Freshman
Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) had a career-high six RBI and No. 1
Florida (12-1) reeled off 14 unanswered runs in a 15-2 victory over Florida
A&M (1-12) on Wednesday night at McKethan Stadium. Shafer finished 1-for-2
with three sacrifice flies that drove in four runs, added a two-run double as
part of a four-run seventh and also struck out the side in the ninth. The
Gators’ 10-game winning streak matches the longest in head coach Kevin
O’Sullivan’s tenure.
“We had a lot of
contributions from a lot of different players tonight,” O’Sullivan said. “I
think we scored in every inning but two. We had some good at-bats and it was
really good to get a few of those other guys in there tonight.”
“The young players are
really starting to come around. (Josh) Tobias made a great play at third to
start the game off and he’s having some really good at-bats and obviously
(Justin) Shafer had a great night tonight. A lot of the freshmen are starting
to contribute. I thought Ryan Harris threw a really great eighth inning. Some of
these young guys are getting valuable playing time and they’ve all played
pretty well.”
FAMU
junior Aaron Smith (2-for-3) started the scoring with a two-out double in the
first inning off freshman right-hander Johnny Magliozzi (East Milton,
Mass.). The right-hander had retired the first two hitters of the game before
yielding a base-hit through the right side to senior Jarryd Reid (2-for-3) and
Smith followed with a two-bagger to left field.
The
Gators answered with the tying run in the bottom of the inning against junior
David Duncan (1-3). Junior Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) (1-for-1,
three runs) drew a leadoff walk, stole second and went to third base when the
relay throw went into the outfield. Shafer delivered his second sacrifice fly
of the season into right field to tie the game.
The
Rattlers re-claimed the advantage on a two-out RBI single in the second by
senior Daniel Lee. Magliozzi recorded two outs and sophomore Ryan Sheplak
singled to right field. A wild pitch put Sheplak in scoring position and Lee
stroked a base-hit into left for a 2-1 lead for the visitors.
Florida
seized a 3-2 advantage in the third inning. Freshman Josh Tobias
(Greensboro, N.C.) (three runs) walked to start the frame and took third on a
single into right center by junior Cody Dent (Boynton Beach, Fla.). Dent
had his first theft of the season and Fontana collected his second free pass to
load the bases with none out. Shafer tied the game with another sacrifice fly
to straightaway center field and Dent and Fontana each advanced for runners on
second and third with one down. Senior Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.)
drove in Dent with an RBI grounder to put the Gators on top.
Senior
Greg Larson (Longwood, Fla.) (2-0) took over for Magliozzi (3.0 IP, 6 H,
2 R) prior to the fourth and permitted a leadoff single to sophomore Dylan
West. After Larson struck out sophomore Andrew Thomas, Ryan Sheplak advanced West
with a sacrifice bunt. Larson had Lee ground out to end the frame.
Freshman
Taylor Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) provided the Gators with a 4-2 lead in
the fourth with a double into the right-field corner that scored junior Brian
Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.), who had drawn a walk and gone to second on a
balk. Senior Tyler Thompson (Tequesta, Fla.) (2-for-3) ripped a single
into right field for runners on the corners, prompting a pitching change.
Junior Heath Blackburn replaced Duncan (3.0 IP, 3 H, 5 R) and had Tobias hit
into a 4-6-3 double play, scoring Gushue for a 5-2 margin.
Tucker
and Johnson each collected RBI hits in the fifth to extend Florida’s lead to
7-2. Fontana began the frame with his third walk of the night, stole second and
came home on a one-out double down the right-field line by Tucker. Tucker’s third
double of the campaign was the 274th hit of his career, moving him into fourth
place on the school’s all-time list past Jeff Corsaletti (2002-05). His 56th
double also matched Corsaletti for third at UF.
The
Gators added four more runs in the sixth to build an 11-2 lead. Thompson legged
out an infield single to start the inning and Tobias was hit by a pitch before
Dent walked to fill the bags with none out. Fontana greeted junior reliever
Stephen Dollar with a two-run single up the middle that gave UF a 9-2 cushion.
A wild pitch moved Dent and Fontana into scoring position and Shafer’s fly ball
to deep center field brought home both of his teammates on his third sacrifice
fly of the night.
UF
plated four more runs in the seventh on a run-scoring triple by freshman Brandon
Sedell (Davie, Fla.) in his first career at bat , an RBI single up the
middle by redshirt freshman Connor Mitchell (Tampa, Fla.) for his first
career hit and a two-run double by Shafer. Redshirt junior Vickash Ramjit
(Miami, Fla.) led off with a single into left field and came all the way around
to score on Sedell’s pinch-hit triple. Mitchell followed with a base-knock into
center field to drive in Sedell and Shafer roped a two-run double to finalize
the 15-2 margin.
“Justin is a really
good player,” O’Sullivan said. “I’ve never seen that line in the box score
before: 1-for-2 with six RBI. He squared the ball up all night long. Justin had
really good at-bats and obviously we needed to get him out on the mound in the
ninth and he threw a really clean ninth inning. Tonight he had a great night.”
After Larson tossed
three scoreless innings, with four strikeouts and three hits, he was followed
to the mound by sophomore Daniel Gibson (Lutz, Fla.) (1.0 IP, 0 H),
freshman Ryan Harris (Jupiter, Fla.) (1.0 IP, 1 K, 0 H) and Shafer (1.0
IP, 3 K). The
Gators return to action on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series
against Florida Gulf Coast (6-5).
