The Gators clung to a narrow 3-2 lead over Winthrop through three and a half innings Friday night.
No. 7 Florida bagged nine runs in the bottom of the fourth inning alone to open up a 10-run lead en route to a 16-4 win. UF (7-4) totaled season-highs in runs and hits (17) in its first dominant showing of the season against the visiting Eagles (3-4).
Tyler Dyson’s shaky start to the season continued in the first inning. He walked two of the first three batters he faced and later walked in the first run of the game with the bases loaded.
But after the first inning he cleaned it up.
Dyson allowed two hits in five innings in his first win of the season. He finished with a season-high six strikeouts and walked only one batter after the first inning. The strikeouts and the number of innings he threw were both encouraging developments for Dyson, who had yet to throw more than four innings in his two previous starts.
Jud Fabian tied the game up at 1 in the second inning with his second home run of the season. After Fabian’s home run the Gators just kept scoring.
Austin Langworthy hit a two-RBI double in the third inning to put Florida ahead 3-1, and he followed that with a walk and a two-run home run. Langworthy was one of Florida’s worst hitters heading into the game, but he put together by far his best game of the season at the plate against Winthrop. He ended the night hitting 2 for 5 with two runs scored and four RBIs.
Wil Dalton was another veteran who had been struggling at the plate for Florida. He finished the night hitting 2 for 4 with an RBI and two walks.
Aside from Langworthy and Dalton, four other Gators had multi-hit nights.
Nelson Maldonado led the outburst in the fourth inning. With the bases loaded, Maldonado came about a foot short of a grand slam, which would have been Florida’s second straight game with a grand slam after Kirby McMullen’s against UCF.
Instead, Maldonado settled for a 3-RBI double.
UF drew six walks and totaled four hits in the inning, putting the game well out of reach for the Eagles.
Winthrop responded to Florida’s run in the fourth inning with a solo home run by Matthew Mulkey in the fifth inning and again in the eighth inning on a Jake Sullivan RBI single, but the deficit was already too much to overcome.
The Gators left 12 runners on base, but the amount of runs the team scored is a testament to how strong it was at the plate.
Florida appeared to have remedied its strikeout issues against Winthrop. The Gators finished with just four strikeouts Friday night, after a three-game stretch last week saw UF strikeout 35 times.
The only point of concern that was prevalent Friday night was fielding. Florida recorded three errors, one of which came in the first inning with two outs. McConnell misplayed a ground ball to load the bases for Winthrop before Dyson walked in a run.
The bullpen executed well after Dyson’s exit, allowing a combined four hits and one run in four innings. Justin Alintoff and Nick Pogue both improved upon their appearances earlier in the week. Langworthy also made his first appearance on the mound this season, retiring all three batters he faced in the ninth.
In the grand scheme of a long regular season, a Friday night throttling of a non-conference opponent will not stand out.
But Friday night’s result likely provided a confidence boost for some of the experienced players who were struggling offensively. It also allowed coach Kevin O’Sullivan to continue working younger players into the lineup.
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Starter Tyler Dyson allowed just two hits in five innings in his first win of the season. He finished with a season-high six strikeouts in the Gators' 16-4 win over Winthrop on Friday night.
