TALLAHASSEE — Florida State students arrived two hours before the game to get a ticket. They sat throughout Dick Howser Stadium and filled the right-field bleachers to capacity.
By the eighth inning, the bleachers were deserted. No. 15 Florida (21-12, 7-5 Southeastern Conference) swept its season series against No. 1 Florida State (26-6, 12-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) in an emphatic 8-0 shutout that sent the majority of a sold-out crowd of 6,514 heading to the exits early.
Florida defeated Florida State in all three games this season for the second time in coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s seven-year tenure at UF. The first time was in 2012. Left-hander Danny Young, who earned the win with five innings of work, pushed his scoreless-innings streak to 15.
Freshman John Sternagel singled home Peter Alonso in the fifth inning for Florida’s first run that ended the night for FSU starter Billy Strode. Casey Turgeon followed with a three-run home run off sidearm reliever Gage Smith that almost reached the circus tent beyond right field. The Gators got on the Seminoles early and wouldn’t let up.
“It was unbelievable. I know Gage Smith has got some really good numbers. He just dropped the head on it and we went up four to zero,” catcher Taylor Gushue said. “That was the end of the story I feel like. That was definitely the turning point of the game.”
Gushue had it partially right. Turgeon’s home run was one of the key moments from Tuesday night.
There was Casey Smit leading off the game for FSU with a single past a diving Zack Powers at first base and advancing to second base on a pitch in the dirt by Young, setting up a sacrifice bunt. Smit froze on Justin Gonzalez’s attempt and never reached third base. He didn’t try scoring from third on a wild pitch from Young two at-bats later — he would’ve been safe.
“I was pretty relieved when I picked up the ball and saw he was still at second,” Young said. “I’ll be honest. I saw it and I was like, ‘Alright I got away with one there.’”
Young pitched his 10th-straight appearance without surrendering a run and has tossed 11.2 shutout innings against Florida State this year.
Florida would have ran out of its four-run rally in the fifth had freshman Ryan Larson not bailed out Zack Powers, who was picked off at second by Florida State catcher Danny De La Calle. Powers pumped his fists in disgust as third-base coach Craig Bell lowered his head.
Larson, who was sacrifice bunting, ended up singling into right field, advancing Peter Alonso to second base.
After De La Calle picked Martin off at first base with one out two batters later, the UF coaches pulled the team together and asked them to stop playing so tight.
They listened, adding one run in the sixth on a wild pitch and three runs in the eighth on three hits and two FSU errors.
Florida silenced the 12th-largest crowd in Florida State history. With continued success versus top-10 teams, it will be making more noise in the national spotlight. But it doesn’t get any easier — Florida starts a road series against No. 2 South Carolina on Friday before finishing its eight-game road trip on Tuesday against Florida Gulf Coast.
“We knew this would be a tough part of the schedule,” O’Sullivan said.
“To come up here and get the third win against Florida State, who has obviously got a great program, it’s a great accomplishment for our team. This weekend will be another new challenge for us. Obviously, they’re excited right now, but we’ve got another challenge ahead of us this weekend.”
Follow Adam Pincus on Twitter @adamDpincus
Casey Turgeon swings during Florida’s 4-0 win against Maryland on Feb. 14 at McKethan Stadium.
