Gators clinch the Miami series due to homers and the bullpen

How sweet it is, Luke Heyman celebrates a home run (UAA Photo)

There was a time when Florida fans dreaded the annual weekend series with the Miami Hurricanes. No longer. Saturday before a record crowd of 9,303 at Condron Family Ballpark the Gators rode three home runs and brilliant pitching from the bullpen for a 6-3 win over Miami, clinching the series for the 10th time in the last 11 years for head coach Kevin O’Sullivan.

What kept the 8th-ranked Gators unbeaten (11-0) was the ability to adjust on the fly. When Cade Kurland went down with a dislocated shoulder he suffered while making a brilliant play at second base, O’Sullivan simply moved center fielder Justin Nadeau to second base, shifted right fielder Hayden Yost to center field and brought in Ashton Wilson off the bench to play right. In their new positions, the three were rock solid.

When Pierce Coppola was pulled with two outs in the third inning for an undisclosed injury, O’Sullivan went to freshman Aidan King, the first of four pitchers out of the bullpen. King gave the Gators 3-1/3 innings of 1-hit relief. Frank Menendez went an inning but in the eighth struggled with his control. In came Luke McNeillie, who gave up a 2-run homer. Then in the ninth, Alex Philpott closed things out, allowing a run before shutting the door on the Hurricanes to earn the save.

From a collective standpoint, Florida pitching gave up six hits, walked five and struck out 10 Hurricanes. King got the win to go 2-0, but it was the combined effort of all five pitchers that shut down Miami’s very capable offense.

“We finished third, fourth in the country last year and got to the World Series,” O’Sullivan said. “We started seeing signs of those younger pitchers starting to figure it out, like Frankie (Menendez) in the regional against Oklahoma State and obviously Luke (McNeillie) at Clemson in the super regional. You started seeing some flashes of those guys getting better and I think that's just a byproduct of them working hard. They're a year older, and you're starting to see the reason why we recruit a lot of these guys."

Support for the pitching staff came from an errorless day in the field and power at the plate. Bobby Boser homered for the second straight day, this one a wind-pushed high fly to right field that barely eluded Miami’s Derek Williams, who leaped but couldn’t bring the ball back in.

That 1-0 lead Boser gave the Gators stood until the sixth when the Gators struck for three. Wilson walked to lead things off, moved to second on a throwing error on an attempted pickoff and scored on a Landon Stripling double into the left field corner. After Blake Cyr’s sacrifice bunt moved Stripling to third, Luke Heyman launched a 2-run homer deep over the wall in left field that gave the Gators a 4-0 lead.

After Miami scored twice in the eighth to cut Florida’s lead to 4-2, the Gators responded with two more. Stripling singled and one out later Heyman hit his second home run of the game.

This was almost a business-like win for the Gators (11-0). It was methodical in the way the Gators simply got the job done. In the field it was Florida’s second consecutive error-free game. At the plate, the Gators weren’t overwhelming but they put together three innings that produced runs. On the mound, it was the second straight game in which the bullpen has held the fort without blowing a big lead, something the Gators were always in danger of doing a year ago.

Heyman broke out of his slump with two homers. Stripling continued to show O’Sullivan that if he plays he will produce. Nadeau made the switch from center field to second base without a hitch. Boser continued his assault on pitchers with his fifth home run of the season. For the second straight game, Cyr laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, something the Gators of previous years struggled to do.

King handled taking over for Coppola like he’s been there, done that. He certainly didn’t pitch like a freshman. The Menendez of the seventh was a dart thrower who pounds the strike zone in the mid-90s. It wasn’t a great day for McNeillie, but Philpott cleaned things up in the end, solidifying his role as the closer.

"He throws strikes, he fields his position he holds runners,” O’Sullivan said. ”He's got multiple pitches. He's like a starter, but he's got different weapons. His fastball honestly is a lot different than it was last year. I thought he had the mentality to do it. It's a long season, but he certainly has had a good weekend."

How the injuries to Kurland and Coppola play out remains to be seen, but O’Sullivan shuffled the deck a bit when they went down and the results were the same.

The Gators and Hurricanes square off for the series finale at 1 p.m. at Condron Family Ballpark.