UF Baseball: #10 Mississippi State Routs #1 Florida to Even Series

The No. 1 Florida Gators (29-4, 8-3 in SEC play) were absolutely obliterated tonight as the No. 10 Mississippi State Bulldogs (22-9-1, 7-4 in SEC play) smacked them by a score of 10-4.

Alex Faedo (6-1, 3.97 ERA) suffered his first loss of the season as Mississippi State shelled him for nine runs on ten hits in the first four innings! He gave up a four-spot in the first and a five-spot in the third that featured a grand slam from Bulldog center fielder Cody Brown.

Undoubtedly the worst start of his collegiate career, Faedo finished the game with five strikeouts, one walk, one hit batsman, and a game ERA of 16.20 in five innings pitched.

Once Faedo was mercifully pulled, Florida used four relievers to mop up the damage. First up was Nick Horvath. The sophomore retired the first batter he faced before giving up a hit and walking a batter.

The two base runners would quickly end Horvath's night as Coach O'Sullivan yanked him in favor of Frank Rubio. The junior out of Miami Shores tossed the most innings out of the bullpen as he retired all five batters he faced in 1.2 innings of relief.

In the top of the eighth, freshman Michael Byrne came in for his fifth appearance of the year and allowed just one hit in between two strikeouts as he worked a scoreless inning.

Finishing out the mop up duties in the top of the ninth was another freshman in Eddy Demurias. In just his third collegiate outing, Demurias was tagged for one run as the Bulldogs reached double digits on the scoreboard. His finished the final frame with one earned run allowed on two hits, and one walk issued.

Offensively, the only jolt came from the bat of Buddy Reed. In the bottom of the third with runners on first and second, Reed crushed his third home run of the year over the right field fence to narrow the Mississippi State lead to 9-3. The Gators wouldn't put up a crooked number again until the bottom of the eighth, when Jonathan India singled home Mike Kolozsvary.

India had a fantastic night at the plate, going 3-4 with a run scored and his lone RBI near the game's conclusion. Joining him with three hits was Jeremy Vasquez, who finished the night 3-4 with his eighth double of the year.

Final Takeaway:
No. 10 Mississippi State simply outplayed No.1 Florida tonight as the Bulldogs jumped on the Gators early and kept their foots on the gas pedal until the game's final out. Before previewing the rubber match, here are my final tidbits on tonight's tough loss:

• This is Florida's first home loss all season. The 29-game winning streak at the Mac is now over. Florida's five-game winning streak over the Bulldogs has ended as well.
• Florida left 10 runners on base and grounded into three double plays. The opportunities to claw back into this game were there, the Gators simply could not capitalize.
• Five of Mississippi State's batters had two or more hits.
• Coming on in relief, Mississippi State's Ryan Rigby (4-1, 1.23 ERA) was incredible for five innings as he allowed just one earned run on four hits, struck out four, walked one, and hit a batter. His effort would earn him his fourth victory of the year.
• This is Florida's worst home loss since February 21, 2015, when the Orange and Blue lost to the rival Miami Hurricanes by a score of 7-2.
• Despite the home winning streak coming to an end, history was made tonight as the largest crowd ever (6,244) packed the Mac to set a new attendance record! I was glad I could be a part of it!

With a split in the first two games, Florida's final shot at winning the series lies in the hands of junior lefty A.J. Puk (1-2, 3.38). Mississippi State will counter with a lefty of their own in junior southpaw Daniel Brown (2-2, 5.46 ERA).

Game time for the rubber match is set for 4 pm. As has been the case all weekend, the game can be seen on the SEC Network and heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network.

*All stats accredited to FloridaGators.com