The relief trio of Fisher Jameson, Robert Satin and Grayson Smith combined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 8 Florida was outlasted by No. 4 Texas A&M, 10-6, at Condron Family Ballpark on Saturday night.
The Aggies (18-1, 1-1 SEC) struck first in game two, as leadoff man Gavin Grahovac doubled to start things off. Jace LaViolette was then plunked and Braden Montgomery made the Gators (11-7, 1-1 SEC) pay, lining a three-run homer onto the right-field berm for an early 3-0 Texas A&M lead.
Florida needed just three batters to tie up the matchup in the bottom half. Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/16372> was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, followed by a line-drive single to right by Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365>. Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/16370> then jumped on the first pitch he saw for a game-tying, three-run tank into the left-field bullpen.
Following a scoreless second, Texas A&M roared back in front, 8-3. Grahovac and LaViolette hit back-to-back home runs and Montgomery later scored on a bases-loaded walk by Jackson Appel. Hank Bard and Ali Camarillo capped off the five-run frame with RBI groundouts to first base and shortstop, respectively.
Faced with an 8-3 deficit, the Gators kept the bats hot in bottom-three. Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/16368> reached via a one-out single to center while Tyler Shelnut<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-shelnut/16376> smacked a double off the left-center field wall. Dale Thomas<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/dale-thomas/16378> capitalized with a two-run double down the left-field line to cut the A&M lead to 8-5.
Southpaw Robert Satin<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/robert-satin/16637> took over on the hill in the fourth and retired the side in order. The freshman pitched another zero in the fifth by working around a pair of two-out walks. Righty Grayson Smith<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/grayson-smith/16640> entered in the sixth and went one-two-three to make it three-straight shutout innings for the UF bullpen.
Smith stranded a pair of two-out baserunners in the seventh to complete two scoreless. He combined with lefty Frank Menendez<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/frank-menendez/16627> to blank the Aggies again in the eighth.
In the top of the ninth, Texas A&M added two late insurance runs to bring the score to 10-5. Camarillo singled through the right side with one out to plate two runs.
Florida did not go quietly, quickly putting two runners on in the bottom of the ninth via a Colby Shelton<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/colby-shelton/16639> walk and Shelnut double. Landon Russell<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/landon-russell/16636> then picked up his first-career RBI, driving home Shelton with a sacrifice fly to the left-field warning track. That proved to be the extent of the scoring, as the game ended at 10-6 in favor of the Aggies.
Texas A&M reliever Evan Aschenbeck (3-0) earned the win with four shutout innings. The left-hander allowed four hits and one walk while fanning six.
Peterson (1-2) received the loss. He allowed six runs across two-plus innings on five hits.
Aggies starter Tanner Jones did not factor into the decision. In 2 1/3 frames, he surrendered five runs on five hits, two walks and two strikeouts.
NOTABLES
* Friday night’s official attendance was 6,541.
* The relief trio of Fisher Jameson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/fisher-jameson/16371> (1.0), Satin (2.0) and Smith (2.2) combined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings.
* Heyman connected for his fifth home run.
* Russell recorded his first-career RBI with a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
* Evans has collected multiple hits in seven of the last eight games including six-straight.
* Heyman and Shelton moved their on-base streaks to 18-straight contests.
* Florida is now 13-16 all-time vs. Texas A&M including 8-4 in Gainesville.
* The Gators are 12-10 against the Aggies under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1752> (7-1 at home), having won six of the last 10 meetings.
* Florida saw it’s seven-game home win streak vs. Texas A&M come to an end.
* The Gators are 29-7 in home series since 2023.
* Florida is 44-12 at home since the start of last season.
* The Gators are 39-14 in weekend series since the start of last season and 48-17 across the team’s previous 22 series at any venue.
* Since Florida’s last home series lost vs. Tennessee from April 22-24, 2022, the Gators have gone 38-17 vs. SEC opponents featuring a 30-14 regular-season mark.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the freshman pitching…
“[Robert] Satin was throwing the spike breaking ball when we changed his grip this week and the slider was much better. It’s up to 82-83 with shorter and harder break. Frank Menendez<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/frank-menendez/16627>, he was throwing curve and slider. We took the slider away and just concentrated on the curveball and he landed a bunch of those. He was up to 94. Grayson Smith<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/grayson-smith/16640>, what can you say about his performance? He was really good. He was throwing his fastball more across the plate now and his slider was solid. Obviously, he’s got the good split. There were some positives, so we’ll focus on that. Like I said, I feel good about going into tomorrow. Jac continues to throw like he’s throwing and we’ve got two of our more experienced arms ready to go.”
On Peterson’s first SEC start…
“He’s a freshman who’s just going to have to figure it out… He’s just had a hard time missing bats, even some of the outs were loud. The real issue behind him was with [Alex] Philpott and Fisher Jameson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/fisher-jameson/16371> threw 28 pitches combined – 18 balls and 10 strikes. Then there’s five runs on the board…”
On the outlook for tomorrow’s rubber match…
“I feel good about tomorrow. If Jac continues to throw how he’s been throwing. Slater hasn’t pitched yet and Neely can be extended tomorrow. I feel good about Menendez’s outing today and we’ve still got some guys that haven’t thrown, but our main guys are rested and ready to go… We’ve got to put this one behind us and get ready to play tomorrow.”
UP NEXT
The Gators and Aggies meet in the series finale on Sunday, scheduled for 1 p.m. on SEC Network+.
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