Florida put another tally in the win column against Yale Friday night. But it was far from a statement victory.
The No. 5 Gators staved off a comeback attempt by the Bulldogs for a 6-5 win.
UF (11-5) held a 4-1 advantage heading into the fifth inning, but Yale (3-5) bagged four runs in the final five innings to cut the deficit and put the pressure on the Gators.
Florida held a two-run lead heading into the final inning, which set up a save opportunity for Nolan Crisp. The freshman closed the game for Florida with his seventh save in as many tries, which is the most in the nation.
“Excited about the win,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said in a release. “But there's a bunch of things, we talked about it with the team, we made a bunch of mistakes tonight that we're going to have to start eliminating moving forward."
UF jumped on Yale starting pitcher Scott Politz early. Florida recorded four hits in the first inning, all singles, and scored when Wil Dalton crossed the plate on a Nelson Maldonado RBI single down the left field line.
Maldonado’s hit, which put the Gators ahead 1-0, also marked a career milestone: It was the 200th hit of the captain’s career.
Florida scored in the second inning on an RBI bunt single by Jacob Young, which sent Jud Fabian home. Young’s hit extended his hitting streak to eight games, meaning he has hit in every game since being added to the starting lineup.
UF built on its lead in the third inning when Maldonado hit a two-run homer that scored Kendrick Calilao.
Yale only plated one run in the first four innings, and UF held a 4-1 advantage. Florida’s bats largely died down after the third inning, however.
The Bulldogs’ scoring run began in the fifth inning with a leadoff double by Simon Whiteman, who went 4 for 5 on the night. He later scored on a groundout, making the score 4-2.
Yale added two more runs in the seventh inning on a two-RBI double by Griffin Dey.
Brady McConnell expanded Florida’s lead to 6-4 in the seventh inning. His solo home run to left-center field was his second of the season, and it extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
That run ended up being the difference maker in the game.
Whiteman led off the final inning for the Bulldogs with a single and came around to score on a Tim DeGraw single, but Crisp retired the final two batters to end the game.
Tommy Mace started on the mound for UF as part of O’Sullivan’s shakeup to the pitching rotation. Mace replace Tyler Dyson, who was relegated to the Sunday role.
Mace (4-0) earned the win in 6.1 innings of work and remains undefeated (9-0) in his career as a Gator. He allowed four runs on nine hits and struck out three batters.
Hunter Ruth replaced Mace in the seventh inning, throwing 1.2 scoreless, hitless innings and striking out two.
Florida’s offense looked good on paper with 12 hits and just four strikeouts but only drew one walk and scored six runs against a team that was yielding nine runs per game to its opponents.
Yale came into the game being outscored by its opponents on the season 63-41 but battled a top-five team down to its final out.
Despite the win, this is the second consecutive concerning outcome for the Gators after a midweek loss to Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday.
Follow Kyle Wood on Twitter @Kkylewood and contact him at kwood@alligator.org.
Junior right fielder Wil Dalton went 1 for 4 against Yale on Friday night with one run. UF topped Yale 6-5.
