Florida baseball completed a season sweep of the Florida State Seminoles on Tuesday night with a 4-3 win.
Hayden Yost got the scoring starter for Florida, blasting a solo home run off Cooper Whited. Brayden Dowde tied the game up in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single against Cooper Walls, however.
A three-run fifth inning gave Florida the lead back. Cole Stanford led off with a solo home run, and Jacob Kendall singled to get Florida State’s bullpen going. Whited got an out before turning the ball over to Gabe Nard, who had some major control issues. Kendall was caught stealing second, but Nard put two men on with a pair of walks. Ethan Surowiec and Karson Bowen notched back-to-back opposite-field singles to score Yost and Kyle Jones.
Hunter Carns hit a two-run home run in the eighth, making it a one-run ball game in the final frames, but Joshua Whritenour slammed the door shut with some electric stuff.
Jones led the offense with two hits and two walks. Caden McDonald was excellent in relief of Walls, throwing 2 2/3 innings of one-hit, shutout baseball. Billy Barlow and Ernesto Lugo-Canchola got Florida through the seventh, and Wrhitenour earned his sixth save, striking out five of the six batters he faced.
FINAL: Florida 4, Florida State 3
Whritenour stayed locked in to close out the game. He got McCulley swinging at a 93-mph slider for a strikeout. Williams flied out to left; however, it took a rangy play from Kendall to secure it.
Sheffield blooped a single into left. Kendall was playing no-doubles depth and Myers couldn’t reach it on a full-extension dive. Myers came up with some discomfort in his midsection, but he stayed in the game. Whritenour went right at Dowd, striking him out on a 94-mph slider to end the game and secure the sweep.
No insurance for Florida
Jake Echols replaced Purcell on the mound in the ninth for Florida State. Myers reached on an error by McCulley at shortstop, but Yost couldn’t bunt him over. Yost popped it up for the first out. Jones came up big with a single to right field, but Surowiec struck out swinging and Bowen flied out to center field. That’s eight left on base for the Gators today. (M9: Florida 4, FSU 3)
Carns makes it a one-run game with homer
Lugo-Canchola came out for another inning. He induced a ground ball from Sheffield, fielded it and threw over to Stripling, but the Gators’ first baseman couldn’t glove it as Sheffield collided with his glove. The ball went into foul territory, giving Sheffield a free pass to second. Florida challenged the call of no runner lane violation, but it was upheld.
Dowd flied out to shallow center field, but Carns got ahold of one for a two-run homer. Sully turned to Luke McNeillie after that. McNeillie also got a ground ball, but it ended up being another infield single. Gabe Fraser pinch ran for Paulino and moved to second on a wild pitch. McNeillie walked Putnam on four pitches, which led to another pitching change.
Sully tuned to his closer, Joshua Whritenour, who struck out Fisher and Stuetzer swinging. He looked dialed in and was firing his fastball at 99 mph. (E8: Florida 4, FSU 3)
Gators get two on but can’t score
Bowen walked to open the eighth, but Kurland popped up to second and Stripling struck out swinging to give Florida State two outs. Purcell walked Stanford, too, but Kendall popped up to second base to end the threat. (M8: Florida 4, FSU 1)
Barlow, Lugo-Canchola get Florida through seventh
Billy Barlow took over on the mound for Florida. He wasn’t bad, but some unlucky moments led to an early hook. After retiring Putnam on a fly out to left, Barlow hit Fisher on the wrist on a checked swing. He got aground ball for out No. 2, but Surowiec was a bit slow to it, allowing Stuetzer to beat out the throw.
Barlow got McCulley to fly out to shallow center field, but Kevin O’Sullivan wanted a lefty up to face Williams, who switch hits. Ernesto Lugo-Canchola got the call. Williams rocketed a ball up the middle, but Myers was there to snag the final out and strand the runners. (E7: Florida 4, FSU 1)
Florida threatens but can’t score in seventh
Stokes got the first two outs in the seventh easily, inducing a 4-3 groundout by Kendall and striking out Myers looking after running one inside that shook up the Florida shortstop. He hit Yost on the ankle in the next at-bat. Yost limped a bit, but he made it down to first and stayed in the game. Florida doesn’t have a ton of options if Yost gets hurt with Cash Strayer hurt. Jones walked, forcing Florida State to make a pitching change.
Brodie Purcell took over and struck out Surowiec looking to strand the two runners on base. (M7: Florida 4, FSU 1)
McDonald eating innings
McDonald came back out for a third frame and got through it without too much trouble. Sheffied struck out for a third time, and Dowd followed with a looking strike three. Carns extended the inning with a single into left, but McDonald got Paulino to ground out to short to end it. Myers made a nice play to his left and made the throw on the run. (E6: Florida 4, FSU 1)
Nothing doing for Florida in sixth
Cole Stokes took over for Nard in the top of the sixth. Kurland grounded out to third to open the frame, Stripling struck out swinging on a slider and Stanford flied out to the warning track in right. Stanford was the only one who had a good at-bat. (M6: Florida 4, FSU 1)
Wind helps Caden McDonald go 1-2-3
McDonald returned for the fifth, and he nearly gave up back-to-back homers. The wind is blowing in tonight, though, so both balls — from Stuetzer and McCulley — died at the warning track with Jones under them. Jones tracked down a much shallower flyout for Williams for his third putout of the inning. (E5: Florida 4, FSU 1)
Gators break it open with 3-run fifth
Stanford crushed a solo homer after faking a bunt to open the fifth. Kendall lined one into right field. Maybe Florida State left Whited in a bit too long. He struck out Myers before coming out, though.
