JACKSONVILLE — This time around, the Gators didn’t allow the big inning to the Seminoles. Despite that, FSU still maintained its series dominance against UF at neutral sites.
For the first time in three meetings this season, No. 7 Florida State (19-6) scored runs in multiple innings as it topped No. 4 Florida (21-5) 5-2 on Tuesday night in Jacksonville and UF dropped its third game in five days.
“We got off to a decent start,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It’s obvious we’re not swinging the bats as well as we can right now.
“Every team goes through this, and I think it’s important for us to keep their minds right.”
The win was the Seminoles’ seventh consecutive neutral-site victory over the Gators, dating back to April 1, 2008 – O’Sullivan’s first year as UF’s skipper.
Florida State scattered five runs over its last five innings, erasing an early 2-0 deficit and clinching at least a series split against Florida this year.
After the Gators’ Nos. 1-5 hitters combined to go 5 for 51 with nine strikeouts in a series loss to South Carolina last weekend, O’Sullivan shook up the batting order, moving catcher Mike Zunino to the cleanup spot.
The move paid dividends early, as Zunino recorded Florida’s only RBIs of the night, finishing the game 1 for 3 with a double and extending his career-high hitting streak to 14 games.
But after getting on the board in the first inning, Florida’s bats went silent, recording just one more hit over the final eight innings. The Gators tied a season low with only three hits for the second time in three games.
“Hitting is definitely contagious, whether you’re swinging the bat really well or whether you’re not,” Zunino said. “And right now, we’re not swinging the bats too well, and it’s contagious.”
For Florida State’s pitchers, it was a familiar game plan against Florida: throw breaking balls. The strategy was effective once again, as Florida struck out nine times and only twice advanced runners past second base on the night.
“They were just spinning the ball, and we just weren’t seeing the ball,” Zunino said. “We swung at some bad pitches, and we just couldn’t lay off those sliders and breaking balls.
“When they fall in trouble, they go to the breaking ball, and we know that. We just had a bad day at the plate.”
While the Gators’ bats were stifled the rest of the night, the Seminoles’ came to life in the fourth.
FSU’s first two batters led off with a single and ground-rule double before right fielder James Ramsey tied the game with a two-RBI double off reliever Steven “Paco” Rodriguez.
Rodriguez (1-1) was credited with the loss after FSU tacked on another run in the sixth. Then in the eighth, Seminoles left fielder Stuart Tapley, added a two-out, two-run blast to push the score to the final margin.
“We got to stay positive,” O’Sullivan said. “They’re plenty good enough, we’re just going through a tough stretch right now.”
