UF Baseball: #1 Florida Suffers First Loss of the Year to #6 Miami

The #1 Florida Gators lost their first game of the 2016 season to the #6 Miami Hurricanes by a score of 5-3 tonight. For the second straight year, A.J. Puk (1-1) had a bad outing against Miami as he earned his first loss of the year.

Throwing 62 pitches in 2.2 innings of work, Puk allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits while hitting two batters and striking out five. He also made a crucial error while fielding a bunt in the second inning that helped stoke the fire for Miami's rally.

After Puk exited the game with two outs and the bases loaded, freshman Brady Singer came on in relief. Singer worked out of the jam, but his 3.1 innings of relief were by no means pretty. He allowed two runs on two hits, walked three, hit a batter, and struck out one. He threw a grand total of 52 pitches.

Relieving Singer for the final two innings were Nick Horvath (0.2), Frank Rubio (0.1), and Michael Byrne (1.0), who all scattered two hits with Byrne recording the lone strikeout.

The Gator offense was polar opposite from Friday night as Miami's Michael Mediavilla (2-0) somehow shut this lineup down. The top of the lineup supplied all of the run production as Dalton Guthrie, Buddy Reed, and JJ Schwarz accounted for all three of Florida's runs. Buddy and JJ were the only Gators with multiple hits as they both went 2-5 with one RBI a piece. Jeremy Vasquez was the only other player to drive a runner home.

Despite such a lackluster performance, Florida still had a chance at the very end to tie the game down 5-3 with Buddy Reed on second and JJ Schwarz up to bat. But alas, the Gators did not have enough in the tank as Schwarz struck out swinging to end the game.

Final Takeaway:
With the series even at one a piece, #1 Florida and #6 Miami will duke it out in a rubber match to determine the winner of one of the most competitive series in college baseball. Before I announce the starters and game time for tomorrow, here are some other tidbits from UF's loss tonight:

• The Gators left nine men on base, included the bases loaded in the top of the second inning.
• Michael Mediavilla was by no means dominant, but the lefty did enough for five innings as he gave up just two hits and allowed one run while striking out four.
• Miami's junior catcher, Zack Collins, was the main offensive force for the Hurricanes tonight as he went 2-4 and drove in four runs. His teammate Johnny Ruiz also batted a perfect 3-3.
• The Gators struck out nine times. JJ Schwarz (3), Ryan Larson (2), and Jon India (2) were among those with multiple K's on the night.
• Puk's 2016 and 2015 starts vs Miami are eerily similar as he went less than three innings, gave up three runs, and picked up his first loss in both contests.
• The home plate umpire was yet again very inconsistent with his strike zone tonight.
• The WatchESPN announcers and camerawork are mediocre at best.

I did not expect the Gators to go undefeated because this is baseball, a sport where any team can win on any given day. A loss to Miami (5-1) is definitely deflating to a degree, but Florida (6-1) still has a chance to walk out of Coral Gables with a series win tomorrow.

Sophomore righty Alex Faedo (1-0) will be tasked with bringing home the first road series victory of the season. His opponent will be yet another lefty in junior Danny Garcia (1-0). Game time is 1 p.m. and it can only be seen on ESPN3 (unfortunately).

*All stats accredited to FloridaGators.com