Gator Baseball Gator Baseball: UF vs. Bama

[FireFoley]

Gators hosts Bama this weekend at the Mac. We enter the series with a 1-5 record in conference play and Bama is 2-5. Records aside Bama may be the worst team in the league or close to it and we are not good, but we need a sweep:

Good start as Mace throws a complete game in a 3-1 victory. Game 2 Sat. nite at 6:30pm.

 

[Okeechobee Joe]

This SEC match-up couldn't come at a better time for the Gators to get back on track.

 

[Ocalaman]

Mace was tremendous in spite of some shaky defense, even though no errors were charged.

 

[Ocalaman]

Game 2 is 1-1 bottom of the 2nd. Each team has a solo HR. Dyson got the start today for the good guys.

 

[FireFoley]

Gators take game 2 12-3. Bats were hot tonite as we hit 4 HR's as a team with McConnell hitting two.

However I hate to be brutally honest but Dyson was horrendous. After being staked to a 5-1 lead after 3 innings, Dyson could not even get out of the 4th inning. Sully was clearly chafed (with reason) but thankfully Scott entered with the bases loaded and pitched 4+ innings, Bama is terrible so we need a sweep tomorrow and a good outing from Leftwich.

 

[Ocalaman]

Gators take game 2 12-3. Bats were hot tonite as we hit 4 HR's as a team with McConnell hitting two.

However I hate to be brutally honest but Dyson was horrendous. After being staked to a 5-1 lead after 3 innings, Dyson could not even get out of the 4th inning. Sully was clearly chafed (with reason) but thankfully Scott entered with the bases loaded and pitched 4+ innings, Bama is terrible so we need a sweep tomorrow and a good outing from Leftwich.

Agree about Dyson. Christian Scott seems to be getting better and Sully is showing more and more confidence in him. He pitched very well.

 

[Gatorphan]

Dyson couldn’t throw strikes with a 4 run lead, he had to go. It was little league bad.

 

[FireFoley]

Start time for Game 3 on Sunday has been changed. Game will begin at Noon.

 

[dphgator96]

Start time for Game 3 on Sunday has been changed. Game will begin at Noon.

Thanks for the update I was thinking about going.

 

[maheo30]

Jack Leftwich leaving the first inning with an injury.

Nevermind, he's back out there and got out of the inning. He's struggling with his velocity though.

 

[rogdochar]

Gotta get the pitching right. Bright spots =
3 Freshmen =
Jacob Young .379 BA
Kendrick Calilao .327 BA ... 3 HRs .... 31 RBIs (leads team)
Jud Fabian .267 BA .... 5 HRs (tied for team lead)
Future O looks bright. Present pitching hurts us.

 

[lizardbreath]

Gotta get the pitching right. Bright spots =
3 Freshmen =
Jacob Young .379 BA
Kendrick Calilao .327 BA ... 3 HRs .... 31 RBIs (leads team)
Jud Fabian .267 BA .... 5 HRs (tied for team lead)
Future O looks bright. Present pitching hurts us.

Score update?

 

[maheo30]

Score update?

UF - 4
Bama - 1
Top 7th

 

[Ocalaman]

Bottom of 7th now. Hunter Ruth has pitched 6 great innings after replacing Leftwich with no outs and the 2nd. He's only given up 3 hits, struck out 4 with only 52 pitches thrown. Christian Scott can also be put on that list of freshmen bright spots. He got the win last night and is 3-1 on the season. 9 appearances, 1.71 ERA, 21 innings, 11 hits, 4 earned runs, 22 K's and 5 walks.

 

[Ocalaman]

Gators win 6-3 and Hunter Ruth was THE man today. 7.2 innings, 1 run charged to him and that was because Sully brought in Jordan Roberts with 2 outs in the 9th after Ruth walked a guy with the Gators up 6-1. Roberts gave up a HR to the first batter he faced, then got the last out for the final 6-3 score. Good news is that Langworthy & Dalton seem to be coming around. Both had 2 hits today, with Langworthy getting a HR. Gators now 20-10, 4-5 in the SEC. Big trip to tough Ole Miss next weekend after a Tuesday game vs FAMU.

