Bullpen, big first inning lead surging Gators by No. 1 Texas

Billy Barlow pitched four outstanding innings in relief against Texas (UAA photo by Spencer Gnauff)

The surge continues!

A 6-run first inning followed by nine quality innings from a pitch by committee approach earned Florida’s red hot Gators (34-17, 12-13 SEC) an 8-2 win over No. 1 Texas (38-10, 19-6 SEC) Friday night in Austin. It was Florida’s 11th SEC win in the last 13 games as the Gators have gone from dead in the water to a team that could actually host an NCAA regional if the hot streak continues in the final five SEC games.

The Gators and Longhorns will face off in game two of their 3-game series Saturday at 2 p.m. Florida will be sending Liam Peterson (8-2, 4.09 ERA; 82 strikeouts in 55 innings) to the mound. With a win the Gators will secure their fifth consecutive SEC series win.

Friday night was all about that fast start.  It was 4-0 before the Disch-Falk Field crowd of 7,149 could catch their collective breath. Bobby Boser walked, stole second and moved to third on a Luke Heyman single. Ty Evans doubled in Boser to make it a 1-0 game. Heyman scored on a wild pitch with Evans moving to third. Walks to Blake Cyr and Brody Donay loaded the bases for Hayden Yost, who drove in two runs with a single through the right side of the infield.

After a walk to Ashton Wilson, Justin Nadeau singled to left driving home Cyr and Donay for a 6-0 lead from which Texas never recovered.

Given six runs to play with Pierce Coppola went to work. Coppola hit the first batter he faced and gave up two hits, but he struck out two and left the bases loaded when he got Will Gasparino to foul out to third to end the inning. Coppola hit a batter in the second inning, but that was the only damage. In two innings, Coppola gave up two hits and struck out three on a short pitch count. Coppola, whose ERA dipped to 1.15, threw 43 pitches, 26 for strikes as he improved to 3-0 on the season.  

That began a succession of four pitchers out of the Florida bullpen. In seven innings they gave up five hits, one earned run and three walks while striking out 13 Longhorns.

“It was great to get Pierce back out there again and I thought Billy Barlow was outstanding in his four innings,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Overall, I think we struck out 16 and walked three. When you do that, you give yourself a chance to win every night. The one stat that sticks out is we threw 72 percent first-pitch strikes tonight. They kept pounding the zone.”

Barlow went innings three through six, allowing two hits and one run while walking one and striking out six in one of his best outings of the season.

Barlow was followed by freshman Jackson Barberi in the seventh. A leadoff single and a one-out walk brought on Luke McNeillie, who got out of the inning with a strikeout and a ground out.

McNeillie, who gave up a hit, walked one and struck out three in 1-2/3 innings gave up an unearned run in the eighth, turning the game over to Christian Rodriguez who gave up a hit in the ninth, but struck out the side.

Beside the big first inning, the Gators added single runs in the third and fourth. In the third, Yost doubled to right field to lead off the inning, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Wilson and scored on a Nadeau double down the right field line.

In the fourth, Evans hit a one-out double down the left field line and moved to third on a ground out. After Donay was hit by a pitch, Yost singled up the middle to score Evans with Florida’s final run.

Since being swept by Vanderbilt, the Gators have turned the season around. It started with a non-conference win over No. 9 Florida State in a midweek game that was followed by a sweep of Missouri. The Gators are 14-3, 11-2 in Southeastern Conference play.

The Gators entered Friday night with the No. 18 RPI nationally. D1Baseball, which predicts 14 SEC teams making the NCAA field of 64 teams, has the Gators going to Conway, South Carolina, a regional hosted by 11th-seed Coastal Carolina. Baseball America, which ranked the Gators No. 22 in their most recent poll, has the Gators going to Chapel Hill as the No. 2 seed in the regional hosted by No. 8 seed North Carolina. Baseball America predicts 13 SEC teams will make the NCAA field.

GAME NOTES: In his last six games, Hayden Yost is 10-20 with 12 RBI. Yost has back-to-back 3-hit games and has three RBI in three of Florida’s last four games … Since returning from an extended absence due to injury, Ty Evans is 8-24 with three doubles, three homers and 10 RBI … In the 15-2/3 innings Coppola has thrown this season, he has allowed only six hits while striking out 28 … The four innings turned in by Billy Barlow were his longest stint on the mound since March 5 against Florida Atlantic. The six strikeouts were a season high … Florida’s six first inning runs were the most Texas has allowed in any inning this season. The six runs were the most the Gators have scored in the first inning since Missouri on April 11.  

SEC SCORES

FLORIDA (33-17, 12-13 SEC) 8, No. 1 Texas (38-10, 19-6 SEC) 2

No. 7 Arkansas 3, No. 3 LSU 2 through 6

No. 6 Georgia (40-11, 16-9 SEC) 19, No. 23 Alabama (37-13, 13-12 SEC) 3

Game two: Alabama 6, Georgia 2, suspended in 5th inning due to rain

No. 8 Auburn (36-15, 16-11 SEC) 11-11, South Carolina (26-26, 5-22 SEC) 3-10

No. 15 Tennessee (39-11, 15-10 SEC) 3, No. 11 Vanderbilt (34-16, 14-11 SEC) 2

Kentucky (26-20, 11-14 SEC) 4, No. 17 Oklahoma (32-15, 13-12 SEC) 3

No. 24 Ole Miss (34-16, 14-12 SEC) 10-1, Mississippi State (30-20, 11-15 SEC) 4-4

Missouri (14-35, 1-24 SEC) 9, Texas A&M (27-21, 10-15 SEC) 6