MID TENTH
I have lost the will to blog. UNF leads 11-10 and this game is taking longer than I could have possibly imagined. The Gators just put in their seventh pitcher, Travis Lawler. Seven pitchers? You know ifs a bad night. Lawler gets UNF to ground into a double play to end the inning.
END NINTH
A strikeout from Bamberg (0-4 on the night) and a groundout from Townsend on a well-hit ball give UF two quick outs. Up comes Clayton Pisani, and then down he goes with a strikeout. We have extra innings, folks.
MID NINTH
UNF got a leadoff single to start the inning, then did a great job showing bunt but actually swinging. Townsend at third was inching closer to the plate to play a bunt, but Hale pulled back and swung, shooting a line drive right past him for a double. That put runners on second and third with no outs.
After a walk and a ground ball, we have a tie game and runners on first and second. A pop-out to Cole Figueroa gives UF two outs, and the Gators are already thinking of walk-off hits.
Josh Adams gets a groundout to first. We're headed to the bottom of the ninth. Let's pray for no extra innings.
END EIGHTH
Barnes and den Dekker go down quick on a groundout and a fly out. Figueroa, however, doesn't go down as easy, singling through the right side. Adams can't add to the lead, but UF wins with three more outs.
MID EIGHTH
Keating stays in the game and gets two quick groundouts. But Pisani at second base makes an error and Keating has to stay in the inning instead of going back to the dugout.
Keating hits the next Osprey, and goes back to the top of their order. He stays in the game, and strikes out Thompson. Thompson argues the call, and then gets ejected. UNF's coach also gets ejected, much to the applause of the fans.
END SEVENTH
A quick seven for UF: Clayton Pisani is hit by a pitch, Pigott strikes out, Foster strikes out looking and Pisani is thrown out stealing after the strikeout.
MID SEVENTH
After giving up a leadoff hit, Edmondson's long night is done. You have to hand it to him, though - he's been the best pitcher for the Gators all night.
In comes usual Saturday starter Patrick Keating. He gets a bunt to first base, and McArthur tags the runner. The lead runner moves to second base. A ground ball to Figueroa holds the runner on second, and Keating is doing a great job so far.
Of course, as I type that, Keating walks the next Osprey. But then he gets the one after that to ground out.
END SIXTH
Sorry for the delay, but I had some technical difficulties. The Ospreys went down 1-2-3 for the first time all night in the sixth, and now UF is up to bat.
After a Pigott strikeout, replacement catcher Teddy Foster hits a single up the middle. Barnes strikes out, and up comes the Gators' primary offensive force on the night, den Dekker.
After den Dekker falls behind early in the count, he hangs around long enough to walk, moving Foster to second base. The go-ahead run is now at the plate for UF. Figueroa singles through the right side, scoring Foster. The tying run is 90 feet from home.
Freshman Josh Adams then comes along and ties the game with a double to left-center field. Figueroa has to stop at third, but the go-ahead run is now close to scoring. Bamberg, who is now no longer on the line for the loss, walks to first base to load the bases for Townsend.
Townsend goes down 0-2, then a wild pitch plates Figueroa. The ball barely got past UNF's catcher, and Figueroa took a huge risk in running. But it worked, and the Gators have their first lead of the night and the other runners move up as well. Townsend strikes out to end the inning.
END FIFTH
Dustin Bamberg flies out to left field. Jon Townsend strikes out. This game is taking a really really long time, and it looks like the teams are finally going to help end it by not scoring any runs in the fifth inning.
McArthur grounds to shortstop, then lands funny on first base as he tries to beat out the throw. The throw goes wide and McArthur is safe at first, but he is too busy rolling around in pain to care right now. Trainers come out to see if he is alright, and he gets up after about three minutes on the ground. It looks like he's alright, testing it out by running in the outfield. Still, as a precaution, O'Sullivan takes him out of the game.
In comes Clayton Pisani to run for McArhur as Pigott steps to the plate. Pisani gets picked off, making Pigott have to wait until the next inning to try his luck.
MID FIFTH
Another leadoff batter reaches base. Edmondson is not having his best night, but he manages to get the lead runner out with a ground ball from the next batter. Still, there is one runner on and one out.
The next Osprey singles through the right side, and UNF has had two base runners in every inning. Another ground, this time to Figueroa, gets the runner out at second base, so UNF has runners at the corners.
For the first time all night, UNF fails to score a run as it flies out to end the inning.
