Florida baseball: Gators survive dicey 9th to split with Vols

Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan awaits Luke McNeillie from the bullpen in the 9th inning (UAA Photo)

They wouldn’t be the Florida Gators if they didn’t at least flirt with the idea of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

It happened Friday night in the second game of their doubleheader with 3rd-ranked Tennessee (38-9, 16-7 SEC). Having lost game one, 6-2, the Gators (24-22, 10-13 SEC) took a 4-2 lead into the top of the ninth. Because he had already thrown four full innings in relief of starter Liam Peterson, Fisher Jameson was on a very short leash when he faced Tennessee leadoff hitter Dean Curley. When Curley singled up the middle, O’Sullivan gave him the hook in favor of freshman Luke McNeillie and things got very, very interesting.

Pinch-runner Ariel Antigua came on for Curley and in short order he found himself on third base due to a wild pitch and a passed ball that sandwiched a called third strike on pinch-hitter Kavares Tears. Next came a walk to Cannon Peebles followed by a ground out to third by Christian Moore that scored Antigua. McNeillie walked Blake Burke on six pitches, bringing Billy Amick to the plate. In the eighth, Amick hit his 18th homer of the season to left field to make it a 4-2 game but this time he went down a three pitches, a foul ball, a called strike two and a foul out to Luke Heyman at first base that ended the game.

Getting the win required the best start of the season by freshman Liam Peterson, who went the first four innings, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out seven. Staked to a 3-0 lead in the third when Brody Donay hit his second home run of the day and Colby Shelton hit a 2-run homer, Peterson began laboring in the fourth when he walked two batters and hit one to load the bases. Facing Reese Chapman with the bases juiced, Peterson regained his composure and struck out Chapman swinging to end the threat.

At 76 pitches through four innings, O’Sullivan brought on Fisher Jameson in the fifth. Jameson gave up a run-scoring double to Blake Burke in the fifth but worked his way out of the jam with consecutive fly ball outs. The Vols got another run back in the eighth on Amick’s home run but the Gators countered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Jac Caglianone reached on a single, his third hit of the game. One out later, Caglianone moved to second on a throwing error by Amick after a grounder by Luke Heyman. A fielder’s choice grounder by Tyler Shelnut moved Caglianone to third and a single up the middle by Cade Kurland sent Caglianone home with what proved to be the game-winner.

In game one, the Vols jumped out to a 4-2 lead off UF starter Brandon Neely and added two insurance runs late to score a comfortable 6-2 lead. The Vols pounded out 12 hits off six Florida pitchers. The Gators got 2-1/3 innings of quality relief by freshman Jake Clemente, who allowed a hit and two walks while striking out five. Ryan Slater gave the Gators a shutout inning although he did walk one hitter.

By getting the split, the Gators can help their resume with the NCAA Tournament selection committee if they can win the series tonight (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+). Florida already owns a weekend series win over No. 1 Texas A&M, plus the Gators took their weekend series with 16th-ranked Mississippi State. A series win over the nation’s 3rd-ranked team won’t ensure UF makes the 64-team field, but at 11-13 in SEC play, UF would likely get in by winning three of their final six SEC games with Kentucky and Georgia.

Friday notes: With four hits in the two games Friday, Caglianone raised his batting average to .409. Caglianone has hit in 25 consecutive games while reaching base at least once in 32 straight. Caglianone is within five games of Jacob Young’s school record 30-game hit streak set in 2021. He needs 127 more games to tie Brad Wilkerson’s record of reaching base in 159 straight … Shelton’s homer was his 16th. Donay homered in both games. He has nine for the season … Peterson got his first start since April 6 … In the two games, Florida pitchers struck out 29 Tennessee hitters (13 game one, 16 game two) … Caglianone (5-0) will get the start today.  

Friday scores

FLORIDA (24-22, 10-13 SEC) 2-4; No. 3 Tennessee (38-9, 16-7 SEC) 6-3

LSU (30-17, 8-14 SEC) 6, No. 1 Texas A&M (39-7, 15-7 SEC) 4

No. 2 Arkansas (40-7, 17-5 SEC) 10, No. 8 Kentucky (33-10, 16-6 SEC) 3

No. 15 South Carolina (31-14, 12-10 SEC) 10, Missouri (20-27, 6-16 SEC) 2

No. 16 Mississippi State (31-15, 13-9 SEC) 13, No. 23 Alabama (28-17, 9-13 SEC) 3

No. 19 Georgia (33-11, 11-11 SEC) 10, No. 17 Vanderbilt (32-14, 11-11 SEC) 0

Ole Miss (24-21, 8-14 SEC) 11, Auburn (21-23, 3-19 SEC) 7

UF SOFTBALL: Gators take game one over 8th-ranked Aggies

The 9th-ranked Gators (41-12, 15-7 SEC) moved within a game of clinching the No. 2 seed in next week’s Southeastern Conference Tournament when they rallied to take a 2-1 win over 8th-ranked Texas A&M (39-10, 15-7 SEC) at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. If the Gators can score a Senior Day win today (2 p.m., SEC Network), they clinch the second seed no matter what happens in Sunday’s regular season finale since they will own the head-to-head series.

It was white knuckles all the way Friday. The Gators fell behind 1-0 in the second inning and didn’t get a hit off Aggie lefthander Emiley Kennedy (20-8) until the fifth inning when they bunched four hits together to take the lead. With one out in the bottom half of the fifth, Korbe Otis beat out an infield hit and made it to second when the throw to first was air mailed. Skylar Wallace followed with a line shot double into the right center gap on a 2-1 pitch to drive home Otis. Wallace had to hold at second when Jocelyn Erickson beat out an infield grounder. Reagan Walsh loaded up the bases with a sharp single to left that was followed by a deep sacrifice fly to right field by Ava Brown, driving home Wallace with the game winner.

Keagan Rothrock (22-5) gave up only five hits all night but three of them came in the second when she induced a fly out to center to end the inning, stranding runners on first and second. After a leadoff bunt single by Koko Wooley in the top of the sixth, Jazmine Hill hit a deep drive that backed Katie Kistler all the way to the fence in right field. Wooley tried to tag and take second on the play, but Kistler unloaded a perfect throw to Wallace who applied the tag to complete the double play. Former Gator Julia Cottrill followed with a single up the middle, but Rothrock got a pop out to Wallace to end the inning. The Aggies got a one-out double to left center by Allie Enright, but Rothrock ended the game with a called strike three and a foul out to first base.

Friday scores

No. 9 FLORIDA (41-12, 15-7 SEC) 2, No. 8 Texas A&M (39-10, 15-7 SEC) 1

No. 3 Tennessee (39-9, 18-5 SEC) 8, No. 24 Kentucky (30-20, 8-15 SEC) 3

No. 11 Arkansas (36-14, 14-9 SEC) 0-12, Ole Miss (29-24, 6-17 SEC) 6-2

No. 13 LSU (37-13, 12-12 SEC) 4, Liberty (31-21) 0

No. 15 Missouri (38-14, 11-11 SEC) 2, South Carolina (33-19, 8-14 SEC) 0

No. 19 Mississippi State (32-16, 11-11 SEC) 2; No. 12 Georgia (37-14, 11-11 SEC) 0