MIAMI - The UF baseball team held a lead for most of the night against Miami, but there was never any doubt as to who was in control.
The Hurricanes bided their time like a snake in the grass for six innings and then struck in the seventh, taking a victory away from the Gators.
A three-run seventh inning and a collapse of the Gators' defense gave the Hurricanes an 8-5 victory Saturday night, and the loss was certainly frustrating for UF.
The Hurricanes' seventh inning saw nine batters come to the plate and saw the bases loaded twice. A two-run double off reliever Josh Edmondson gave Miami (5-0) a 6-5 lead it would not relinquish.
Five errors contributed greatly to UF's loss, two by second baseman Clayton Pisani, two by left fielder Avery Barnes and one by first baseman Brandon McArthur. Of the eight runs UF (5-2) surrendered Saturday night, four were earned. The five errors the Gators committed matched their entire season total.
"The bottom line is, you make five errors, you're not going to win many ball games," UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "It's disappointing. We stress pitching and defense. Right now, early part of the year, every time we make an error we walk a guy, every time we walk a guy we make an error. We're not picking each other up."
For some of the night, UF starter Patrick Keating looked like the ace of the Gators' pitching staff. He gave up only four hits in the first four innings and struck out one batter.
But once the errors started pouring in, Keating lost his composure and gave up runs.
"They played hard," Keating said of his defense. "Sometimes that happens. Personally, I wouldn't say that I reacted very well to it. I didn't pitch very well after those errors."
O'Sullivan thought Keating pitched OK, but that he could have been much better.
Reliever Billy Bullock (1-1) picked up the loss for UF. Bullock relieved Keating in the fifth inning and threw two innings of great baseball before allowing the leadoff runners to get on base in the seventh inning and being taken out of the game.
That's when Edmondson came in and gave up the game-winning double.
"The thing about the relief pitchers is when they come in, they can't run the count to 3-1, 3-2," O'Sullivan said. "They've got to come in and throw strike one. We didn't do that tonight."
UF got off to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning with a two-RBI single from Pisani and a one-run ground out from second baseman Cole Figueroa. Even with the early lead, however, the Gators weren't calling it a night.
"I knew it wouldn't hold up," O'Sullivan said. "But I felt good about it at that point."
Figueroa was the only UF batter with two hits on the night, but said the rest of the offense would be back Sunday afternoon.
"The series is never over," he said. "You go out, get a couple hits tomorrow, hit .300 for the series."
McArthur went 0-5 Saturday night.
The Gators have one last chance to salvage the series against the Hurricanes. The teams meet Sunday at 1 p.m. in the series' final contest. Freshman Tommy Toledo (1-0, 3.60 ERA) gets the start for UF.
"We've got to get out of here with a W," O'Sullivan said. "This team's got to learn to win on the road."
