Every member of the Florida starting lineup picked up a hit as Florida posted an early-season high in hits and runs to back a dominant relief effort from right-hander Blake Purnell.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 15 Florida pounded out a season-high 16 hits and 13 runs to clinch the series against Georgia State with a 13-4 victory at Florida Ballpark on Saturday night.
Numerous Gators had career nights at the plate in game two, as Halter (2-for-3), Thompson (3-for-3), Langford (3-for-5) and D. Fabian (2-for-4) all churned out multi-hit performances. Most worthy of note was Langford, who set career highs in hits (three), runs (two) and RBI (four) while launching his third home run of the season and second in as many days. Halter also scored a career-high four runs and Thompson’s three hits tied his career best.
By the final pitch, every member of the Florida starting lineup registered at least one hit.
Four freshmen Gators experienced career firsts in the win as well. Left-hander Philip Abner made his first-ever start on the mound, while Matt Prevesk received his first start in the Florida lineup and picked up career hit number one. Later in the game, Rene Lastres, Jorge De Goti and Anthony Ursitti all made their collegiate debuts, with Lastres launching a solo home run in his very first at bat.
On the pitching end, right-handed pitcher Blake Purnell was lights out in relief. On his way to securing the first win of his career, Purnell set a personal best with 3.0 scoreless innings.
The Gators (5-2) wasted no time in putting a number on the board, as leadoff man Colby Halter hit the fifth pitch of the opening frame over the right-center field wall for a solo home run. Jud Fabian followed with an infield single, but was left stranded as Florida took a 1-0 lead into the second.
The Panthers (4-3) answered back in the top of the second inning to knot the score up at one run apiece. Griffin Cheney drew a walk to lead off the inning and later crossed home on a pair of wild pitches followed by an RBI single to center field by Will Mize.
In the third, Georgia State grabbed its first lead of the day. Cameron Jones brought in Max Ryerson for first run with an RBI fielder’s choice. Dalton Pearson then drove Jones for the second run of the inning with an RBI single to center field, making it 3-1 in favor of the Panthers.
For the first time in the young season, Florida surrendered the lead and battled to claim it back. Following a leadoff single by Deric Fabian and a 10-pitch walk by Halter, J. Fabian advanced the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. That allowed Thompson to bring a run home with a sacrifice fly to left, before Wyatt Langford deposited a 1-1 offering for a go-ahead, two-run home run.
With a newfound 4-3 advantage, the Gators turned to Purnell on the mound. After entering the game in the third and navigating Florida away from further damage, the Boynton Beach, Fla. native worked clean innings in the fourth and fifth before ceding duties to right-hander Garrett Milchin in the sixth.
Florida tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth, extending the lead to 5-3. This time it was BT Riopelle driving in a run for the Gators with an RBI groundout to first to score Thompson.
The Gators went up 7-3 in the sixth, as Kris Armstrong busted out of an early-season slump with a long home run down the right field line. With runners at the corners later in the inning, Thompson singled to right center to bring Halter home. Florida added another run in the seventh to make it 8-3.
Florida put the game on ice in the eighth, scoring five runs on five hits to bring the score to its final tally of 13-4. Thompson got the big inning started with an RBI double to right center, followed by a two-run single to center field off the bat of Langford. In the first plate appearance of his career, Lastres capped things off with a mammoth solo homer to left field.
Ursitti made his own collegiate debut in the ninth, striking out a pair and allowing one run to close the door.
Purnell earned the first win of his career after tossing 3.0 shutout innings with four hits allowed and one strikeout. The right-hander has not allowed a run or surrendered a walk across his first-four appearances spanning 7.1 innings.
Abner lasted 2.0 innings in today’s start, allowing three earned runs on three hits and two walks while striking out two.
Georgia State starting pitcher Ryan Watson received the loss, pitching 2.2 innings with four earned runs allowed on four hits and one walk. He struck out two in the losing effort.
NOTABLES
* Purnell fired a career-high 3.0 shutout innings en route to the first win of his career.
* Florida improves to 12-2 all-time vs. Georgia State including 11-1 at home.
* Florida is 4-0 vs. Georgia State under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan.
* The Gators extend their winning streak over the Panthers to 10-straight games.
* Florida improves to 31-6 across the program’s last-37 regular season games at Florida Ballpark.
* The Gators are 16-3 in their last-19 regular season home games.
* Thompson and Halter extended their season-opening hitting streaks to seven games.
* Langford set single-game bests in hits (three), runs (two) and RBI (four).
* Langford’s third inning home run marked his second in as many games as well as his third long ball of the year.
* Halter scored a career-high four runs.
* Thompson tied his career high with three hits.
* Abner made his first-career start on the mound.
* Prevesk made his first-career start and picked up hit number one as a Gator.
* De Goti and Ursitti both made their collegiate debuts.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On tonight’s series-clinching win…
“Tonight was obviously the best offensive night of the year. I think, when you look at it, you have four guys with a multi-hit game and I think the top five guys in the order had ten hits among them. When you’re getting production in the top of the order like that, I thought we ended up having a really productive offensive day. The thing that will get lost in the game, I just said this on the radio, is Blake’s three innings when he came in and just kind of settled the game down. I thought the bullpen after that was really good. Milchin came in and got some double plays and threw the ball across the plate for the most part. Neely came in and had a scoreless inning. Really impressed with Ursitti. Him coming in there, I know the score was what it was, but he was throwing the ball really good. It was his first outing, his first career outing. A lot of firsts tonight. Rene hits a home run in his first college at bat. Prevesk gets his first hit. Had a chance to get a bunch of freshmen in there tonight.”
On Colby Halter’s stolen base…
“That’s an instinctive play. That’s something you can’t really call. We have talked about it in practice, the coaches have. When they’re shifted like that and the ball’s in play, you have the opportunity to beat the third baseman to the bag. It’s a fairly easy snipe.”
On Lastres’ home run…
“He’s got tools. I’ve been saying that a lot. We’ve got some really talented freshmen. We really do. The improvements he’s made offensively since he’s been here are a lot. He’s always been able to catch. He’s got a really, really strong arm, but he has really learned how to handle the outer half of the plate better. He’s big and strong. He’s a good player. He’s going to play for a long time.”
UP NEXT
Florida and Georgia State meet for the final game of the series tomorrow at 1 p.m. The series finale will stream live on SEC Network+.
