MIAMI – There was no shortage of opportunities for the Gators on Saturday.
Florida had runners in scoring position in seven out of the nine innings, but could only score in two of those frames.
No. 5 UF (6-2) let the game slip through its grasp as it ended up falling to No. 16 Miami (7-2) by a score of 9-6.
“It’s really frustrating,” center fielder Matt den Dekker said. “We have to come up with timely hitting when the game is on the line like that. It’s something that we have to work on.”
After falling behind 2-0 early on, the Gators were able to take a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning after a three-run homer from third baseman Bryson Smith – his first as a Gator.
But that score was short lived as the Hurricanes regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning.. Preston Tucker and Bryson Smith each made an error in the fifth to help prolong the three-run (all unearned) inning for Miami.
“Rebound runs hurt us tonight. Every time we scored, we gave up some,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We have to do a better job on the mound and when we score, we have to put a zero on the board.”
Miami poured it on from there with a three-run homer from right fielder Nathan Melendres in the sixth to increase its lead to 9-3. The dinger came off of struggling relief pitcher Greg Larson, who now has a 14.40 ERA this season.
“He’s got to make the ball sink,” O’Sullivan said. “The ball isn’t sinking and he’s falling behind too much. I think his first-pitch strike percentage is only about 50 percent.”
Even then, the Gators continued to put themselves in position to get back in the game.
After scoring three in the seventh to narrow Miami’s lead to 9-6, Florida had Josh Adams at the plate with runners on first and second base and just one out in the eighth inning. He hit a pop up that was dropped by second baseman Scott Lawson, but it still ended the inning.
An umpire called an infield-fly rule on the play, but UF’s runner on second, Mike Zunino, did not hear the call and was gunned out in his attempt to reach third on the dropped ball.
Florida still has a chance to take the weekend series with a win in Sunday’s game at 3 p.m. Sophomore Tommy Toledo will be on the mound for the Gators.
