The game was still close through three and a half innings.
The No. 21 Florida baseball team held a narrow 2-0 lead over Florida A&M but was in position to put the game away early on.
Cory Acton led off the bottom of the fourth with a single. Kris Armstrong followed with a walk, and Brady Smith bunted for a hit. Jacob Young, UF’s leadoff hitter, came to the plate with the bases loaded. But before he could do his part to increase the Gators’ lead, FAMU pitcher Joshua Wilson made the first of three costly mistakes in the inning.
Wilson threw a wild pitch, allowing Acton to score. In the next at-bat, Smith scored on another wild pitch. One batter later, Young came around to score on the third and final wild pitch to come full circle.
Those three runs were part of a six-run fourth inning Florida used to secure a 12-1 win over Florida A&M on Tuesday night. The win concluded a four-game home stand for the Gators and extended their winning streak to a season-high five games.
“I feel like we’re playing really good baseball right now,” designated hitter Nelson Maldonado said.
Nolan Crisp started his third-consecutive midweek game for Florida (21-10) and continued to neutralize opposing offenses. Crisp threw three hitless innings and finished with one strikeout and two walks.
“He threw the ball really good tonight and he has done that his past three starts,” left fielder Austin Langworthy said.
David Luethje relieved Crisp and was just as effective. In three innings he tallied three strikeouts and just one walk. The one hit he allowed was to the first batter he faced, but he retired the next eight.
Crisp and Luethje combined for six scoreless innings, but the shutout ended once Nick Blasucci came in for Luethje. FAMU outfielder Tuck Rayburn took the first pitch Blasucci threw well over the wall in right field. That was the only run the Rattlers (11-20) managed on the night.
Blasucci didn’t allow any other hits in his one inning on the mound and also had a strikeout.
Nick Pogue and Hunter McMullen both threw scoreless innings to complete a strong showing from the Florida bullpen.
Florida’s offense carried over its momentum from a sweep of Alabama into a 14-hit, 12-run outburst against FAMU. The Gators also drew six walks and struck out just five times.
The scoring began for Florida in the third inning with two errors by FAMU on a single play. Kendrick Calilao came to bat with Young and Maldonado on the corners.
Calilao hit a ground ball to the shortstop, Rob Robinson, who misplayed the ball, and Young scored. The second baseman, Octavi Moyer, picked up the ball and committed a throwing error, which allowed Maldonado to score and Calilao to advance to second.
Although UF scored three runs from wild pitches in the fourth inning, Florida also hit well. The Gators totaled six hits and batted through the order.
Maldonado went deep to left field to put UF ahead and Calilao followed with a home run of his own.
Maldonado went 3 for 3 with two runs scored and an RBI, and Calilao went 1 for 4, but added 3 RBIs of his own and a run scored.
Langworthy went 3 for 5 with a double, following a strong series against Alabama. The veteran struggled to begin the season but appears to have figured things out near the halfway mark.
Jud Fabian was absent from the lineup against FAMU after being hit in the hand by a pitch on Friday night. Coach Kevin O’Sullivan said he was available for Tuesday night’s game but held him out as a precaution.
With the game already out of reach in the seventh inning, Florida bagged four more runs to extend its lead to 11.
“All in all, it was a good night,” O’Sullivan said. “Between the pitching and defense and getting a lot of guys some opportunities tonight offensively.”
Follow Kyle Wood on Twitter @Kkylewood and contact him at kwood@alligator.org.
Florida pitcher Nolan Crisp went three innings during UF's 12-1 win over Florida A&M on Tuesday. He didn't allow a hit or a run in his appearance, striking out one in his second win of the season.
