Mississippi State scored 11 unanswered runs in the middle innings to force a rubber game.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 6 Florida dropped game two against No. 21 Mississippi State by a final score of 12-2 at Condron Family Ballpark on Saturday night.
The Gators (15-11, 5-3 SEC) held a one-run lead through three frames, but the Bulldogs (19-9, 4-4 SEC) scored 11 unanswered runs in the middle innings to take control.
The two teams traded zeros in the first, with UF starter Liam Peterson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/liam-peterson/16631> also tossing a scoreless second inning. Florida was the first to strike, as Tanner Garrison<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tanner-garrison/16622> took advantage of a leadoff Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/16372> double by producing a two-out, RBI single to center field for a 1-0 lead.
Florida’s one-run edge held until the fourth, when Mississippi State erupted for five runs to snatch the lead. David Mershon and Dakota Jordan started the frame with back-to-back homers. With two outs, Nate Chester, Johnny Long and Amani Larry each chipped in RBI singles to make it 5-1 Bulldogs.
The Mississippi State bats stayed hot into the fifth and sixth, tacking on six more runs for an 11-1 ballgame. Jordan hit his second homer of the night on a blast to left, followed by a two-run homer to center from Connor Hujsak. In the sixth, Hujsak cleared the bases with a three-run double to right.
The Gators pushed one run across in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit to 11-2. With two outs and two men on, Kurland came through with an RBI single to right-center field.
Neither squad mustered a run in the seventh or eighth, but the Bulldogs struck for one last blow in the ninth. On a 2-2 offering, Hujsak hit a solo home run to left field to bring the score to its final tally of 12-2.
Peterson (1-3) received the loss, allowing five earned runs across 3 2/3 innings. He concluded with seven hits allowed, two walks and four strikeouts.
Bulldogs starter Jurrangelo Cijntje (5-1) earned the victory on seven innings of two-run ball. He was charged with five hits allowed, two walks and eight strikeouts.
NOTABLES
* Friday night’s official attendance was 7,129.
* Kurland collected multiple hits for the second time in as many games.
* Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/16368> has hit safely in 23 of 25 games this year.
* Florida is 31-8 in home series and 46-14 at home overall since the start of the 2023 season.
* The Gators are 43-16 in weekend series since 2023 and 52-19 across the team’s previous 24 series.
* Florida is 42-19 in its last 61 games vs. SEC opponents including a 34-16 regular-season mark.
* Florida is now 71-53 all-time vs. Mississippi State including 33-24 at home.
* The Gators are 24-13 against the Bulldogs under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1752> (10-7 at home).
* Florida had its six-game winning streak in the series snapped.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On Peterson’s outing…
“We just got done talking about it, but you know he gives up the back-to-back home runs. It’s a 2-1 ball game and then we got Hines 0-2. At least this weekend, he’s been chasing some changeups, down out of the zone. We were trying to throw an 0-2 changeup down in the dirt and leaves it out over the plate, so now we got a runner on first, but the damage still has not been done. We get a fly ball to right, we get a strikeout with Downs and we got a 2-1 game with a runner at first and two outs, and we got 7-8-9 coming up. I think we walked the seven-hole hitter and then eight-nine… I don’t think they have an extra base hit the entire year, and we let those guys hurt us…”
On Peterson’s changeup…
“If you go back and look at the LSU game, he did that quite a bit. He’s got a really good changeup. The first three innings, I thought he pitched really good. He pitched really good. You know, the fourth inning got away from us.”
On the process of young pitchers leaning how to make a big pitch…
“They’ve got to learn from their mistakes. When one guy makes a mistake, the other people need to be paying attention, watching the game and learn from them. We go through scouting reports and that type of thing, and they’re fully aware of who Mershon was before we started the series. They are certainly aware of Dakota Jordan, but you know it was the bottom half of the order that got away from us in the bottom of the fourth.”
UP NEXT
Florida and Mississippi State face off in the rubber game on Sunday at 1 p.m. on SEC Network+.
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