The ball seemed to pause in the air, as if painted onto the Carolina-blue, jet exhaust-scarred sky. Then it descended.
It cratered into the McKethan Stadium bullpen in right center field, and Florida second baseman Blake Reese trotted around the infield before tapping helmets with his teammates near home plate. Reese’s fifth-inning smack wasn’t his team’s first run, or the game’s decisive run, but on a chilly night where Jacksonville’s offense was largely as cold as the weather, it punctuated what felt like an insurmountable lead.
No. 2 Florida (19-4, 2-1 SEC) tacked on four runs from there to win Wednesday night’s midweek game against the Dolphins 10-3, with Reese’s homer serving as a microcosm for a Florida offense that started off chilled but heated up as the game progressed.
“It took us a little bit to get going,” shortstop Deacon Liput said, “but once we did, we did a good job of getting ahead and giving our pitchers some cushion.”
Jacksonville starter Spencer Stockton looked untouchable his first time through UF’s lineup. The senior righty tore through Florida’s hitters like bullets through paper, allowing one hit and zero walks through the game’s first three innings.
Gators first baseman JJ Schwarz ended that trend when he led off the top of the fourth with a home run. Schwarz spat the ball over the left field fence on an 0-2 count, and UF never trailed the Dolphins (13-9) from that point on.
But Schwarz’s shot was just the beginning. Center fielder Nick Horvath extended the lead in the same inning with an RBI single to make the gap 2-0. Horvath also made a couple impressive defensive plays, including a catch against the wall and a full-extension diving snowcone grab.
“We actually were not gonna start him tonight,” said coach Kevin O’Sullivan, who decided at the last minute that on a windy Gainesville night, his best option was to put his best outfielder in center field rather than have him pitch.
The fireworks continued in the fifth inning courtesy of Reese’s homer, a sacrifice fly from Liput and a homer down the left-field line from right fielder Wil Dalton to lead off the inning.
Freshman catcher Cal Greenfield singled to left in the sixth and Horvath scored on a fielding error to make lead 7-0. Greenfield tallied his first collegiate RBI in the next inning, and thanks to a throwing error, UF swelled its lead to double digits.
The bottom of the lineup delivered for the Gators on Wednesday, as its five through nine hitters went a combined 11-for-19. Liput, who entered the game hitting .161, led the way with four hits.
“We got a lot of contributions from a lot of people tonight,” O’Sullivan said.
The pitching was also fairly solid aside from freshman Tommy Mace, who allowed three earned runs in one inning. That, however, was all the damage JU mustered.
Starter Hunter McMullen held the Dolphins scoreless despite opening the game with a four-pitch walk and a bunt single to follow it. He got out of that jam with a timely double play.
He did, however, allow four hits in his three innings of work, but his zero earned runs dropped his ERA to 1.48.
Sophomore southpaw Andrew Baker took over in the fourth inning and replicated McMullen’s performance: three innings, zero earned. He also allowed only one hit.
Mace’s nightmare unfolded in the seventh, but McMullen’s brother, Kirby McMullen, finished off the Dolphins with two shutout innings on what turned into a big night for the McMullen family. Heading into a three-game weekend homestand against the Arkansas Razorbacks — a team that outscored Kentucky 39-15 last weekend — O’Sullivan is hoping to get similar results from his bullpen.
“It’s gonna be a dogfight,” Liput said.
Follow Ethan Bauer on Twitter @ebaueri and contact him at ebauer@alligator.org.
Shortstop Deacon Liput was a perfect 4-for-4 from the plate Wednesday night against Jacksonville.
