ballgame versus No. 20 Florida State 0-for-2 with a walk. With left fielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] on second as the go-ahead runner, he took the first two pitches for a ball and a strike.

Then the Seminoles reliever Andrew Armstrong then lofted a fastball over the heart of the plate. Thompson kept his eyes locked on the baseball and launched the pitch into orbit where it eventually landed in the left-field berm. The walk-off bomb gave the Gators the 7-5 victory against Florida State on Tuesday at Condron Ballpark.

Langford kept raking as he has through most of SEC play. He hit a solo shot to lead off the game and did it again in the third inning.

FSU responded in the top of the second with three runs off of Florida starter [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] via a two-run shot and an RBI double.

Just like a seesaw, the momentum then shifted back and forth. It tilted toward the Gators in the bottom of the third as they scored four runs to take the lead back at 5-3. Then it went back to the Seminoles in the fourth when they tied the game.

The game became a pitcher’s duel from the fifth inning on between Florida’s [autotag]Tyler Nesbitt[/autotag] and Florida State’s Jonah Scolaro. Nesbitt went 3 1/3 innings, allowing only one hit that came at the start of the ninth. Scolaro tossed 4 1/3 innings, giving up two hits, a walk and an earned run.

Langford then singled in the ninth, which was then followed by Thompson’s walk-off home run to give the Gators the game and series victory. Langford finished the evening three for five with two homers and two RBIs. Thompson and designated hitter [autotag]Jac Cagilanone[/autotag] also recorded two hits.

Florida will stay at home this weekend as it will face South Carolina in the regular-season finale. The first game of the series is Thursday at 7 p.m. and can be seen on SEC Network+.

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Game Preview: Florida baseball prepares to clash with FSU in final midweek game

I bet you thought we were done with midweek games, didn’t you? The Gators get one last shot at a Tuesday night W against FSU tonight.

Florida baseball’s final series of the regular season against South Carolina kicks off over the weekend, but there’s one more midweek game to play before the Gators can begin to focus on the Gamecocks. Florida State travels to Condron Family Ballpark on Tuesday for a rescheduled game against UF that was originally supposed to take place on March 15.

The Gators took game one of the series at a neutral site in Jacksonville by a score of 6-3, and FSU took game two on April 12 in Tallahassee, 5-0. The rubber match comes at a time when Florida has found its groove again, but that could disappear quickly with the wrong guy on the mound. [autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag]’s four-run first halted all momentum gained going into the last game between these two.

It should be a big day for the bullpen regardless of who starts. At least, that’s how midweek games have gone all year for the Gators, so there’s little reason to expect a change now.

[autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag], [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] and [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] continue to be a force at the top of the order, but [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] is struggling, especially against the Southeastern Conference. He’s hitless through seven at-bats against the ‘Noles this year, but he has managed to draw a pair of walks and scored once.

If UF wants to make a deep run in the postseason, they’ll need Fabian’s bat to do more than just hit for power. This could be the breakout game to do it as it’s likely his last opportunity to get the best of FSU.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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