Normally, when your starting pitcher goes only three innings against the No. 2 team in the country, it means your bullpen is in for a long night of trying to contain a blowout.
For Florida on Tuesday, it just meant turning the game over to its stellar relief pitchers.
The Gators’ (14-7, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) bullpen tossed six innings of solid relief in their 3-1 upset win against the No. 2 Seminoles (17-3, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) on Tuesday night in McKethan Stadium.
“It’s just a tough lineup one through nine,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “But credit our guys for hanging in there and making pitches when they needed to.”
Starting pitcher Danny Young lasted only three innings against Florida State even though he didn’t surrender any runs. The sophomore left-hander threw 71 percent of his 58 pitches for strikes but occasionally found too much of the plate — FSU touched him up for six hits.
“I was alright, just throw a lot of strikes — maybe too many,” Young said. “I didn’t get hit too hard, but my pitch count got up there, and Sully came and got me.”
Young didn’t pitch poorly, but his line could have turned out much worse if he didn’t escape a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the third inning.
“Just got to make a pitch,” Young said. “It’s tough. You get yourself in that trouble, (you) got to find a way to get out of it.”
After Young gave up a leadoff single in the fourth, O’Sullivan went to his bullpen, bringing in sophomore Aaron Rhodes.
Rhodes had excelled in long-relief opportunities before Tuesday’s game, surrendering only one run in his six previous appearances that lasted two innings or longer. Tuesday was no difference.
The sophomore right-hander gave up one run on a solo home run by Jose Brizuela but otherwise was as solid as he had been all season, striking out four of the 12 batters he faced.
Next out of the Gators’ pen was Bobby Poyner. The junior left-hander, who was previously UF’s Friday-night starter, has excelled since moving to the bullpen, pitching 6.1 scoreless innings in relief. That trend also continued.
Poyner closed out the game with three perfect frames, preventing a single FSU batter from reaching base in the late innings and earning his first save of the season.
“They’re all really good,” O’Sullivan said. “They’ve all been really good. I think this is one of those games where everybody contributed. It wasn’t one guy.”
Follow Adam Lichtenstein on Twitter @alichtenstein24
Aaron Rhodes pitches during Florida’s 3-1 win against Florida State on March 18 at McKethan Stadium.
