UF Baseball: Gators Use 3 Homers to Take Game 1 From Miami

photo credit - Florida Gators.com

Luke Heyman, Cade Kurland and Jac Caglianone hit solo home runs and the bullpen combo of Ryan Slater and Brandon Neely pitched 4-1/3 scoreless innings of relief Friday night as 4th-ranked Florida (7-2) took game one of its weekend series with Miami, 7-3, at Mark Light Field.

Heyman homered to dead center field with one out in the top of the fifth to give the Gators a 4-2 lead but the Hurricanes put two on with two out in the bottom half, which ended the day for starter Cade Fisher. Slater had a rough beginning, hitting the first batter he faced followed by a 4-pitch bases loaded walk to cut the UF lead to 4-3. Undaunted, Slater came back to freeze Lucas Costello for a called third strike on a 2-2 count to end the threat.

Kurland, who was the DH in his first game back from injury, led off the Florida half of the seventh with a home run to left field, first home run of the season. Caglianone followed with a beat-the-shift opposite field home run to left for a 6-3 lead. Kurland and Caglianone got back-to-back singles in the top of the ninth, Kurland on a single into the left center field gap and Caglianone on a beat-the-shift squibber to the left side of the infield. One out later, Colby Shelton hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive home Kurland with an insurance run.

Getting Kurland back in the lineup was a huge boost for the Gators.

"He had a really good night at the plate,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It wasn't really a decision that we made until after batting practice, just to make sure he was all

right. We don't want to put him in the lineup if he doesn't feel like he can go. Three hits. Jac behind him with three hits. They certainly had really good nights at the plate."

Once he got the final out in the fifth, Slater was untouchable. He set down the Hurricanes 1-2-3 in innings six, seven and eight before turning the game over to Neely. Neely allowed a single and a two-out double but induced Blake Cyr to ground out second to first to end the game.

Freshman Liam Peterson (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will get the start this afternoon in game two of the weekend series (3 p.m., ACC Network).

UF SOFTBALL: Gators beat UCLA on spectacular walk-off double play

The 13th-ranked Gators walked off a 1-0 win over 18th-ranked UCLA at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, California when center fielder Kendra Falby’s throw to Jocelyn Erickson at the plate nailed pinch-runner Lauren Hatch to complete a spectacular game-ending double play. In the second game of the evening, the Gators trounced DePaul 12-0 in a 5-inning game called by the run-rule.

The Gators, who have won 11 consecutive games and haven’t allowed a run since the third inning against Colgate nine games ago, face Michigan today in their final game in the tournament. The Gators open SEC play next week when they travel to Alabama.

Skylar Wallace hit her sixth home run in the bottom of the first to give the Gators the only run they needed against UCLA. Freshman Keagan Rothrock (8-2, 0.67 ERA) went the distance, giving up only two hits while walking two and striking out five. Rothrock gave up a 1-out single in the top of the second and didn’t allow another hit until Megan Grant led off the seventh with a double to left field. A fly ball out moved pinch-runner Hatch to third but Savannah Pola’s fly ball to center was turned into a Falby-to-Erickson double play.

Game two marked Florida’s 10th win by run-rule since the Gators took a 3-0 loss to Oklahoma State. Ava Brown (8-0, 0.16 ERA) got the win, allowing three hits in four innings. Olivia Miller gave up a single in the fifth.

Florida got all the runs it actually needed with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the first when Erickson hit a 3-run homer down the left field line. Later in the game Erickson hit a run-scoring single for her fourth RBI of the night. The Gators got solo home runs from Korbe Otis and Brown and a 3-run homer from Baylee Goddard in the second. It was the fifth home run of the season for Erickson who already has 38 RBI. The home runs by Otis and Brown were their fifth and Goddard’s homer was her fourth.

The Gators have scored 206 runs in 21 games to lead the country. The Gators have outscored opponents 206-12 this season. The Gators rank second in the country with a team batting average of .395. Florida pitchers lead the country with 14 shutouts. Florida’s team 0.51 ERA leads the nation. The Gators have committed only five errors in 21 games. They rank third in the nation in fielding.

UF MEN’S TENNIS: Gators knock off No. 12 Texas A&M

The unranked Gators (5-4, 1-0 SEC) opened Southeastern Conference play Friday afternoon with a 4-0 win over 12th-ranked Texas A&M (9-3, 0-1 SEC). The Gators won the doubles point and then got singles wins by Jeremy Jin, Adhithya Ganesan, and Aidan Kin to close out the Aggies.

The Gators will be in action once again Sunday when 25th-ranked LSU (11-1, 9-3 SEC) visits Gainesville for a 12 noon match at the Ring Tennis Center.

UF WOMEN’S GOLF: Gators in third at Gators Invitational

When play was suspended due to darkness Friday evening, the 10th-ranked Gators were in third place at 6-over par, 15 shots behind Arizona (-9). Florida’s golfers were on holes 11-13 on the course when play was suspended. Play will resume at 8 a.m. at the Mark Bostick Golf Course today.

Paula Francisco, even par through 13 holes and tied for ninth, was the Florida leader when the day ended Friday while Jackie Lucerna (+1 through 11) was tied for 11th and Maisie Filler, who has won three tournaments so far, is in a tie for 16th at 2-over par.