Gabe Nard took over for Whited and immediately got a free out as Kendall got caught stealing. Florida challenged the play, and it was close, but the replay confirmed the out call. Nard had some bad control issues, walking Yost and Jones. Yost made it to third base on a pair of wild pitches, setting up an easy RBI single from Surowiec, who continues to beat up the shift.
Bowen also took one through the right side to score Jones, but he was caught trying to stretch it into a double. (E4: Florida 2, FSU 1)
Caden McDonald takes over for Walls, gets double play
Walls walked the lead off man, Paulino, but he struck out Putnam to end his night. Florida needs him this weekend, and Walls was approaching 60 pitches. Caden McDonald took over with one out and one on. He won a nine-pitch battle with Fisher to get a fly out to left-center. Paulino was running on the pitch and never checked with his third-base coach. He thought the ball would get down and was easily doubled up to end the inning. (E4: Florida 1, FSU 1)
Whited holds Florida scoreless in fourth
Whited bounced back after giving up some hard contact in the last inning. Bowen grounded out to first to open the fourth inning. Kurland popped up to shallow left, and Stripling flied out to center for a quick 1-2-3 frame. (M4: Florida 1, FSU 1)
FSU ties it up in the third
Walls ran into some trouble himself in the bottom of the third. He hit the leadoff man, John Stuetzer, who moved to second on a wild pitch after Carter McCulley flied out to right center. Williams bunted to move Stuetzer over, but he was fast enough to beat out the throw and put runners on the corners with one out.
Kevin O’Sullivan went out to talk to Walls and his defense in a critical moment. Walls struck out Sheffield swinging, but he couldn’t retire Dowd, who singled into right field to tie the game. Carns grounded out to third to end the inning. Surowiec fired a ball from the deep corner of the infield to prevent a run from coming in. (E3: Florida 1, FSU 1)
Hayden Yost blasts solo shot
Florida got to Whited with two outs in the third. After Jacob Kendall popped out to shallow right field and Kolt MYers grounded out to short, Hayden Yost hit a mammoth solo home run, his first of the year. Jones doubled into the left-field corner, but Surowiec missed a two-run homer by a couple of feet to end the inning with a flyout in right. (M3: Florida 1, FSU 0)
Walls answers with clean frame, two Ks
Walls struck out Kelvyn Paulino Jr. on four pitches. Paulino swung over a breaking ball and saw just four pitches. Eli Putname couldn’t catch up to a sinker that ran inside nicely for another strikeout, and Cal Fisher popped up to shallow left field. Myers made the catch to end the inning. (E2: Florida 0, FSU 0)
Another 1-2-3 inning for Florida’s offense
Cade Kurland worked a full count against Whited to open the second, but he ended up grounding out to short. Whited has gotten behind in the count twice now and worked his way to outs. This is a guy who doesn’t walk people. Landon Stripling got hold of one, but it died at the warning track in right-center. Cole Stanford worked the count full, too, but he also ended up grounding out to the left side. Florida has put some good wings on the ball but has nothing to show for it early. (M2: Florida 0, FSU 0)
Cooper Walls puts up a 0 for Florida
Cooper Walls got Chase Williams to line out to short to start the bottom of the first. Kolt Myers made a nice defensive play to get a ball that was hit well. Noah Sheffield struck out swinging, but Brayden Dowd singled through the right side to extend the inning. No harm done. Hunter Carns got on top of a fastball, grounding out to short. (E1: Florida 0, FSU 0)
Gators go down in order to open game
Cooper Whited got behind Kyle Jones 3-1 early, but Jones took a pair of pitches in the zone, thinking it was ball four. He struck out looking, and the Seminole crowd jeered at him. Ethan Surowiec flied out to right center despite some shaky communication from the defense, and Karson Bowen grounded out to short. (M1: Florida 0, FSU 0)
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Florida at Florida State: Probable Starters
NOTES: Cooper Walls is on the mound for Florida. Walls was removed from the weekend rotation to get Russell Sandefer in the mix, and he has struggled in a bullpen role. Kevin O’Sullivan giving him a chance to start against Florida State shows the confidence he has in Walls’ stuff, but the Hawaii transfer has to figure things out to stay part of the starting staff.
Junior left-hander Cooper Whited gets the start for Florida State again. Whited has a 3.31 ERA over 16 1/3 innings in four appearances this year. He went 3 2/3 innings against Florida two weeks ago, giving up just one earned run on three hits and no walks while striking out four. He’s strikeout-heavy with 19 to just three walks, and opposing bats are hitting just .222 against him on the year.
Florida vs FSU starting lineups
Florida Gators
Florida State Seminoles
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The Florida at Florida State game starts at 7 p.m. ET from Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Highlights, recap as Florida baseball completes season sweep of FSU
Reporting by David Rosenberg, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
