TAMPA — Anthony DeSclafani looked uncomfortable on the mound against FSU from his first pitch — an awkward throw that left his hand late in his follow-through.
The ball carried left and careened off the dirt, inches in front of home plate. He was behind in the count 1-0, and his deficit only grew from there.
DeSclafani was not facing an overmatched opponent like South Florida, the team he pitched 4 .1 scoreless innings against in his first start of the season. Instead, the No. 5 Gators (5-1) were playing their first ranked team of the season.
Florida’s starting rotation gave up a combined two earned runs in the team’s first five games, but the No. 6 Seminoles (7-0) feasted on Gators pitching early, scoring seven runs in the first en route to a 10-5 win.
“It’s disappointing,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “There’s really no way to explain it.”
The difference between UF’s first five games and Tuesday’s game was apparent from the start. Following DeSclafani’s wild first pitch, Seminoles center fielder and preseason All-American Tyler Holt smacked a single up the middle for a leadoff hit.
Right fielder James Ramsey followed with a slow chopper through the right side of the infield, and Holt advanced to third.
After giving up hits to the first two batters he faced, DeSclafani unraveled. With two strikes on senior Stephen Cardullo, the Gators pitcher lost control and plunked him to load the bases.
O’Sullivan and catcher Mike Zunino came to the mound in an attempt to calm the starter’s nerves.
“We can’t afford those walks and hit-by-pitches,” Zunino said after the game. “That’s something the defense can’t defend and I think that just ended up hurting us.”
But, perhaps foreshadowing the rest of DeSclafani’s outing, rain began to fall. Then the Seminoles’ runs poured in.
After the meeting with O’Sullivan, DeSclafani hit FSU cleanup hitter Mike McGee in the head, allowing FSU to score without swinging the bat. DeSclafani then surrendered another hard-hit single, and FSU added two more runs to its lead.
O’Sullivan had seen enough and pulled DeSclafani in favor of freshman Hudson Randall. With five FSU at-bats, DeSclafani’s spotless ERA skyrocketed to 10.38.
“I thought we were going to get a good start out of Anthony tonight, I really did,” O’Sullivan said. “For whatever reason, he wasn’t sharp and we didn’t get off on the right foot.”
Randall did not start much better than DeSclafani did, giving up a line-drive single to FSU third baseman Sherman Johnson.
Once again, the Seminoles had the bases loaded. Randall was able to induce a 3-6-1 double play in the next at-bat, but a fourth FSU run scored and the Seminoles had another runner on third.
Florida State catcher Rafael Lopez then pounded a Randall pitch to right-center field, giving the Seminoles yet another run.
Jayce Boyd — FSU’s ninth hitter — came up next. The right-hander pulled Randall’s pitch deep to left field for a two-run homer, giving FSU a 7-0 lead. On this night and in this inning, even the Seminoles last hitter had the Gators’ number.
Randall’s next opponent was Holt, the player who started the Seminoles’ offensive explosion. Mercifully for the Gators, he struck out swinging.
But Florida was now down by seven, a deficit that seemed insurmountable even with eight innings left.
“We put ourselves in position to get one more batter to the plate, the tying run to the plate,” O’Sullivan said of the Gators’ ninth-inning rally. “We just fell behind a good club 7-0. It’s hard.”
