The Florida Gators tied the weekend series with the Oklahoma Sooners with a 10-5 win on Saturday night.
Liam Peterson had a rough first inning, giving up a pair of runs on three hits and a walk. Jaxon Willits did the damage, driving in both runs with a liner into left-center.
Oklahoma’s starter, Cameron Johnson, left the game after the first with an apparent knee injury. He hit the first two batters he faced and grimaced. Sooners head coach Skip Johnson checked on him in the middle of the inning but left him in. Johnson tried to go back out for the second but wasn’t able to. Michael Catalano is the new pitcher.
Florida cut into Oklahoma’s lead in the second, taking advantage of a leadoff double from Caden McDonald. Hayden Yost drove him in with a sacrifice fly to right. McDonald gave Florida the lead in the third, blasting a three-run home run to dead center.
Ethan Surowiec doubled Florida’s lead with a two-run single in the fourth, but Oklahoma got those runs right back on a two-run single from Camden Johnson in the bottom half.
Liam Peterson was solid in the second and third. He got two outs in the fifth, but couldn’t finish it off with his pitch count over 110. His final line was 4 2/3 innings pitched, six hits, four runs (all earned), five walks and five strikeouts. Not great, but it was enough to hold the lead.
McDonald took over for him in the fifth and retired the first nine batters he faced. The two-way star helped his own cause with another home run in the eighth. A pair of misplayed fly balls led to another run in the eighth for Florida.
Ernest Lugo-Canchola finished off the game on the mound for Florida, taking over with two outs in the eighth. He gave up a solo home run in the ninth, but not before McDonald got another pair of RBIs with his second double and fourth hit of the game. What a night from Mac-tani.
FINAL: Florida 10, Oklahoma 5
Lugo-Canchola opened the bottom of the ninth with a strikeout of Gambill on three pitches — all sliders, to win the left-on-left battle. Willits grounded to bring Oklahoma to its final out. LaChance smashed a solo home run to cut the deficit to five, but Harris grounded out to second, ending the game.
McDonald strikes again!
This is an all-time performance from Caden McDonald. After Surowiec singled to left-center and Bowen walked on four pitches, McDonald doubled both in with a deep liner to the gap in left-center.
Oklahoma brought in Jaden Barfield to finish the ninth. He did so on eight pitches, but Florida has a 6-run lead going into the final frame. (M9: Florida 8, Oklahoma 4)
ELC strands the bases loaded
McDonald got a pair of quick outs to retire nine straight, but he walked Branch to allow his first baserunner of the night. Walk reached on a swinging bunt, bringing out O’Sullivan for a pitching change. Ernesto Lugo-Canchola took over for McDonald and hit the first batter he saw. No harm done, though, as Lugo-Canchola got a ground ball to third base to end the inning. Surowiec had to dive for it and make a strong throw, but it all worked out. (E8: Florida 8, Oklahoma 4)
It’s Caden’s world, and we’re just living in it
Florida tacked on some late insurance runs in the eighth. It started with a solo shot from Caden McDonald, his second home run of the night.
The Sooners brought in Nate Smithburg, a lefty, to face Florida’s southpaw-heavy portion of the lineup. It didn’t work. Stripling doubled to left field on a misplayed ball that somehow wasn’t an error; Kurland moved him over to third with a sacrifice bunt; Yost drove in the run with a bloop single to shallow center — cue the Benny Hill music; and Jones singled up the middle before Lawson struck out.
Mason Bixby took over after that — Oklahoma’s sixth pitcher of the night. Jones and Yost moved to third on a wild pitch, but they were left stranded by Cyr, who struck out looking. (M8: Florida 8, Oklahoma 4)
The pace has picked up
All of a sudden, outs are coming easy for both teams. Florida and Oklahoma both went down in order for the second straight frame. This game was crawling at a snail’s pace, so 13 straight outs are more than welcome.
Cyr flied out to left-center, Surowiec struck out looking — another nice frame job from LAChance — and Bowen flied out to right in the top half. McDonald induced a flyout to left-center from Gambill, a swinging strikeout from Willits and a 5-3 groundout from LaChance in the bottom half. Nice and neat. (E7: Florida 6, Oklahoma 4)
C-Mac answers with a 1-2-3 frame of his own
What can’t this kid do? He doubles, he homers and he pitches lights out. McDonald struck out a pair and retired the side in order for a quick sixth inning. (E6: Florida 6, Oklahoma 4)
Gators go down in order
Wesloski recorded the first 1-2-3 frame of the day for Oklahoma in the sixth. He struck out Yost swinging and got Jones to fly out to right on one pitch. Lawson also swung at the first pitch, and it looked like extra bases, but Harris robbed him with a web-gem-worthy diving catch. (M6: Florida 6, Oklahoma 4)
McDonald does it all
Peterson got two outs in the fifth, but he walked the bases loaded and was nearing 110 pitches on the night. Kevin O’Sullivan didn’t want to go to the bullpen this early, but he had to. He called on Caden McDonald to get the job done, and Florida’s two-way hero induced a 6-4 groundout to keep Oklahoma off the board. (E5: Florida 6, Oklahoma 4)
Gators do nothing in the fifth
Wesloski only needed 10 pitches to get through the fifth. McDonald flied out to deep center field, Stripling grounded out to second and Kurland struck out looking. LaChance framed the last pitch nicely to get the call. (M5: Florida 6, Oklahoma 4)
Sooners get a couple back
After a leadoff out, a four-pitch walk from Peterson meant trouble was coming. Barnch singled through the left side, and both runners moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from Walk. Johnson notched his third hit of the day, sneaking a single through the left side for two runs. Peterson landed the pitch where it was supposed to be, but Johnson was ready for the fastball and put a good wing on it.
