Friday, April 22, 2016

UF Baseball: #2 Florida Falls to Georgia in Extra Innings

The No. 2 Florida Gators (34-6, 11-5 in SEC play) lost tonight's twelve-inning affair to the Georgia Bulldogs (21-18, 7-9 in SEC play) by a score of 2-1.

It was a pitcher's duel for most of the night as MLB prospects A.J. Puk (2-2, 3.07 ERA) and Robert Tyler were both masterful on the mound. Puk gave Florida 6.2 innings of one-run ball while allowing three hits, striking out 10, and walking one. He threw 103 pitches in the contest.

Matching Puk pitch for pitch, Robert Tyler plowed his way all the way into the ninth inning before being pulled after 116 pitches. He exited the game with a stat line of 8.1 innings thrown, one earned run allowed on eight hits, one walk, and nine strikeouts.

With both starters gone, the game would come down to a battle of the bullpens. Florida would use five pitchers in relief, Georgia would need just one. 

The first Gator reliever was Dane Dunning. He had another stellar night as he tossed 1.1 innings and struck out three Bulldogs while allowing two hits.

After Dunning, Kirby Snead came in and struck out the only batter he faced before being pulled in favor of closer Shaun Anderson.

Working the most of all relievers, Shaun threw 2.2 innings and allowed two hits, struck out two, and walked two. His ability to pitch out of a bases loaded jam with one out in the top of the eleventh was the highlight of his outing.

At 55 pitches already, Anderson was replaced with Frank Rubio in the top of the twelfth. This is when things got hairy for Florida as Rubio allowed back-to-back singles and recorded just one out before being yanked for freshman Brady Singer.

With Singer in, Georgia finally broke through as shortstop Nick King singled up the middle to plate what would prove to be the game-winning run. The run and loss would be charged to Frank, his first of the year.

As Florida kept shuffling pitchers in and out, Georgia relied on their redshirt senior Heath Holder. He was absolutely untouchable and deserved every bit of his first win of the season. Throwing 64 pitches in 3.1 innings, he allowed one hit, walked one, and struck out seven Gators.

Even with Holder dominating the extra frames and the Bulldogs capturing a 2-1 lead, the Gators still convinced me that there was a slight chance to win in dramatic fashion.

In the bottom of the twelfth, the Gators had a chance as Mike Rivera reached base on a dropped third strike. However, a Nick Horvath strikeout and fly outs from Nelson Maldonado and Dalton Guthrie would dash any hope of a Gator come-from-behind victory.

The offense was shutdown tonight despite mustering eight hits off of Tyler. The Gators scored just once, and that came when JJ Schwarz singled in Deacon Liput with two outs in the bottom of the first. 

Along with Peter Alonso who went 2-5, JJ was the only Gator with multiple hits as he went 3-5 with his RBI single. Every single batter except Dalton Guthrie struck out at least once, with Mike Rivera leading the way with three strikeouts on the night. The Gator lineup combined for 16 strikeouts, matching the amount of punch outs that the pitching staff accumulated in the game. 

Final Takeaway:
This game was won by the fundamentals. Georgia put a leadoff runner on base from the ninth inning through the twelfth and moved runners over with properly executed bunts. Before previewing Game 2 of the series, here are my final tidbits on the loss tonight:

  • Entering the game as a defensive replacement, Nick Horvath had a clutch inning-ending double play when he caught a fly ball in right field and doubled up Georgia's Stephen Wrenn in the top of the tenth.
  • Two Georgia players (Michael Curry and LJ Talley) struck out four times tonight.
  • Conversely, two Georgia players had three hits tonight as leadoff man Nick King went 3-6 with an RBI and Stephen Wrenn went 3-5 with a run scored.
  • The Gators have now lost three straight SEC games at the Mac dating back to their series against Mississippi State (25-12-1, 8-7 in SEC play) two weekends ago.

In jeopardy of dropping their first series to Georgia since 2013, the Gators will look to ace Logan Shore (7-0, 2.50 ERA) to even the series up at one game a piece on Friday night. I do not have the faintest idea who Georgia will counter with.

Game time is 7 p.m. and it can be seen on the SEC Network and heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network.

*All stats accredited to FloridaGators.com

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