The Hurricanes battled back from a 6-1 deficit against rival Florida, tying the game at eight in the fifth inning. But one inning later, issues that have plagued Miami all year came to a head.
Due to a combination of poor pitching from the bullpen and multiple fielding mistakes, the Gators scored seven runs in the sixth inning. Florida took a 15-8 lead in the frame en route to a 22-10 win over Miami in the Gainesville regional at Condron Ballpark.
Miami will play Troy in an elimination game Sunday afternoon.
Florida needed only one hit to rally in the sixth inning. Two batters walked, and shortstop Vance Shehan failed to turn a ground ball to shortstop into the sixth inning’s third out. Miami reliever Ryan Bilka walked in Florida’s go-ahead run. Brixton Lofgren entered the game for Bilka, and he issued another bases-loaded walk. A third run came across when Shehan committed an error on a potential inning-ending ground ball. Lofgren hit a Gators batter to push across a fourth run in the inning.
Center fielder Kyle Jones delivered the hammer blow with a three-run double to extend the Gators’ lead to 15-8. It was too deep a hole for Miami to dig out of.
The sixth inning was the most crucial frame of a topsy-turvy game that was poised to be high-scoring from the start. Miami second baseman Jake Ogden got the Hurricanes on the board immediately, hitting a leadoff home run off Florida ace Aidan King.
But the Hurricanes’ lead didn’t last long, and the Gators roughed up Miami starter AJ Ciscar. Florisa scored one run on an error, another on a sacrifice fly by Ethan Surowiec, a third on a single by Karson Bowen and three more on a Cade Kurland home run that cleared the stadium. As a result, Miami coach J.D. Arteaga took Ciscar out before the first inning ended.
Miami did not give up after UF’s six-run first inning. Alex Sosa hit an RBI double, and Alonzo Alvarez drove in two with a single to cut the deficit to two runs. But Bowen hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third to extend Florida’s lead back to three runs.
The back-and-forth contest continued in the fourth inning. The Hurricanes chased King after Vance Sheahan hit an RBI single to cut the deficit to 7-5. UM added a sixth run on a wild pitch, cutting its deficit to one run. But UF scored on Miami’s third error of the game.
Fabio Peralta walked with the bases loaded in the fifth inning, making it 8-7 Gators. Ogden hit a grounder to short that the Gators failed to turn into a double play, which pushed across the tying run. But the Hurricanes only kept the game tied for one inning.
Miami added a pair of runs in the eighth inning, but it did not claw its way back into the game. Florida got the runs backand more in the bottom half of the eighth on five home runs.
Of the 22 runs Miami allowed on Saturday, only 11 were earned runs. The Hurricanes issued nine walks, hit three batters, and they committed four errors.