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Friday, March 29, 2024

Florida struggles on offense in loss to Florida State

<p>Josh Tobias bats during Florida's 14-8 win against Florida State on March 17 at McKethan Stadium.</p>

Josh Tobias bats during Florida's 14-8 win against Florida State on March 17 at McKethan Stadium.

Florida needed more.

In the sixth inning, it got the chance.

After back-to-back hits from Dalton Guthrie and Richie Martin, UF finally had an opportunity to shrink FSU’s 5-1 lead.

But three straight outs promptly retired the side, and the Gators had nothing to show for their highest-hitting inning of the game.

No. 4 Florida (23-7) fell to No. 10 FSU (23-7) 8-3 on Tuesday night at neutral-site Jacksonville, hitting .188 — its lowest batting average since March 20 against Ole Miss.

“We had our one chance in the sixth with (runners) at first and second with nobody out,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “The bottom line is (FSU) played better than we did tonight.”

UF’s offense struggled most of the evening, going 2-for-10 and 0-for-6 with runners on base and in scoring position, respectively. FSU was able to retire three consecutive UF batters four different times, and just three Florida starters recorded a hit.

Josh Tobias hit a homerun in the fourth inning to give UF its first run of the game, but outside of that, the Gators fell flat.

The pitching staff was again inconsistent, as starting right-hander Alex Faedo allowed six hits and three runs before being pulled in the fifth inning for Danny Young. Young lasted two innings after giving up five hits, two runs and striking out three batters. UF used four more pitchers, two of whom lasted just one out.

FSU scored the first two runs of the game, taking the lead in the second inning after Hank Truluck hit an RBI single. The Seminoles went up 2-0 in the third inning after D.J. Stewart doubled down the right field line.

Florida began to show signs of life in the fourth. On a 3-2 count, Harrison Bader hit a deep fly ball to the center-field wall that would have left McKethan Stadium. Instead, it dropped into Truluck’s glove for the inning’s second out.

As Bader walked back to the dugout he gave a nod to Tobias, who walked past him into the batter’s box, and after taking two balls, the senior crushed a fastball into the trees behind left-field. The Gators trailed 2-1.

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FSU’s Danny De La Calle hit a solo homer in the fourth, increasing the lead to two. Next, Dylan Busby singled to left field in the fifth inning, scoring a runner from third. The Seminoles increased their lead to 5-1 after an RBI single from J. Delph six pitches later.

FSU scored three runs in the seventh after an RBI single, a Brett Morales walk that scored a runner from third and a sacrifice-fly to center field from D.J. Stewart.

Florida scored again in the ninth inning after Buddy Reed grounded out to second base, sending Bader home from third base. JJ Schwarz grounded out to the shortstop to score one more run and decrease the deficit to five, but then Mark Kolozsvary popped up to shortstop to end the game.

Next, Florida will travel to Missouri to face the Tigers in a three game series beginning on Friday at 7 p.m.

“It’s disappointing to lose the game tonight, but the fact of the matter is we just got beat,” O’Sullivan said. “We’ve got to move on and we’ve got to get better.”

A radio broadcast contributed to this report.

Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @icohenb

Josh Tobias bats during Florida's 14-8 win against Florida State on March 17 at McKethan Stadium.

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