A
six-run fifth inning and dominant pitching lifted Florida (27-23) to a 7-1
victory over Florida Atlantic (28-20) on Tuesday night at McKethan Stadium.
Sophomore left-hander Bobby Poyner (Wellington, Fla.) (3-2) limited the
Owls to one run and one hit over a career-high six innings and he was followed
to the mound by freshman Danny Young (Boca Raton, Fla.), sophomore Ryan
Harris (Jupiter, Fla.) and sophomore Johnny Magliozzi (East Milton,
Mass.), who each threw a perfect frame. The Gators retired the final 13 FAU
batters in securing head coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s 250th victory at
Florida.
“I
thought their starter [Jake Meiers] did a really nice job,” O’Sullivan
said. “He threw some quality changeups and breaking balls and he kept the
ball down, but Bobby [Poyner] matched him pitch-for-pitch. He pitched
outstanding for us tonight. Our relief pitching was really good – holding a
team like FAU to one run and one hit over nine innings. We were obviously
pleased with the effort. There were a lot of big at-bats tonight. Credit their
starter, he did a great job, but we hung in there and the fifth inning was a
big one for us offensively.”
“I
felt pretty good,” Poyner said. “I was trying to throw the ball to the plate
and let the defense play. We made really good catches in the outfield, played
really great on defense and didn’t make any errors.”
After
Poyner retired the first six batters of the contest, senior Corey Keller drew a
leadoff walk in the third inning and was sacrificed to second on a bunt by
sophomore Ricky Santiago. A grounder by sophomore Mitch Morales pushed Keller
to third base and senior Nathan Pittman gave the Owls a 1-0 lead with a
base-hit into left field that brought home Keller. It was the visitors’ lone
hit of the contest.
Florida
threatened against senior Jake Meiers (4-3) with two down in the fourth, as
sophomore Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) roped a single into left
field and redshirt sophomore Zack Powers (Seffner, Fla.) earned a free
pass. The right-hander had senior Vickash Ramjit (Miami, Fla.)
fly out to left field to end the inning.
The
Gators moved in front in the fifth with six runs on four hits and an error to
seize a 6-1 advantage. Sophomore Josh Tobias (Greensboro, N.C.) led off
by being hit by a pitch and a fielder’s choice by freshman Harrison Bader
(Bronxville, N.Y.) was misplayed by Morales to give the hosts runners on the
corners with none out. Senior Cody Dent (Boynton Beach, Fla.) executed a
squeeze bunt to bring across Tobias with the tying run.
Bader
went to third on a wild pitch and freshman Richie Martin
(Brandon, Fla.) (2-for-4) followed with an infield single and was able to take
second on the play. Redshirt sophomore Bo Logan replaced Meiers (4.1 IP, 4 H, 3
R, 2 ER) and surrendered a two-run double into left center to sophomore Casey
Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) (2-for-5). Sophomore Taylor Gushue (Boca
Raton, Fla.) stroked a single through the left side of the infield to move
Turgeon to third and Logan had Shafer line out to second base for the second
out. Florida scored its fourth run of the frame when Logan was charged with a
balk and Powers increased the margin to 5-1 with an RBI single that plated
Gushue. Senior Gregg Bennis took over for Logan (0.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 ER) and plunked
Ramjit and Tobias to load the bases. Bader drew a walk to bring home Powers
with the final run of the frame.
After
Young threw a perfect seventh on six pitches, Ramjit clubbed a solo homer into
the left-field bleachers with one down off of junior Andrew Archer to provide
the Gators with a 7-1 margin. Ramjit’s fourth big fly of the campaign was his
first since March 31 against Ole Miss. Tobias followed with a single into
center field, Bader walked and Dent stroked a single into right field to fill
the sacks with one down. However, the Owls worked out further trouble with a
1-2-3 double play.
Harris
retired the Owls in the eighth on eight pitches and Magliozzi completed the
game with a 10-pitch ninth to register the Gators’ second win in as many
nights.
