TALLAHASSEE — It had been 54 years since Florida swept a season series against Florida State, and for three innings Tuesday it looked like that number would increase to 55.
Seminoles starter Scott Sitz came out aggressive, sitting down the Gators in order in the first inning and escaping bases-loaded jams in the second and third. Meanwhile, lefty Brian Johnson, making a rare midweek start for Florida, was touched up for a home run in the first inning and another two runs in the third.
For a while, it appeared UF was destined to continue its recent slide. Instead, the bats finally came alive and the pitching settled down, allowing the No. 7 Gators (26-7) to clinch a 6-3 win, their third this season against the top-ranked Seminoles (27-6).
“I could honestly tell you, after the first couple years (at UF), it was tough; they really had our number,” catcher Mike Zunino said. “To come out and play well against them this year is a good feeling.”
Florida easily claimed the teams’ first meeting, winning 9-2 in Gainesville before taking the second meeting 4-1 in Jacksonville. For all but two seniors, Tuesday was the first time any of the Gators had won a series against the Seminoles.
With Florida struggling of late, dropping from the top spot in the national rankings for the first time all season, coach Kevin O’Sullivan said the team wanted this win as much as it needed it. First step: starting Johnson.
“We needed to try to win, I mean we lost five of seven and it was time to turn it over to our older guys and give us a good effort,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s the bottom line. This team needed a win moving forward.”
Although Florida benefited from several upperclassmen — Zunino hit the game-tying home run in the fifth and Johnson and Nolan Fontana both added solo shots later — it was the underclassmen who really stepped up. Johnson was pulled in favor of freshman Ryan Harris in the fourth after allowing two earned runs on six hits, and Harris was flawless in just his eighth appearance.
Freshman second baseman Casey Turgeon’s single ended a frustrating start to the game for the Gators in which they loaded the bases twice in the first three innings but failed to plate a run. On the night, Florida stranded 10 base runners and had three thrown out at either third or home.
“There’s a lot of things that happen throughout the nine innings that you look back (and say), ‘If we had just done something here or just done something there,’” O’Sullivan said. “No one talks about (the struggles with the bases loaded) because you end up winning 6-3, but those are things we do have to improve on.”
After Harris’ three scoreless innings, Steven Rodriguez struck out four of five batters faced and Austin Maddox earned the save with 1.2 hitless innings of relief.
In all, the bullpen combined for six innings of one-hit ball, seven strikeouts and zero runs allowed.
“Florida State took an early 3-0 lead, it was huge,” O’Sullivan said. “We needed to stop their momentum. I’m afraid if we don’t do that, they may really take it to us.”
Contact Matt Watts at mwatts@alligator.org.
Junior catcher Mike Zunino belted a two-run home run in the fifth inning Tuesday that tied the score at three in Florida’s 6-3 victory against top-ranked Florida State.
