For the second time in three home games, No. 6 Florida was walloped at McKethan Stadium. But unlike Tuesday's relatively meaningless loss to Jacksonville, Friday night's blowout was a tad more significant.
UF (40-15, 21-8 Southeastern Conference) botched a precious opportunity to clinch the SEC, falling to Kentucky (25-29, 8-21 SEC) 14-1 after a dismal performance from UF's bullpen.
"We didn't play well here today," shortstop Nolan Fontana said. "We have to flush it out and come out tomorrow."
Florida dropped back into a three-way tie with No. 3 South Carolina and No. 7 Vanderbilt, with Saturday serving as the final day to capture a conference championship.
Gators righty Hudson Randall (8-3, 2.74 ERA) took the loss, tossing just four innings with shaky command throughout.
The sophomore walked the leadoff batter to start the game - just his seventh walk all year - and looked frustrated for much of his outing, unable to find the umpire's traveling strike zone.
"I can't control the umpire," Randall said respectfully. "I have to throw strikes all the time. I fell behind, and they were sitting on more fastballs than usual."
The righty was visibly disappointed after letting a valuable chance to win a conference title, at least for one day, slip away.
"Second year here. I've been waiting for the opportunities and they presented themselves, and I didn't come up big for the team," he said.
Randall exited after allowing a single to start the fifth, and from there, the game snowballed on the Gators. Daniel Gibson and Matt Campbell were rocked for six runs, four hits and two walks later in the frame.
"The thing that did us in was the seven runs in the one inning," O'Sullivan said. "We just fell apart."
Campbell surrendered a bases-clearing double, a RBI single and a hit batsman before mercifully being relieved.
Justin Poovey, Florida's fourth pitcher in the inning, ended the frame, inducing a lineout to center.
"I was disappointed by our competitiveness on the mound in that one inning," O'Sullivan said.
In total, four UF relievers were shelled for nine runs and 11 hits.
Kentucky's Alex Meyer, a consensus first round pick in June's Major League Baseball draft, silenced UF's bats Friday night.
The 6-foot-9 right-hander mixed his fastball and slider effectively, toying with Florida's hitters most of the evening.
"He came in here and had his best stuff," Fontana said. "He really liked throwing [his slider] to righties."
Meyer, who throws a heater in the mid-90s, pitched seven innings, allowing just one run on five hits. The junior was eighth in the nation in strikeouts entering the game before recording nine punch-outs, including five on wicked breaking balls.
