Halter still at 3rd base, Guscette behind the plate, Riopelle at 1st, Caglionone at DH, Evans in RF. And Jud still hitting in the 3-hole. Aargh!!
I can hear them screaming as far away as in Fort Myers tonight. This is a big one boys!!!! Game balls: of course Sterlin-Ocala kid handled biz. Of course Trenton Thumper- stud!!!! Fisher- really coming on and a huge addition to our staff. Halter- defense is invaluable Nesbitt- Filthy for three innings and completely locked it down for us tonight. Some may say I overdo it with my fandom for four or five different gators but if I’m going to overdo it it’s always going to be for a gator and this kid well let’s just say super happy for him after Tommy John and I think he can really help us. Velocity is returning as I saw him at 90 twice tonight but it is off speed stuff that really makes him nasty at times. Saw the fire in our guys tonight for the first time in a while and it was great to see. Let’s go get a big one Friday night against SC hoping to see 7000 of you all out there.
Yeah, Baby, Yeah!!! Sterlin Thompson slugged a walk off 2-out, 2-run homer in the bottom of the 9th to give UF baseball a 7-5 win over FSU. The Gators had not gotten a hit since the 3rd inning until Wyatt Langford got a 2 out single in the bottom of the 9th. FSU changed pitchers to bring in a lefty to face Thompson, but he drilled a hanging slider out of the park for the win. Florida scored first on a solo HR by Langford in the bottom of the first, but starting pitcher Nic Ficarrotta got rocked for 3 runs in the 2nd. The Gators took back the lead in the bottom of the 3rd. It started with another solo HR by Langford. Thompson was HBP and Josh Rivera drew a 2-out walk. The runners advanced on a wild pitch and then Jac Caglionone drove them home with a single. Ty Evans then tripled to give the Gators a 5-3 lead. But in the top of the 4th, FSU tied the game after Fisher Jameson gave up a walk and single. Reliever Blake Purnell threw a wild pitch to allow 1 run to score and then gave up a game tying single. Neither team really threatened after that until the bottom of the 9th, as Tyler Nesbitt shut down FSU for 3.1 innings and Ryan Slater got the last 2 outs in the 9th to get the win. Florida goes to 33-19, as they head to the final series of the season, hosting South Carolina Thursday, Friday & Saturday. A couple of observations aside from Langford and Thompson continuing to shine for the Gators. Jac Caglionone & Ty Evans add pop and competitiveness to the lineup, while Jud Fabian continues in a massive slump, 1-30 in his last 7 games. Mac Guscette struggled both at the plate and behind it and it seems going forward B.T. Riopelle will be the catcher, with Kris Armstrong getting the first shot to take over at first base for the rest of the season.
It is VERY hard to catch every game. BT needs breaks and Mac took that role today. He didn’t play great and his opportunities will be near zero for the rest of the year now but it was the right call imo to start Mac. He did have a great throw to 2nd to get a runner (Carrion).
Pen was filthy for several with our last two in. Unsung heroes. Earlier in the year our pen would’ve lost this game
I saw fire in our players eyes tonight for the first time, well, in a while. I’m talking about fire in our defense’s eyes, fire in our offense’s eyes, and fire in our pitcher’s eyes. Our Gators Baseball team made me damn proud tonight! Just like after SR in 2005, I’d love to be the fly on the wall of the SWAC bus for the ride back to Tally…. And listen to the BS. I’m quite sure that it is very good BS….
This was a great win for the team and Coach Sully. It was obvious he really wanted to win this one with the choices he made.
Stat comparison between Florida & South Carolina: Record UF 33-19 & 13-14/ SC 26-25 & 12-15 RPI & SOS UF #13 & #7/ SC #71 & #13 Batting Avg. UF .273 (12th) /SC .272 (13th) Slugging % UF .491 (4th)/SC .418 (14th) Runs & HR's UF 352 (10th) & 96 (2nd)/ SC 304 (13th) & 55 (13th) Walks & Strikeouts UF 235 (9th) & 428 (7th)/ SC 218 (11th) & 404 (12th) On Base % UF .370 (13th)/ SC .370 (13th) Stolen Bases UF 40-56/ SC 49-68 Fielding % UF .981 (4th)/ SC .974 (11th) ERA UF 4.24 (5th)/ SC 5.41 (11th) Walks & Strikeouts UF 180 (4th) & 462 (12th)/ SC 221 (11th) & 463 (11th) HR's Allowed UF 51 (6th)/ SC 66 (10th) BA Against UF .239 (5th)/ SC .263 (13th) We're the better team, but this is still the SEC where you have to be focused and make every bat and every pitch count.
Not saying we are going to College WS or Super Regional, but since we are playing so much better, here's some data comparisons of 2022 vs 2017 that won it all. Total Record: if we get 2 of 3 vs usc we are 35-20 vs 2017 at 40-15 pre SEC Tourney 2017 team went 2-1 in SECT, then 3-1 in Reg, then 2-1 in Super Reg, then 5-1 in WS to finish 52-19. 2022 has three .300 hitters, Wyatt .365, ST .354, and BT Express at .310. 2017 had none with leading hitter Maldonado at .299. Leading HR now are Wyatt and Jud at 19 each. In 2017 it was JJ Schwarz at 12. 2022 Team BA is .273. 2017 Team BA was .259 Opponent Team BA in 2022 is .239 2017 was .253 ERA in 2022 is 4.24 for our hurlers. In 2017 it was 3.45 (there's the big diff....Faedo, Singer, Byrne, et al) We finished the regular season in 2017 15-3 going 7-1 then another 8-2. That team peaked at the end. Are we peaking now?
Good stuff, shelbygt. Don't know if we're "peaking" but certainly playing better than we were a month or so ago. Having solidified the weekend rotation helps a lot, as does the adjustment Sully made in moving Halter to 3rd, Thompson to 2B, Evans to RF and Jac Cag to DH. Armstrong to 1st seems to be working out, too, as he was one of our better hitters last year and does hold up against SEC pitching better than most of our guys. The bullpen is still very shaky and inconsistent and Jud & Colby's struggles at the plate are a major concern. Plus for all of good things B.T. Riopelle has done, he still strikes out way too much (61 compared to Jud's 53 and Colby's 55). But overall, I have to say many of the young guys are maturing quickly and contributing in a positive way and the team seems to be coming together at the right time. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.
Where in the order would you put Jud? 1-30 and that 1 was a bunt, I just think you can't continue playing him 3rd at bat. I'd place him 7 in the lineup. I also think unless he and halter get out of the slump, our O will suffer against really good teams. Heck, as it is, neither of these players were playing lights out against SEC pitching. I'm afraid if Jud doesn't snap out of this funk pretty soon, he may not be as valued by the MLB as he was last year. Teams will see what he did against stiff competition and frankly it hasn't been good.
UF is up to 11th in fielding percentage and Tennessee who is in 10th created an error last night while UF didn’t. I haven’t tried to calculate if that moves UF up but regardless the fielding has been so much better over the last couple weeks. The starters and pen have largely improved of course but the fielding needs more attention. The team is starting to look more vintage Sully: Solid pitching, outstanding defense, and bad base running!
