Something must have been in the Gatorade in the Florida pitching room Friday afternoon.
Despite surrendering a triple to open the game, sophomore ace Hunter Barco was quick to dwindle the Georgia State Panthers’ fun in the weekend series opener against the No. 15 Florida Gators.
Barco would set a career-high in strikeouts, and freshman Nick Ficarotta closed the game in style, as Florida (4-2) silenced the Panthers, 4-1.
It took six innings for Barco to allow a hit in his first outing of the season against Liberty, but it only took him one batter tonight.
Panthers outfielder Josh Smith scorched the ball into deep right and turned a double into a triple with searing speed on the baseline. Barco recovered, retiring the next three batters until a ground out to second was enough to bring home Smith sprinting from third.
The Panthers dugout thundered with chirps at the Gators.
Georgia State’s offensive firepower has been well-documented in the early stages of this season. Through five games, the Panthers recorded 43 runs.
The opponents, Purdue- Ft. Wayne and Kennesaw State, were admittedly not world-beaters, but the numbers don’t lie. The Gators were going to need to score runs this weekend if they wanted to earn their first series victory of the season.
The early returns in the first were promising.
Sophomore Colby Halter and junior Jud Fabian opened the frame with back-to-back singles, and a ground out from sophomore Sterlin Thompson placed both runners in scoring position. Another ground out, this time from sophomore Wyatt Langford, was enough distraction to bring Halter home.
Next up was sophomore Josh Rivera, who battled with Georgia State pitcher Brandon Kaminer to draw a walk via a wild pitch. The delivery flew out of reach of Panthers catcher Kyle Hilton, and Fabian was able to dart home before Hilton could gather the ball.
The raging spirit of the Panthers dugout had dimmed.
Back on the hill for the now-leading Gators was Barco. After giving up a single to open the inning, the sophomore was able to prevent a tying-run with two strikeouts and a pop fly to close the inning.
A quick, scoreless inning for Florida brought the southpaw back to the rubber for Florida. Once again, Smith gave Barco headaches with his speed. After getting on base with a walk, the GSU junior stole both second and third base. Barco was able to keep him at bay this time, earning a K and an inning-ending ground out.
After an offensive gap in the second, sophomore Wyatt Langford got the machine running again with a one-out solo shot to right field. Rivera singled to continue the inning, but a ground out from junior Kendrick Calilao and a strikeout from freshman Ty Evans closed the third.
“Just got a good swing on it,” Langford said. “I wasn’t sure if it was gonna go, but it did.”
Barco, a typically calm-and-collected pitcher, showed his emotional side in the top of the fourth. After two swinging strikeouts to open the frame, Panthers head coach Brad Stromdahl came out to have words with the umpire about Barco’s pitching pace. After heading back to the dugout, Barco finished off the inning with an emphatic K. Barco seemingly had words for the Panthers.
“Things got a little loud on both sides,” Barco said. “I’m just going out there and answering back.”
The man of the night was back at his post after a brief three-up-three-down frame for Florida’s bats. One strikeout and two groundouts later, he was heading back to the dugout. After five innings, Barco was at nine strikeouts.
Barco dipped below his standard, allowing a single hit in the top of the fifth. Still, another three strikeouts in the inning kept the Panthers off the board and set a new career-high in K’s at 12.
“I thought the tempo between Mac and (Barco) was really good,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It was fast-paced, it was really good.”
Freshman Matt Prevesk pinch hit for Evans to start the sixth, grounding out to first in his first at-bat as a Gator. Freshman Deric Fabian nearly tasted his first home run of the season, but his pop-fly was fielded just short of the wall.
That was enough for the Panthers to pull the trigger and bring in junior Seth Clark to pitch. The move would prove successful, as Clark closed out the inning on a swinging strikeout from Halter.
Freshman Nick Ficarrotta arrived at the mound for Florida in the seventh, giving Barco the rest of the night off after another dominant showing. The youngster picked up right where the ace left off, delivering two strikeouts en route to a scoreless inning.
Ficarrotta was right back to work in the top of the eighth after a hitless inning for Florida in the bottom of the seventh. His second two-K inning of the night, Ficarrotta provided the Gators with the type of relief pitching that fits after the masterclass from Barco.
“I’m extremely proud of (Ficarrotta) for what he’s done,” Barco said. “He is extremely special to this team.”
With the game nearly out of reach, Rivera added one run for comfort, a solo shot to deep center. The homer was Rivera’s first of the season. That would do it for the Gator offense, though, as the next three were retired in sequence.
Ficarrotta was given the chance to close out the game and record his first-career save in the top of the ninth. After the night the Gators’ pitching staff had, it should have never been in doubt. One groundout and two strikeouts were enough to close the game in a three-up-three-down inning. Florida’s bats weren’t on fire, but they were hot enough for a comfortable 4-1 win.
Florida will try to clinch its first series victory of the season tomorrow night in the second of a three-game series against the Panthers. First pitch from Florida Ballpark is slated for 4 p.m.
Contact Carson Cashion at ccashion@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @carsoncashion
Carson Cashion is a third-year sports journalism major at UF, and the sports editor at The Alligator for the 2022 summer semester. A native of Altamonte Springs, Carson spends his free time walking his dog, Baxter, and listening to good music. He is an avid Tennessee sports fan, and eagerly awaits watching one of his teams win a championship for the first time.
