GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 6 Gators dropped a 10-inning pitching duel to No. 21 Florida Atlantic Wednesday evening, as they were on the wrong side of a 3-2 decision at Florida Ballpark / McKethan Field.
After FAU took a 1-0 lead in the opening frame, Florida took the lead in the bottom of the second after a leadoff walk by freshman outfielder Sterlin Thompson, and a two-run home run by freshman infielder Colby Halter.
The Owls tied the game with a one-out double and RBI single, but third-year sophomore outfielder Jacob Young cut down the potential go-ahead run at home plate with his second outfield assist of the season. Young also opened the bottom of the first with a single, extending his hitting streak to 27 games and eclipsing Brad Wilkerson (1997) for the second-longest streak in program history.
The Gators put its leadoff hitter on second base in both the sixth and eighth innings, with fourth-year utility player Jordan Butler smacking a double in the former, and Young singling and taking second on a wild pitch in the latter.
A fielding error extended the 10th inning for FAU, and the Owls capitalized with a two-out RBI single to take a 3-2 lead. Florida went down in order in the ninth and 10th innings.
STANDOUT STAT: 14 – strikeouts by Gators hitters, a season high.
FROM COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the team’s performance…
“Disappointing. Credit FAU. They kept getting us out the same way over and over. A lot of deep counts. A lot of soft stuff 3-2 counts, 2-2 counts. We chased a lot of balls down and out of the zone. We chased some balls up. Having some issues there at short we need to shore up defensively. It just was not a good game. That falls on me. I’ll look at this tomorrow, but I think we got some guys taking their bats out on defense. It’s not focused. It’s not where it needs to be. We’ve been really good offensively up until tonight. I just don’t think the focus was quite as sharp as it needs to be. Probably need to tighten up a few things.
“Thought the pitching was good. Thought Garrett [Milchin] did a nice job for his second start in a really long time. Thought Trey [Van Der Weide] came in and did a really nice job. [Jordan] Butler did his job. Timmy Manning had a really good outing. And I thought Franco [Aleman] came in and took a step forward. Obviously the one pitch, we’re trying to pitch around [Mitchell] Hartigan with the right-hander on deck, and we just missed one spot. That ball was supposed to be off the plate, and it got too much of the white. But I thought he pitched better. Bright spot for us tonight pitching-wise.”
UP NEXT: Florida continues its 13-game home stand with a three-game series against Florida A&M. First pitch for Friday’s series opener is scheduled for 6 p.m., with ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF providing radio coverage.
