At least a few of the 3,133 Gators fans at McKethan Stadium Tuesday night probably didn’t see it coming. After Florida (34-9, 14-4 SEC) won its series against No. 14 Kentucky with relative ease over the weekend, they probably believed the Gators were due for a nice, easy midweek win against Mercer.
Strip away the names. Take out the conferences. Now make a snap judgement. Which of these two teams would have a better shot at beating No. 1-ranked Florida (34-8, 14-4 SEC)?
McKethan Stadium is quiet now.
Wil Dalton tapped his right cleat with the barrel of his bat after watching strike three blow past him.
Wil Dalton busted the game open in the third inning. His three-run homer gave the No. 1 Gators an insurmountable six-run lead the No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats couldn’t touch. But his at-bat wasn’t the night’s most memorable.
The No. 1 Gators (32-7, 12-3 SEC) dropped a midweek matchup to Jacksonville on Tuesday to snap a nine-game home winning streak. With Florida’s next series starting tonight against Kentucky rather than the normal Friday start due to television scheduling, coach Kevin O’Sullivan had to work around using certain bullpen players, including closer Michael Byrne and freshmen Tommy Mace and Jordan Butler.
No. 1 Florida (32-7, 12-3 SEC) fell to Jacksonville 8-4, ending UF’s nine-game home winning streak and snapping a four-game winning streak overall.
It’s so hard to choose.
With Missouri and Florida slated for a doubleheader on Saturday night at McKethan Stadium to beat expected rainstorms on Sunday, the Gators (32-6, 12-3 SEC) had an opportunity to earn their second sweep in three SEC series.
Missouri pitcher Andy Toelken, who had thrown ball one to Gators third baseman Jonathan India on the first pitch of his final at-bat, didn’t have the confidence of his coaching staff. So with a man on second and first base open in the bottom of the eighth inning, catcher Brett Bond stood up behind the plate, raised his right hand out to the side and signaled Toelken to intentionally walk India with the next three pitches.
At the beginning of the season, hits were harder to come by for Austin Langworthy than on-campus parking is for UF students.
The St. Louis Cardinals and Arizona Diamondbacks participated on Sunday in one of baseball’s most unusual, most nonsensical, most useless traditions, which is saying something for a sport so imbued in useless traditions.
The last time Jonathan India was held without a hit in a game, “Black Panther” was enjoying its fourth straight week in the No.-1 spot at the box office. Since then, the Gators third baseman has been collecting hits with a tenacity that would make T’Challa proud.
With Tennessee’s win over No. 1 Florida in Game 2 of Sunday’s doubleheader the Volunteers snapped the Gators’ nine-game winning streak. Though that aspect merely matched last season’s longest stretch of consecutive wins, the 2018 Gators offense emerged as a larger part of the team’s identity than it had been during the 2017 championship run.
After inclement weather pushed back the start of Florida’s three-game series against Tennessee from Friday to Saturday, the No. 1 Gators (28-6, 9-3 SEC) and the Volunteers (19-14, 5-7 SEC) squeezed in a doubleheader on Sunday at UT’s Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Florida’s offense on Saturday was a lot like the Knoxville sky on Friday night: explosive and dangerous.
Florida baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan felt the need to pump the breaks.
Horvath continuing breakout season
After sweeping No. 8 Vanderbilt at home on Sunday, the No. 1 Gators (26-5, 7-2 SEC) stayed at McKethan Stadium to face off against Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday. Florida — coming off a 26-run outburst against the Commodores over the three-game series — continued its dominant ways en route to an 8-4 win over the Eagles (22-6).
Jonathan India gets most of the fanfare. And for good reason.
Solutions by The State News