END FOURTH
Tignor pops out to first base to start the fourth inning for UF. The Gators certainly haven't had the early-inning success that the Ospreys have enjoyed. Also, this has become the longest game of the season so far. It's been an hour and 45 minutes and we're only through 3.5 innings. By way of comparison, the Phillies-Nationals game that started half an hour after this game is in the bottom of the fifth. Crazy.
Barnes gets his second single of the night through the right side, and up comes den Dekker, who hit the home run in the second inning. After fouling off a few pitches, den Dekker continues to be the offensive star of the night. He hits a triple down the left field line, scoring Barnes and getting him his fourth RBI of the night.
After the Ospreys change pitchers, Figueroa hits a ground ball to second base, scoring den Dekker and bringing the Gators within two. Adams strikes out to end the inning.
MID FOURTH
Make that four innings in a row where UF has allowed the leadoff man to get on base. O'Sullivan cannot possibly be happy about that in the dugout. On the next pitch, Edmondson hits an Osprey, putting two on with no outs for the fourth time tonight.
Edmondson catches a break with a ground-ball double play, 4-6-3. Just one more pitch to get out of the inning. But if tonight has been any indicator thus far, UNF will bring in that run at third.
Two pitches later, the Ospreys prove me right, hitting a single up the middle to take an 8-5 lead. They are really having no trouble whatsoever hitting off the Gators' pitchers, be it starter or both relievers. This Ospreys team is putting on an offensive clinic - they already have 11 hits through 3 2/3 innings.
Edmondson walks the next hitter, and this home crowd is eerily silent as Edmondson gives up another base hit and run. I don't think anyone was expecting this kind of performance from the Gators. Normally, a pitcher would get taken out in these circumstances. But with the pitching so thin tonight, they're going to late Edmondson take the hit to his ERA.
A fly ball to left field ends the inning, and not a moment too soon for Gators fans.
END THIRD
Adams starts the Gators' third inning off right, banging a double into the right-center field gap. He didn't seem to have any trouble running the bases with his ankle taped up. Bamberg, still in the game as a DH, moves Adams to third with a fly out to center field.
Townsend is up next, and he falls behind 0-2 very quickly. As Franzese goes to get a new ball from the umpire, the hecklers make fake crying noises. The new ball certainly worked well for the Osprey, as he strikes out Townsend on the next pitch.
Brandon McArthur is on a nine game hitting streak now, as he scores Adams from third with a single through the right side.
Pigott can't keep things going, however, as he grounds out to second base.
MID THIRD
An update on the Zimmerman bingo game: he lost. He wasn't one of the first few fans to get bingo, though he only needed an error to get a bingo.
Tony Davis gets off to a bad start in the third, hitting a batter and then giving up a double to put runners on second and third with no outs. As punishment, O'Sullivan takes him out and puts in Josh Edmondson, who is consistently one of the Gators' best relievers, though his intro song - "Enter Sandman" - is a tad cliche.
Edmondson comes in and promptly walks the next Osprey, putting him into a bigger jam by loading the bases. He follows that with a wild pitch, scoring the runner from third.
Finally, something good for UF in the inning, as Edmondson gets a line out right to Figueroa. No other Gators are covering bases, however, and he can't get a double play.
The next pitch goes down the left field line for a two-run double, giving the Ospreys a 7-4 lead.
A fly out and a ground out back to Edmondson end the inning.
END SECOND
UF gets off the schneid, getting a hit from Jon Townsend up the middle. Brandon McArthur follows that with a great smack from the middle of the bat, but UNF's right fielder makes a fantastic catch running backward and falls down, using the right-field wall as his brace.
There is a worker fixing the scoreboard out in right field, and the hecklers have caught on to him, chanting "Fix the scoreboard!" over and over again. As they chant that, they miss Jonathan Pigott striking out. Even though Franzese is a very slow worker, he's getting the job done against the Gators.
Hampton Tignor makes his first appearance in the lineup in a while, and Townsend moves to second on a wild pitch. The wild pitch proves to be costly, as Tignor hits a single into right field and scores Townsend to get UF going in the runs column.
Barnes steps in for his second at-bat of the night, and hits a single, putting two on base. Then, the Gators are instantly back in this game, as den Dekker smacks a three-run homer and ties the game. The UNF right fielder stood still as the ball came off the bat, then took a few futile steps backward and watch the ball sail over his head.
After a mound conference, the Ospreys get out of the inning with a Figueroa flyout to center field.
