JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An injury to Florida's starting shortstop forced Kevin O’Sullivan to shuffle his lineup. Judging from their performance against Jacksonville, the Gators have found another potent pair at the top.
Florida (6-7) defeated Jacksonville (4-8) 8-5 on Tuesday night at John Sessions Stadium amid a swirling wind out to left field in its first game without freshman Richie Martin.
The shortstop suffered a broken right index finger after Miami reliever Eric Whaley hit him during a sacrifice bunt attempt on Sunday. He’s expected to miss 3-4 weeks.
Casey Turgeon batted leadoff for the second time in his career and Harrison Bader returned to the lineup in the No. 2 spot. They were responsible for five of Florida's nine hits.
“Usually the first few batters get on and set the tone for the rest of the inning,” Turgeon said. “The more the leadoff guy in the inning gets on, the more we are going to score.”
The two did not set the tone for an inning. They did it for the entire game.
Mother Nature helped Turgeon in the first. The sophomore drove an outside fastball just over the left field wall 340 feet away to leadoff the game. The home run was Turgeon's second home in seven at-bats and a satisfying result from working on taking pitches to the opposite field in previous weeks.
Turgeon and Bader took advantage of a fielding-deficient Jacksonville team in the seventh inning. With the Gators trailing 5-4, Turgeon singled and scored the tying run on a passed ball from catcher Drew Luther. Bader advanced him to third on the second double of his career. He moved up a base on the error. The speedy freshman then made one of two game-defining plays.
Bader noticed Jacksonville right-hander Jimmy Appleby continuing to throw curveballs in the dirt. With an aggressive secondary lead, Bader took off on a ball-four to Justin Shafer. Luther dropped to his knees and blocked the ball. It bounced a few feet in front of him. He didn’t see Bader coming. Florida grabbed a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
“That was just an instinct play,” O’Sullivan said. “You don’t see that very often. You see balls go left, right or back to the backstop and you score, but very rarely do you see the ball in front of a catcher and you take off like that.”
Ask O’Sullivan, and Bader’s best play can’t be seen in the box score. Jacksonville started hitting closer Johnny Magliozzi during the eighth in his second full inning of work. The Dolphins, down a run, had runners on first and second. Magliozzi had just drilled No. 3 batter Alex McRae on a fastball with two outs. A third-straight win became bleak with the bullpen blowing up yet again.
Brady North hit a 1-2 fastball opposite field to Bader in left. With the wind from the St. John’s River picking up, the ball sliced down the line. The freshman made a hard line on the ball and caught the sinking liner to save the go-ahead run from scoring.
Magliozzi punched out three Dolphins in 3.1 innings and earned his second victory in another extended outing. He’s picked up the slack for the younger relievers who have struggled staying ahead of batters.
Shafer threw a career-high five innings in his third start this season. Reoccurring vices victimized both teams.
After Florida reclaimed a one-run lead in the sixth, freshman right-hander Mike Vinson walked the leadoff batter in the bottom half. A throwing error from catcher Taylor Gushue on a sacrifice bunt spelled the end of Vinson’s night.
Left-hander Parker Danciu walked his first batter and allowed a run on an error by Turgeon at shortstop. The two freshmen gave way to Magliozzi.
Mental and physical mistakes killed Jacksonville late. The Dolphins entered the game averaging two errors per game.
While Florida pulled it out late, it came feet away from tying the game in the fifth and with its three-run sixth could have taken a commanding lead.
Turgeon sent a fly ball to right taking Jacksonville right fielder Michael Babb to the warning track. Babb crashed against the wall, held onto the ball and doubled up Cory Reid who had taken off to third. The wind kept the would-be two-run blast in the park.
“All you can do is go up there and barrel up the ball,” Turgeon said. “Whatever the weather does it does. He made a great play out in right field.”
Turgeon and Bader did more than square up balls on Tuesday. They filled the void and then some left by a freshman shortstop.
Contact Adam Pincus at apincus@alligator.org.
Sophomore Casey Turgeon attempts a slide into third against Bethune-Cookman last season as Nick Johnson receives the throw. Turgeon and freshman Harrison Bader carried the Florida offense on Tuesday night in Jacksonville. Bader had his first career three-hit game.
