Down 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning, freshman Deacon Liput stood at the plate facing a 2-1 count with runners on first and third.
On the ensuing pitch, Florida’s freshman second baseman laced a ball into the right-centerfield gap, resulting in his first triple, two RBIs and a 5-4 lead.
No. 1 Florida added three more runs to beat Florida Gulf Coast 8-4 behind production from the bottom of its lineup and freshman pitcher, Brady Singer.
The 7-8-9 hitters in the Gators’ lineup — Ryan Larson, Liput and Jonathan India — went a combined 7-for-10 with seven RBIs and four runs scored on Saturday. Larson had a career-high four hits, including two doubles.
“We talked about that early in the year about how our lineup could be lengthened out and we feel good about the bottom third of our lineup,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Today they were outstanding.”
Making his first start of the season, junior A.J. Puk only lasted four innings before being replaced by Singer. The 6-foot-7 lefty cruised through the first two innings before running into trouble in the third.
In the first at-bat of the inning, FGCU’s Gage Morey hit a chopper to Puk. The junior pitcher fielded the ball cleanly, but his throw to Peter Alonso was low and the first baseman couldn’t handle it.
The Eagles capitalized on Puk’s error, along with one from India later in the inning, to score four runs in the inning and take a 4-2 lead.
Puk was replaced by Singer, who struck out the first two batters he faced, en route to pitching three scoreless innings and striking out three.
“It felt good,” Singer said. “Everything felt good. Got the jitters out a little bit, but all around great team win. We fell behind a little bit but came back, fought through and did it.”
Singer kept FGCU (0-2) at bay, mixing up his pitches that range from a 92-95 mph fastball with movement and a wipeout slider.
“He did a great job,” Puk said. “He’s been throwing the ball like that in the intrasquad (games) and he brought it again today. Really good outing for him.”
UF (2-0) began chipping away at the Eagles lead after the third inning. India cut FGCU’s lead to one with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning that eventually set up Liput’s go-ahead triple. The two freshmen infielders combined for six RBIs, the first three for each in their collegiate careers.
Florida’s bullpen from there took over as three pitchers combined to throw five hitless innings with six strikeouts.
While it was just the second game of the season, O’Sullivan said his team needs to have games where they find themselves in an early hole to see how they respond.
“It was a good game for us. We needed to kind of battle back a little bit, I didn’t see the four run fourth inning” O’Sullivan said. “… We need those types of games and we’ll look forward to tomorrow.”
Florida finishes its three-game series against Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday at 1 p.m. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Alex Faedo will draw the start.
Contact Luis Torres at ltorres@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @LFTorresIII.
Deacon Liput celebrates after stealing second base during Florida's 8-4 win over Florida Gulf Coast on Feb. 20, 2016, at McKethan Stadium.