MID SECOND
Bamberg again gets a shaky start to the inning, allowing an Osprey to get a hit into right field. This looks a lot like last night's game in that leadoff batters from the opposition are getting on every inning.
Mike Smith, UNF's next batter, shows off his "The Matrix" moves, bending backward like Neo to avoid a pitch to the face. On the next pitch, he smacks a two-run homer to left-center field. Brandon Zimmerman happily checks off the "2-run homerun" box on his bingo card. Bamberg is anything but happy.
Bamberg does show calm, however, and strikes out the next UNF batter swinging. Zimmerman now just needs a triple play for bingo.
The next batter, TJ Thompson, gets his second hit of the evening, and O'Sullivan comes to the mound to take Bamberg out of the game. He'll probably still stay in as the designated hitter, however.
Tony Davis is coming in to get the Gators out of some trouble. They need the help right now. Brandon Zimmerman gets another box filled on his bingo card - pitching change.
Davis' first opponent hits a bloop single over Adams' head, and Thompson moves to third. Davis gets the next batter to pop out to right field, and the ball wasn't deep enough to score Thompson from third base.
After getting ahead of the next Osprey 0-2, Davis allows a single through the right side, scoring Thompson and making the Ospreys' lead four.
UNF gets another hard-hit ball into the outfield, but this one is right at Pigott. The Gators have got to be happy that they're done with that inning.
END FIRST
Avery Barnes leads off, as he does every game, and this time hits the ball very hard to center field. However, UNF's center fielder barely had to move, and the Gators go down an out right away.
To the sound of great heckling, Franzese walks Matt den Dekker on four straight pitches. The hecklers are in rare form tonight, and are being heard very clearly because of how sparse the crowd is.
Figueroa, as usual, is UF's third batter, but he doesn't see a pitch for a long time, as Franzese throws three straight pitches to first base attempting to pick off den Dekker. After that entire time of looking to den Dekker, he finally throws a pitch to Figueroa: a ball. Make that six in a row as his second pitch for Figueroa is also a ball. The hecklers really get on him, but then he finally throws a strike. After a few more tosses over to first base and a foul ball, Figueroa flies out deep to left field.
Josh Adams, still wearing tape on his ankles, comes up to bat. But it seems Franzese is still more concerned with den Dekker stealing second, as he throws over to first base again. Adams takes a strike, then gets drilled in the back on a curve ball that curved the wrong way.
Up next is the Gators' pitcher, Bamberg. Franzese may be the slowest pitcher I've ever seen. Still, he eventually gets the job done, making Bamberg fly out to right field with two runners on base.
MID FIRST
As good as Bamberg looked in his one batter faced last night, he looks that bad to start the game against the Ospreys. He gives up two base hits, though the balls were not hit very hard at all. The first one was a ground ball slowly rolling through the left side and the second was a bloop hit over Cole Figueroa's head at shortstop.
Bamberg does not panic, getting UNF's third batter to strike out looking. There is a bingo game going on in the stadium tonight, with each box in the bingo game containing a baseball play. Brandon Zimmerman of the Gainesville Sun is played, and he already has his "base hit" and "strikeout looking" boxes checked off. I'll keep you updated on his card.
Bamberg then walks his next batter on a 3-1 pitch. Zimmerman checks off his "walk" box. He is now two boxes a way from a vertical bingo in the first column. He needs "3-run homerun" and "error." He has a pretty good shot.
UNF's next batter gets into a 1-2 hole, then hits the weirdest grounder I've ever seen. The ball went about 5 feet from home plate, then rolled backward a few feet and came to a dead stop. The Ospreys' runner at third scored on the play and there was a conference between the umpires to see if the ball hit UNF's batter to cause it to spin like that. They determined there was no misdeed on the play and the run stands.
Bamberg finally gets out of a long first inning, getting TJ Gaudy to ground out back to him. But the Ospreys score early thanks to a weird grounder.
PRE-GAME
After a disappointing loss to the Seminoles last night, the UF baseball team gets right back to work against the North Florida Ospreys tonight. UF puts Dustin Bamberg on the mound tonight and he will also stay as the team's designated hitter.
The Ospreys are sending out Antonio Frenzese (1-0, 6.06) to pitch, and he will have his hands full if this UF team gets back to its normal offensive form. The only change in the Gators' lineup is Hampton Tignor behind the plate instead of Buddy Munroe. Munroe did have one of UF's two RBIs last night, but for some reason, UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan is putting Tignor in instead.
The game is scheduled to start in about five minutes, and I'll get back to you after the first half-inning.
