GAME OVER
Kyle Mullaney comes in to pitch the ninth and ends the game. UF (11-3, 1-0 SEC) beats Auburn (11-6, 0-1 SEC) by a score of 7-1. Bullock (2-2) picks up the win and Dayton gets the loss, his first of the season.
Positives for the Gators tonight include the play of freshman Josh Adams, who went three of four from the plate, and the pitching of Bullock and Franklin. Negatives for the Gators include offense from the DH position and the catching position. Tignor ended two innings and Cooper ended one as a DH.
Mullaney ended the game with a fly out to right field, a fielder's choice groundout to second and a strikeout looking to end the game. He did give up two hits, one on a ball that hit him in the leg, but otherwise looked decent. It's been quite a fall for Mullaney, from opening-night starter to closer in a six-run game.
END EIGHTH
Bryson Barber comes in to hit for Cooper, and promptly strikes out on three pitches. The Gators have gotten nothing from the designated hitter spot tonight. Actually, they did get something: four strikeouts. These are the designated hitters, and they can't seem to put the bat on the ball in fair territory. I assume there will be a different DH tomorrow-possibly Dustin Bamberg.
Townsend grounds out and Tignor strikes out for the second time to end the inning.
With three outs to go, UF leads 7-1.
MID EIGHTH
Franklin is rolling. He has retired all five batters he faced. A popup to second, a lineout right to Townsend at third, and a jumping fly out to left field marked this second-to-last inning for the Tigers. It's looking more and more like the Gators are going to come away with a win in this SEC contest.
It's 7-1 after seven and a half.
END SEVENTH
Auburn reliever Michael Hurst strikes out his third consecutive batter to start the seventh inning, then walks Figueroa on four straight pitches. Adams comes through with the dinkiest base hit possible, just between the first baseman and second baseman. UF gets two runners on with one out and den Dekker coming to the plate.
Den Dekker flies out to foul territory, but Figueroa and Adams move up on a double steal. McArthur takes the next pitch and flies out to right center.
The Gators looked to have something going that half-inning, but couldn't add to their lead. It's 7-1 after seven.
MID SEVENTH
O'Sullivan leaves Bullock in, and the starter gives up a hit to the first Auburn hitter he sees. The next batter walks on four pitches, and O'Sullivan comes out to give Bullock a pep talk. The sophomore takes a breather and induces a fly out on seven pitches - two called strikes, four foul balls and then the fly out. Auburn's lead runner heads to third as the rain starts coming down again. I fear for my laptop's safety in the open press box.
Bullock allows a laser of a single through the right side, scoring one Tiger. O'Sullivan trudges back out to the mound, this time relieving Bullock of his duties. The somewhat wet crowd congratulates Bullock on his night as Clint Franklin comes to replace him.
Franklin strikes out the first batter he faces on three pitches. With two outs in the inning, Franklin switches to pitching for contact and gets Auburn to ground to second base to end its rally.
The Tigers score in the seventh, but UF still holds a 7-1 lead.
END SIXTH
Nothing doing for the Gators in the sixth inning. Townsend flies out to center field, Tignor strikes out swinging on three pitches, and Avery Barnes fans as well. Auburn's reliever, Michael Hurst, is really getting the job done against a UF team that was getting used to Dayton's easy-to-hit pitches.
It's getting a little chilly now - just after 8 p.m. - and UF's lineup is cooling off as well. Still, they hold a 7-0 lead going into the seventh inning.
MID SIXTH
Bullock sandwiches a single between a ground out and a strikeout of Mummey to get two relatively quick outs in the sixth. A fly out to left field ends the Tigers' sixth, and likely Bullock's night. He has pitched great thus far, though he owes a part of the current shutout to den Dekker's home run-saving catch.
It's still 7-0 UF after Auburn's sixth inning.
END FIFTH
Avery Barnes gets on base quickly with a bunt single that Auburn's third baseman couldn't quite handle. Pigott moves him to second with a sacrifice bunt and gets a hefty congratulations from the dugout.
Figueroa then brings Barnes home with a double. He is 11 for 22 two runners in scoring position.
After a Josh Adams single moves Figueroa to third, Brandon McArthur triples over the center fielder's head (he's good at hitting in that location), scoring Figueroa and Adams. Dayton really fell apart after the third inning, and he has given up seven runs and eight hits in the last two.
Cooper strikes out, ending the Gators' inning, but they take a 7-0 lead into the sixth inning. Bullock has to be happy with the offense he's getting.
MID FIFTH
Den Dekker catches a fly ball on Bullock's first pitch of the inning, giving the Gators a quick out. Bullock then handles the next batter himself, getting a strikeout on four pitches. After that, Bullock sends the left fielder back to left field with his fifth strikeout on the night.
He is now officially in line for the win, with UF up 4-0 after 4.5 innings.
END FOURTH
Cole Figueroa gets the Gators' first hit of the night off Dayton, a dinky ground ball in between the shortstop and second base. Josh Adams comes through, lacing an RBI-double past the center fielder and scoring Figueroa. That gives Adams a seven-game hitting streak to go along with Figueroa's five-game streak. It was also Adams' third double of the year. For a freshman to have 16 RBI in 14 games is pretty awesome, and O'Sullivan must be thrilled with what he's getting from Adams.
Make it three hits in a row for UF. Matt den Dekker just barely beats out a throw on his bunt single, moving Adams to third base. It looks like Dayton's great game is falling apart on him. McArthur hits a slow grounder to third, scoring Adams but resulting in den Dekker being thrown out at second. McArthur is safe on first, and Gators' rally continues.
