Sophomore
Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) was a career-best 4-for-4 and drove in
three runs as Florida (8-8) used a pair of three-run innings and 5.2 innings of
stellar relief from freshman right-hander Jay Carmichael (Cape Coral,
Fla.) (2-1) to even its weekend series with a 6-4 triumph over Indiana (7-3) on
Saturday afternoon at McKethan Stadium. Sophomore Johnny Magliozzi (East
Milton, Mass.) retired the Hoosiers in order in the ninth to collect his third
save.
“That’s
the first time all year that we handled adversity pretty well,” head coach Kevin
O’Sullivan said. “We fell behind 3-0 after three [innings], and they’re a
really good team and our players know that. The dugout was really good from the
first inning until the ninth. I thought our team got a huge lift when [Jay]
Carmichael came in; you could just kind of see when he came in with a runner at
first and nobody out and we got out of that inning giving up only one run. Then,
we turned around and put three on the board and had some really good at-bats in
the bottom of the third. We scored some runs in the sixth to distance ourselves.”
“Carmichael
was outstanding and Casey Turgeon had a great day. We showed a tremendous
amount of resiliency against a really good Indiana team. They [Indiana] have a
really good lineup and can hit. With that being said, after losing a tough game
last night, we bounced back today. Most importantly, I’m proud of the way we
battled and how the dugout was—they were really excited all game and they
stayed behind their teammates.”
"I
was pretty comfortable [on the mound], but everybody contributed to this win
and battled hard,” Carmichael said. “When one didn't do it, somebody else
stepped up. That's what brothers are for.”
Indiana
plated two runs on three hits in the first inning against freshman starter Tucker
Simpson (Oxford, Ala.) on an RBI single by redshirt sophomore Scott Donley
(2-for-4) and a run-scoring grounder by senior Michael Basil. Sophomore Kyle
Schwarber (2-for-5) had singled with one down and moved into scoring position
on a two-bagger to left field by sophomore Sam Travis. Donley opened the
scoring for the second-straight day by legging out a single to bring in
Schwarber and Basil followed with a grounder to first base that scored Travis.
Schwarber
boosted the Hoosiers’ advantage to 3-0 in the third inning with an RBI single
that scored senior Justin Cureton, who had led off by being hit by a pitch and
then stole second base. Following Schwarber’s sixth-consecutive hit in the series,
Carmichael took over for Simpson (2 IP, 5 H, 3 R). Travis was plunked for two
runners aboard, sophomore Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) robbed Donley
of a hit with a leaping grab and Carmichael induced an inning-ending 6-4-3
double play from Basil to hold the deficit at three runs.
The
Gators evened the game in the third inning with four hits and three runs.
Sophomore Josh Tobias (Greensboro, N.C.) (1-for-3, two runs) started the
frame with a flare into right center and then stole second base. Senior Cody
Dent (Boynton Beach, Fla.) singled through the right side for runners on
the corners and a failed pickoff attempt by redshirt sophomore Aaron Slegers at
first base allowed Tobias to come home with the Gators’ first run. Turgeon delivered
his first double of the season into right center to score Dent to narrow the
gap to 3-2. Slegers recorded the next two outs before sophomore Taylor
Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) (2-for-4) knotted the game at 3-3 with an RBI
single up the middle. Sophomore Luke Harrison (0-1) came in for Slegers (2.2
IP, 5 H, 3R) and Gushue was caught stealing to end the inning.
Donley
began Indiana’s sixth with an infield single and was sacrificed to second on a
bunt by Basil. A grounder by junior Dustin DeMuth pushed Donley to third and
Shafer made a running grab in right field on a ball hit by redshirt sophomore
Will Nolden to preserve the stalemate.
Florida
tallied three runs on three hits in the home part of the sixth and grabbed a
6-3 lead on a go-ahead RBI single by freshman Kevin Stypulkowski (Lake
Worth, Fla.) before a two-run, two-out single by Turgeon with the bases loaded.
Gushue began the frame with hot-shot into right field that resulted in a double
and Harrison (2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R) had Ramjit foul out before being replaced by
junior Ryan Halstead. A passed ball advanced Gushue to third base and
Stypulkowski put the Gators on top with a base-hit through the left side of the
infield. With two down, Tobias and Dent were hit by consecutive pitches to fill
the bags. Turgeon came through with base-knock up the middle to bring across
Stypulkowski and Tobias.
"We
have to grind out the game as it goes along and that's something that we did
today,” Turgeon said of the Gators’ victory. “When guys get on base, good
things can happen. They took some pitches and wore some pitches; they found a
way on.”
Carmichael
collected the first two outs of the eighth before issuing a free pass to Basil.
Junior Daniel Gibson (Lutz, Fla.) was summoned from the bullpen and
walked redshirt junior pinch hitter Casey Smith. Sophomore Ryan Harris
(Jupiter, Fla.) was called upon with the two Hoosiers aboard and sophomore
Chris Sujka delivered a pinch-hit RBI single into left center to bring the
visitors to within 6-4. Harris had senior pinch hitter Trace Knoblauch fly out
to left field to complete the inning. Magliozzi threw eight pitches in the
ninth to secure the series-evening triumph. Each team had nine hits in the
contest, while the Gators played error-free.
