The game is on as Saturday afternoon’s SEC showdown between the Florida Gators and Texas A&M Aggies is underway at Condron Family Ballpark. Follow the action here as we bring you live updates and highlights throughout the game.
The Orange and Blue took the opener on Friday night behind a stellar outing from Aidan King, who threw 121 pitches over eight innings of work, while the offense came alive in support of the redshirt sophomore in a 9-2 victory. Texas A&M still holds the edge in the all-time series, 18-15, but has now lost the last three and six of its last eight to Florida.
The Game 2 starter for the Gators is right-hander Liam Peterson, who is looking to bounce back from a rough outing against the Auburn Tigers last weekend. Going up against him for the Aggies is fellow righty Aiden Sims, whose team has lost just once in 10 tries with him on the mound this season.
McDonald’s dinger helps Gators crawl back
McDonald continues his recent tear by sending the first pitch he sees over the fence in left center, and it appears the Gators still have some life in them with the game halfway done. The ball left his bat at a scorching 107 mph.
Schwarz follows that up with a soft liner just over the second baseman’s glove for a base hit. Yost pops up to the first baseman halfway to the plate for the first out, and while Jones is at the plate, Schwarz takes off on a ball in the dirt but gets thrown out easily.
With two outs, Jones flies out to right field, and the fifth inning is over. (E5: Texas A&M 5, Florida 2)
Peterson allows third homer, Aggies take 4-run lead
Peterson is already at 70 pitches to start the fifth as his efficiency woes continue. He throws three straight balls to Kellner before working the count full with a pair of fastballs; pitch No. 6 is a high 95 mph heater that is lined the opposite way into right for a single, putting the leadoff hitter on.
Grahovac puts two more on the board for TAMU with a towering home run off the top of the centerfield batter’s eye, and now the Gators are down by four.
A hard grounder to first by Sorrell is fielded by Surowiec, who finds Peterson running to the bag in time to make the first out of the fifth. Hacopian sends an 80 mph breaking ball right at the centerfielder for out No. 2 and Duer grounds out to second to end the inning.
With 90 pitches thrown already, one has to wonder if Sully will turn to his bullpen soon. (M5: Texas A&M 5, Florida 1)
Florida’s 2-out rally falls short
Lawson leads off the bottom of the fourth by swinging through a 94 mph fastball on the outer portion of the plate for the first out. Surowiec follows that by turning an 0-2 count into a full one before hitting an opposite-field liner to the right fielder for out No. 2.
Cyr gets plunked for a hit-by-pitch to give the Gators their first baserunner of the game with two down. Bowen hits a grounder up the middle that the shortstop dives for, but cannot make the play, and the infield hit gives Florida two on and two outs with one runner in scoring position.
Kurland grounds into a fielder’s choice to the shortstop, who throws to second for out No. 3. Gators threaten but cannot score. (E4: Texas A&M 3, Florida 1)
Aggies add to the lead with another solo shot
Peterson opens up the fourth with 53 pitches already thrown and proceeds to serve up another home run — this time a deep drive over the right-center field by Partida to give the Aggies a two-run cushion.
Kiel II flies out to left-center, followed by a swinging strikeout by Wilson for the first and second outs of the frame. Harrison works a full count before grounding out to shortstop on a great play by Lawson, with a tip of the cap to Surowiec at first for digging the ball out of the dirt. (M4: Texas A&M 3, Florida 1)
Sims keeps the Gators off the bases in the third
Sims throws three straight balls to Colton Schwarz before bouncing back for a full count, then gets him to line out to second for out No. 1. Hayden Yost follows up with a high pop-up behind first that is caught by the second baseman, and Jones flies out to center field on the first pitch he sees to end the inning. (E3: Texas A&M 2, Florida 1)
Aggies strike back, take the lead
Peterson surrenders a solo home run to Bear Harrison — a towering shot to center field that knots the game up at one apiece.
Boston Kellner follows that with a pop-up to the shortstop, but Grahovac watches ball four to take first base with one out. Sorrell goes down for out No. 2, but a deep drive off the right-center field wall off the bat of Hacopian for a double that plates TAMU’s second run of the game.
Sully comes out to the mound to talk with Peterson and the infield, before Duer strikes out swinging to end the threat. But the damage is done and the Gators are down by one. (M3: Texas A&M 2, Florida 1)
Gators strike first on Cyr’s solo home run
Blake Cyr opens up the bottom of the second with a no-doubt dinger over the left field wall on the first pitch he sees to give the Gators the early lead.
Karson Bowen goes down looking at a 93 mph fastball at the knees for out No. 1; Cade Kurland also strikes out looking at a 95 mph heater that nips the outside for out No. 2.
Caden McDonald, getting his second-straight start at designated hitter, swings at strike three to end the frame. Through two, Sims already has six Ks. Ouch. (E2: Texas A&M 0, Florida 1)
Aggies follow up with a 1-2-3 effort in the second
Nico Partida opens up the second frame with a groundout to shortstop that gets challenged, but the call is upheld as the ball arrives a hair before the runner’s foot hits the bag. Terrence Kiel II pops up to the right fielder not far from the infield dirt for out No. 2 Jorian Wilson, who goes down swinging to give Peterson a 1-2-3 inning.
The pitcher efficiency watch sees the pitch count at 31 through two. (M2: Texas A&M 0, Florida 0)
Gators go down 1-2-3 in the first inning
Aiden Sims gets Kyle Jones to strike out swinging to open the bottom of the first and Brendan Lawson follows him back to the bench after watching strike three go by. Ethan Surowiec also goes down swinging, and 15 pitches later, the inning is over. (E1: Texas A&M 0, Florida 0)
Aggies get a pair of hits, but nothing to show for them
Gavin Grahovac starts things off with a single to right field off Liam Peterson, followed by a swinging strikeout by Caden Sorrell. Grahovac is caught stealing second for out No. 2, but Chris Hacopian keeps the inning alive with a single up the middle.
Jake Duer grounds out to second base and the top of the first is over. (M1: Texas A&M 0, Florida 0)
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Florida vs. Texas A&M starting pitchers, lineups
NOTES: Liam Peterson suffered his third loss of the year last week, but he deserved better. Besides a home run allowed in the second, Peterson worked around the other hits he allowed. He’s pitching to contact more, which means fewer strikeouts, and the walk numbers are getting better. An error in the fourth extended the inning, and another home run led to three unearned runs. Peterson should have been out of the inning, though. A high pitch count meant he couldn’t return for the sixth, and the offense never evened up the score.
Aiden Sims is Texas A&M’s most effective pitcher. He’s coming off seven innings of two-run ball against LSU, and opponents are batting just .206 off him with 51 strikeouts over 48 innings. His record and ERA speak for themselves. Sims attacks the strike zone early with a 94-95 mph fastball — however, it averages 92.1 overall — and cutter. He uses a sharp, low-80s slider, a low-80s changeup and curveball to get outs with two strikes. His breaking stuff has great spin (3100-3200 rpm). — David Rosenberg
Florida Gators starting lineup
Texas A&M Aggies starting lineup
What time is Florida vs. Texas A&M?
The Florida vs Texas A&M game starts at 5 p.m. ET from Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Live updates, highlights from Florida baseball v Texas A&M on Saturday
Reporting by Adam Dubbin, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