Riley Cooper can't come through for the Gators, instead striking out on five pitches. His swings didn't look very good that at-bat.
It doesn't matter much, as Jon Townsend brings himself and McArthur home with a blast to left field. The ball was gone the moment it hit the bat. This may hurt Dayton's 0.64 ERA just a tad.
Tignor flies out to short, but the damage was already done.
UF gets four in the fourth, giving them a 4-0 lead.
MID FOURTH
The public address annoucer wound up giving Gators fans a fourth option because they so hated the other three, and the fans didn't seem particularly thrilled with his choice - some country song.
Bullock gives up his second hit of the night, this time a single into left-center field. Auburn has a runner on with no outs, and this is certainly a chance for the Tigers to get something going on the scoreboard.
Instead, the runner becomes part of a T-shirt, as Auburn's Mike Bianucci grounds into a 6-4-3 double play. The next batter, who nearly hit the home run in the second, fles out to right field on the first pitch.
It's still 0-0 after three and a half innings.
END THIRD
In between innings, the fans got to choose which song they would hear next half-inning between three options. They booed all three songs, so we'll see what we get after the Gators end their half-inning.
Hampton Tignor surprises me by showing bunt with the first at-bat of the third inning. But it doesn't surprise anyone when he shows bunt a second time and grounds out right to the pitcher. Avery Barnes strikes out looking and is now 0-1 with a walk on the evening. Dayton has four strikeouts now, besting Bullock by one.
Pigott works the count to 2-2 against Dayton, but takes an inside strike to give Dayton his fifth of the night.
Have I mentioned it's a scoreless tie?
MID THIRD
Bullock tallies his third strikeout of the evening to get the third inning started. He's looking pretty good aside from that almost-homer he allowed. He gets a popup to second base and then an unassisted groundout to first base to finish off the Tigers' third.
A scoreless tie is what we have here tonight through two and a half innings.
END SECOND
That song by Nickelback about being a rock star played during the break, and it's quite a bad song with terrible lyrics. But it's nothing compared to Matt den Dekker's intro music that greeted us after Nickelback ended. I missed that awful song over Spring Break.
After mentioning that Auburn's left fielder, Brian Fletcher, hasn't done anything all game, den Dekker flies out right to him. Brandon McArthur gets hit by a pitch to go to first base, and up comes Riley Cooper. Cooper sees a bunch of pitches and fouls two off to the first base side, but eventually strikes out looking. He actually has his name on the back of his jersey now.
Jon Townsend finishes the inning for the Gators, grounding out to shortstop. On comes "Dani California." At least it's not den Dekker's song.
UF and Auburn are still knotted up at 0-0 after two.
MID SECOND
Bullock loads the count against Hunter Morris, then gives up a towering home run to right-center field - until Matt den Dekker completely robs Morris and the Tigers of a 1-0 lead with an amazing leaping catch at the wall. The Gators fans give den Dekker a standing ovation, and Bullock sure looks relieved.
The next batter gets another ball in the air, though not nearly as deep as Morris took his pitch. Adams catches the easy popup at second base to give UF two outs.
Bullock's no-hitter and perfect game then disappear for real, as Kevin Patterson hits a slow ground ball in between first and second base. Bullock is unfazed, however, and gets out of the inning with a ground ball to third base.
UF and Auburn are still tied 0-0 after three half-innings, and the Gators have Matt den Dekker to thank.
END FIRST
After an intermission with some very unusual softish rock music (Karl Hyppolite described the band Hoobastank as a "poor man's Incubis"), Avery Barnes walks to get on base right away. Jonathan Pigott flies out to right, giving Barnes no choice put to stay put at first.
Auburn's pitcher, Grant Dayton (1-0, 0.64), has an ERA smaller than something…well…quite small. He shows poise after walking Barnes and then strikes out Cole Figueroa looking. Dayton ends the inning by striking out Adams. Barnes was running on the pitch, but Adams swung right through the ball and made Barnes' slide into first seem silly.
After one inning, it's 0-0, though the Gators are winning 1-0 in terms of batters on base. That doesn't count toward the official score, however.
MID FIRST
Bullock gets off to a terrific start, striking out Auburn's Trent Mummey on four pitches. What a great name, Mummey.
On the very next pitch, Justin Margett smacks the ball right back into Bullock's left shin, but Bullock recovers, picks up the ball and throws it to first. Getting hit with a comebacker has to be one of the scariest thoughts in a pitcher's mind on the mound. Luckily for Bullock, no damage was done and he stays in the game. He finishes the inning with another strikeout. It's three up, three down, and the Gators are done with their first defensive SEC inning of the year.
PRE-GAME
Welcome back, faithful readers. Spring Break is over for me, and it's time for the opening Southeastern Conference game for the UF baseball team.
Some interesting lineup notes for tonight's game: UF is starting Josh Adams at second base instead of Clayton Pisani. Brandon McArthur is batting sixth instead of cleanup. Jonathan Pigott has been moved up to the No. 2 spot in the order. But the biggest difference in the lineup tonight is that UF is starting Riley Cooper as its designated hitter. Cooper, a wide receiver on the football team, only joined the team a few weeks before the season began. He got his first career hit over the weekend against Brown, and I guess Coach Kevin O'Sullivan liked what he saw enough to put him in the starting lineup tonight.
Pitching for UF is Billy Bullock (1-2, 3.31 ERA), replacing Kyle Mullaney in the Friday night spot for the second week in a row (although last week's Friday start technically came on Saturday morning).
The game should start in about five minutes, even if the sky does not look like perfect baseball weather.
