Ongoing UF Baseball Commentary

Sproat Garners SEC Pitcher of the Week Honors - Florida Gators

 

Tyler Nesbitt starting tonight for the Gators vs. JU. First time on the mound since his freshman year in 2020. Missed all of last season due to surgery. 6'3" righty from Labelle, FL.

 

#11 UF baseball goes to 11-3 with a 1-0 pitching duel win over the Jacksonville Dolphins. Tyler Nesbitt threw the first 2 innings, giving up only 1 hit, 1 walk with 3 K's. Ryan Slater, who got the win, pitched 5 innings, giving up 1 hit with 2 K's. Nick Ficarrotta got the save, pitching the final 2 innings, giving up a hit and 2 walks, with 2 K's. The Gators got 9 hits and stranded 7 base runners. Kendrick Calilao went 2-3 with the lone RBI in the bottom of the 6th. Kris Armstrong went 3-3 in finally coming out of his slump. Rematch tomorrow at 6 pm, weather permitting.

 

The Florida/JU baseball game Wednesday night was rained out. It's possible they re-schedule, but I doubt it. They host Seton Hall for 3 games this weekend before playing #8 FSU next Tuesday and then opening their SEC schedule next weekend at Alabama. Seton Hall comes in 0-10, having been shut out 4 times with 108 K's and scoring only 16 runs total. Their team batting average is .215 and their team ERA is 9.00.

 

No. 11 Florida Hosts Seton Hall in Weekend Series - Florida Gators

 

The Weather Channel app is now showing the rain in Gainesville stopping by 4 pm and "just" being partly cloudy with under 20% chance of rain until about 8 pm, then it goes up to 40% for the rest of the night. If this holds and there's no standing water, they should be able to play tonight.

 

Friday night's baseball game vs. Seton Hall has been postponed. They will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 pm, with the second game 45 minutes after the first game finishes. Both games are on SEC+. Sunday's game is at noon, also on SEC+

 

Yep - doubleheader Saturday, first game at 1 pm.

 

UF baseball went to 13-3 by taking a doubleheader over 0-12 Seton Hall Saturday. In Game 1, Hunter Barco threw a very solid 6.1 innings, giving up only 2 hits, hitting 1 and striking out 6. When he left the game, the Gators were up 14-0. Relievers Karl Hartman (1.1 innings, 4 runs, 4 hits and 2 walks) and Anthony Ursitti (1.1 innings, 1 hit, a hit batter and 3 walks) weren't very sharp. The Gators got 15 hits and 7 walks, with only 3 K's and 5 LOB. They were led by Wyatt Langford (3-4, HR, #B and 5 RBI), Jud Fabian (2-3, HR and 3 RBI), Sterlin Thompson (2-3, #B, 2 RBI), Kendrick Calilao (2-5, 2 RBI), and B.T. Riopelle (2-3).

In Game 2, Brandon Sproat gave up 3 hits and 2 runs in the 1st inning, and 2 more hits and a run in the 3rd, aided by a Gator error. But Sproat went 6 innings, giving up 6 total hits with 5 K's and a walk. When he left the game, the Gators were up 9-3. Blake Purnell threw 2 innings, giving up only 2 hits, but was replaced for the 9th by Carson Finnvold, who came into the game with an 11-3 lead. He gave up 6 runs, 5 earned, on 2 BB's and 3 hits (including a grand slam), only getting 1 out. Brandon Neely got the last 2 outs for the save. The offense only got 8 hits to Seton Hall's 11, but had 10 walks with 11 K's. Jud Fabian had a HR and 3 RBI, Derec Fabian went 1-3 with 2 RBI, and Colby Halter went 2-4.

The final game of the series is at Noon Sunday on SEC+. Nick Pogue is scheduled to get his first start since 2020, missing all of last year due to Tommy John surgery.

 

UF baseball, 13-4, lost to now 1-12 Seton Hall 6-4 on Sunday, as they were simply outpitched and outhit on a day when things just didn't go the Gators' way. Starting pitcher Nick Pogue only went 1.2 innings, giving up 1 run on 3 hits while walking 3. Tim Manning threw the next inning, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits, a HBP and a walk. Nick Ficarrotta went 3.1 innings, giving up a run on 3 hits. Brandon Neely got only 1 batter out while giving up 2 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits. Blake Purnell tossed 1.2 innings and gave up no runs, a hit and a HBP. Garrett Milchin threw a clean 9th. Seton Hall had 12 hits, 5 walks and stranded 10 base runners. The Gators only got 7 hits and 4 walks, while stranding 11 base runners. They were led by Wyatt Langford's 3-4 with a HR and RBI, with 4 other guys getting a hit.

As Florida heads into a big week, hosting FSU Tuesday, then traveling to Alabama for their SEC opening series, they've got to settle on relievers who can consistently throw strikes (like Purnell, Ficarrotta & Slater have been), plus find a reliable Sunday starter. In addition, Colby Halter and Mac Guscette have injuries that we hope are minor. Sterlin Thompson and Deric Fabian have slumped off in their hitting of late and Josh Rivera continues to struggle at the plate. This is a team with a ton of talent and offensive firepower up and down the lineup, but as they head into the meat of their schedule, we'll see how good these guys really are.

 

Although the weather forecast for Tuesday evening doesn't look good, FSU comes in with a 10-5 record. They beat Wake Forest 2 out of 3 this past weekend, but also have losses to JU, Samford, Cal-Berkley and Mercer. Team batting average is .285, team ERA 3.17, fielding at .976. Not sure who they'll start, but last Tuesday Carson Montgomery (6'3", 205 RHP sophomore) threw 5.2 innings against Florida Gulf Coast and gave up only 2 hits and a run with 3 walks and 7 K's in a 10-4 win. The Tuesday before Montgomery started in a 6-5 11 inning loss to Mercer and pitched 4 innings, giving up 2 runs, 1 earned, on 4 hits, 3 walks and 1 K.
The Gators have a .301 batting average, ERA of 2.78 and .986 fielding percentage.