 

[FireFoley]

Perfect timing for Bama to come to town as we needed a sweep. Bama is terrible but there were positives this weekend that perhaps can be built upon. This is the 2nd time in 3 weeks Leftwich has had to leave a game early for either a bloody finger or blister. I was surprised he came back after exiting the MSU series to pitch the following weekend. it stands to reason that maybe he should be shelved for a bit. Either way, Ruth probably will get a start next weekend against Ole Piss, either for Leftwich or the head case Dyson. He earned the chance. he was outstanding in relief and kept his pitch count to a very low amount. Well done. Dalton and Langworthy had some good swings this weekend and that needs to continue for the team to move forward. The infield defense is still a disaster but that is not going to change so no need to harp on it.

 

[Ocalaman]

Perfect timing for Bama to come to town as we needed a sweep. Bama is terrible but there were positives this weekend that perhaps can be built upon. This is the 2nd time in 3 weeks Leftwich has had to leave a game early for either a bloody finger or blister. I was surprised he came back after exiting the MSU series to pitch the following weekend. it stands to reason that maybe he should be shelved for a bit. Either way, Ruth probably will get a start next weekend against Ole Piss, either for Leftwich or the head case Dyson. He earned the chance. he was outstanding in relief and kept his pitch count to a very low amount. Well done. Dalton and Langworthy had some good swings this weekend and that needs to continue for the team to move forward. The infield defense is still a disaster but that is not going to change so no need to harp on it.

Don't forget Christian Scott as a possible insert into the weekend rotation. Scott is 3-1, 1 save, with a 1.71 ERA, 9 appearances, 21 innings, 22 K's, 5 walks, 11 hits, .149 batting average against. Ruth's ERA is 4.03 in 9 appearances, 22 innings, but when he's been good he's been very good. Got roughed up a couple of times. Either way, I think confidence in Dyson is waning and if Leftwich has a bad finger it needs time to heal. But you're absolutely right about the timing of Bama coming in and a couple of veterans finally seeming to come around.

 

[FireFoley]

Not discounting Scott at all Ocala, but given the choices right now, I think Ruth is less of a surprise than Scott has been. Ruth was thought to be one of the next good ones, but TJ surgery set him back. He throws hard and mixes in good offspeed stuff. I think Scott has surprised even Sully to the upside as he even mentioned he throws just hard enough to make his offspeed stuff effective. It sounded to me that Scott is a solid bullpen guy now, which we desperately need. As we all know Sully will ride a hot hand as he did with Scott for 3+innings to close out the earlier this week and letting Ruth extend today. I think going almost 8 innings today will put Ruth in the rotation next weekend..

 

[maheo30]

I'm a casual baseball fan who is really starting to get into gator baseball. @FireFoley and @Ocalaman, I always enjoy your postgame comments.

 

[Ocalaman]

Not discounting Scott at all Ocala, but given the choices right now, I think Ruth is less of a surprise than Scott has been. Ruth was thought to be one of the next good ones, but TJ surgery set him back. He throws hard and mixes in good offspeed stuff. I think Scott has surprised even Sully to the upside as he even mentioned he throws just hard enough to make his offspeed stuff effective. It sounded to me that Scott is a solid bullpen guy now, which we desperately need. As we all know Sully will ride a hot hand as he did with Scott for 3+innings to close out the earlier this week and letting Ruth extend today. I think going almost 8 innings today will put Ruth in the rotation next weekend..

All good points. We'll see what happens and hope whoever is out there can come through. I agree with you about the defense, too. In addition to the errors, there are 2-3 plays per game where plays that are normally made by our infield just are not being made, giving the other team extra at bats. But we are who we are is exactly right.