Brock flied out to right, ending the inning. (E4: Florida 6, Oklahoma 4)
Surowiec gives Gators a cushion
Collier should have had a 1-2-3 inning himself, but an error in right field allowed Yost to reach base, and a pair of walks loaded the bases for Surowiec, who singled in two runs.
That forced another pitching change from Oklahoma. Nick Wesloski is the new arm. He got Bowen to fly out to left field, but the Gators now lead by four. (M4: Florida 6, Oklahoma 2)
LP goes 1-2-3 in the third
Peterson looks a lot more confident after that first inning. He went 1-2-3 in the third, getting Gambill to fly out to left, Willits to ground out to first and LaChance to strike out on a filthy slider. (E3: Florida 4, Oklahoma 2)
Florida takes the lead on C-Mac homer
It looked like Catalano was going to get a quick inning, but he walked Surowiec and Bowen with two outs. He worked the count full against Caden McDonald after going down 3-0, but the Florida designated hitter was ready for the heater. He launched a 414-foot home run to dead center that came off the bat at 112 mph, giving Florida a two-run lead.
Trent Collier took over for Catalano and got Stripling to ground out to end the inning. (M3: Florida 4, Oklahoma 2)
Peterson puts up a much-needed 0
The second inning was much kinder to Peterson. He worked around a two-out single from Johnson, who made it all the way to third on a pair of stolen bases — that’s four on the day for Oklahoma. Peterson got Branch to ground out to short, and Jason Walk flied out to left. Lawson threw Branch’s ball a bit high, and Stripling had to make the tag on the runner, but it all ended up okay. Brock struck out looking to end the inning. (E2: Oklahoma 2, Florida 1)
Johnson exits the game with an injury, Gators get on the board
Johnson didn’t come back out for the second with a reported knee injury. There was a long delay as Oklahoma scrambled to find a replacement. The Sooners decided on Michael Catalano, the midweek starter. Florida got to him right away.
Caden McDonald lined one into left field for an easy double. Oklahoma’s left fielder was nowhere to be seen, playing a shift deep into the left-center gap. Landon Stripling sent one to second base that looked playable. Kyle Branch bobbled it a few times before finally losing the ball, but the official scorer ruled it a single and not an error. Cade Kurland couldn’t take advantage with runners on the corners, striking out swinging, but Hayden Yost got the Gators on the board with a sacrifice fly to right field.
Kyle Jones struck out swinging at a 95 mph fastball above the zone to end the inning. (M2: Oklahoma 2, Florida 1)
Oklahoma jumps all over Liam Peterson
Liam Peterson threw 33 pitches in the first, which is never good. He was sitting at 99 mph with his fastball, but the Sooners still caught up to it. Camden Johnson led off the bottom of the first with a single and moved to second on a throwing error from Brendan Lawson that went into the dugout. Brendan Brock flied out to left, but the ball nearly got out of the park, dying at the warning track.
Trey Gambill singled through the left side, putting runners on the corners. Gambill moved into scoring position quickly with an uncontested stolen base. The steal paid off immediately as Jaxon Willits doubled to left center, driving in a pair of runs.
Deiten LaChance advanced Willits to third base on a flyout to center field. Dasan Harris won an 11-pitch battle against Peterson that included six foul balls before drawing the walk. Harris took second, too. The Sooners might be getting good jumps off Peterson, so it’s not necessarily Karson Bowen’s fault behind the plate. Connor Larkin struck out looking to finally end the inning. (E1: Oklahoma 2, Florida 0)
Cam Johnson a little wild to start
Florida got two on base out of the gate, thanks to a pair of hit batters by Cameron Johnson, but the next three batters went down in order to strand both runners. Blake Cyr and Ethan Surowiec strukc out looking, and Karson Bowen grounded out to second. It’s a wasted opportunity, but Oklahoma is at least concerned with its starter’s command early on. The Sooners had the bullpen up and active almost immediately. (M1: Florida 0, Oklahoma 0)
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Florida vs. Oklahoma starting pitchers, lineups
NOTES: Liam Peterson has figured out the walk issue, but now he’s getting hit consistently by SEC teams. Auburn put up four (one earned) on seven hits two weeks ago, and Texas A&M scored five (all earned) on seven hits last week. His strikeout numbers are down, and he’s usually only getting through the fifth inning. There’s greatness in there somewhere, but Peterson hasn’t tapped into it much this year.
Cameron Johnson is Oklahoma’s ace, but the Sooners are throwing him Saturday instead of Friday. The prevailing logic is that Johnson gives Oklahoma a better chance to win on Saturday, facing Peterson instead of King. Johnson has some command issues and has walked three or more batters in seven of his 11 starts this year. Conference play has been even tougher on him with seven walks against Texas A&M, six at LSU, four at Texas and Vanderbilt and five at Auburn.
Patience is the name of the game here for Florida, but Johnson has this odd ability to work out of his self-inflicted jams. The Gators must hit with runners in scoring position to take this win. The 6-foot-6-inch left-hander has a 93-96 mph fastball that can top out around 97. He pairs it with a plus changeup that comes in between 84-88 mph. Johnson also uses a 78-81 mph slider that draws a 60% whiff rate. He’s a groundball pitcher (60.6%) who rarely gives up the big fly. His 62 strikeouts over 47 2/3 innings are elite, too.
Florida Gators starting lineup
Oklahoma starting lineup
What channel is Florida at Oklahoma?
The Florida at Oklahoma game starts at 7 p.m. ET from Kimrey Family Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida ties up Oklahoma series behind career night for McDonald
Reporting by David Rosenberg, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
