Florida Baseball Tops No. 17 Miami for First-Ranked Win
Start the party in South Beach. No. 10 Florida baseball earned its first-ranked win of the season Friday by defeating No. 17 Miami relatively quietly, tying its second-lowest run total this season at 7-2.
But the raucous crowd in Coral Gables at Mark Light Field made the atmosphere seem like a regional post-season game, rather than a non-conference series, tossing out bilingual jeers and cheers.
Florida (10-1) knew both sides could get chirpy, but the boos were the loudest for the former Hurricane Blake Cyr, who went 0-for-3. Clearly, Miami (10-1) didn’t forget the former Hurricane who transferred to Florida.
“The thing I was most proud of is we just kept our composure,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “The dugout was calm. There was no panic, especially when Miami tied the game up at two. And I thought our approach was really good.”
Despite the two teams combining for 260 runs entering the matchup, Friday’s outcome came down to a pitchers’ duel between Liam Peterson and AJ Ciscar (L, 2-1).
Florida’s ace struck out eight while only walking one in his 5 2/3-inning appearance. While he allowed two runs on six hits, his command of the strike zone was enough to keep the electric Miami offense at bay.
His fastball topped 99 mph as he sent batters back to their dugout empty-handed. Even when Miami put runners on base, Peterson didn’t let them linger there for long.
In the third, the righty picked off ACC Player of the Week Dylan Dubovik to escape the inning. Then, in the fifth frame, Peterson worked out of a two-base jam with the leading run at the plate.
Reliever Jackson Barberi (W, 2-1) took over the game for Peterson in the sixth. For a Gators team that had a problem with bleeding bullpen arms, Barberi’s appearance allowed Florida to reset and rest. He threw three innings of two-hit baseball, striking out three and walking one.
Florida’s hitting started hot, but simmered through most innings. Shortstop Brendan Lawson, perhaps keen to show off his skills to the crowd of MLB scouts in the stands, sent a ball flying 430 feet, his fourth of the season. Though he could be seen wincing after a hit by pitch in the sixth, Lawson was unfazed by Miami’s pitchers. By the end of the night, he batted a perfect 3-for-3. His average is now .514. For reference, the best season batting average of any Gator player was Allen Trammell’s .425 in 1965.
Ciscar settled in after the Lawson homer. Throughout the night, he could be seen mumbling reassurances to himself while on the mound, and it paid off.
With two runners on in the sixth, Ciscar got ahead of Florida’s Karson Bowen in the count, 0-2. The righty got the catcher to hit the ball directly at him. He snagged the ball before it touched the ground, then whipped it around to second for a double play.
Ciscar ended his seven-inning appearance with five hits, six strikeouts and no walks. He did, however, give up two homers and three earned runs.
“Ciscar did a really good job tonight of mixing his pitches,” O’Sullivan said. “I don’t think he ever doubled up on anything. Obviously, the sinker is a really good pitch, especially to those right-handers.”
However, Miami’s bullpen couldn’t contain the Gators forever. Designated hitter Jacob Kendall homered, giving Florida the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. And, when it rains in Miami, it floods. The Gators scored five runs that inning in a variety of ways: two singles, an RBI walk and a sac fly.
“Obviously, that was a huge, huge at-bat for Kendall, and getting that 3-2 off-speed pitch and giving us back the lead after they tied it up was a huge momentum boost for us,” O’Sullivan said.
By then, the game was far out of grasp for the Hurricanes. The hometown crowd watched as its red-hot team went down without any fight left, the first time Miami has lost while scoring less than six runs this season.
The Gators, who reclaimed the all-time series lead vs. Miami at 137-136-1, seek another win Saturday with a 6 p.m. first pitch (WRUF 98.1FM/850 AM at 5:55 p.m, ACC Network Extra at 6). Florida has won 25 of the last 34 meetings with UM.
The Gators will start righty Aidan King (2-0, 0.00 ERA) Saturday vs. Miami lefty Rob Evans (2-0, 6.00).
Sunday’s series finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra. WRUF 98.1FM/850 AM will also have coverage beginning five minutes before the game.
Category: Feature Sports News, Gators Baseball
