Florida had a chance to salvage a bad weekend against Florida Gulf Coast.
Second baseman Casey Turgeon led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a single and advanced to third on a pickoff attempt that went into right field. With Turgeon 90 feet from home, Eagles pitcher Harrison Cooney intentionally walked Zack Powers and Justin Shafer to load the bases with no outs.
After two flyouts to center and a fielder’s choice, Cooney got out of the inning unscathed.
"Swings got too big," coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. "We got to stay short to the ball and just hit a fly ball. Just give us a chance to score a run. It’s as simple as that."
The 17th-ranked Gators (3-5) left a season-high 11 runners on base as they fell to the Eagles 7-4 on Sunday at McKethan Stadium.
Florida lost 8-2 on Friday and 8-3 on Saturday.
The series marked the first time UF has been swept since losing a weekend series at Arkansas in 2009.
The Eagles took advantage of the Gators’ squandered opportunity, capitalizing in the top of the 11th.
In his third inning of relief, Shafer retired the leadoff batter before giving up a single to Brandon Bednar and walking pinch hitter Tyler Selesky. Left fielder Sean Dwyer then sent the first pitch he saw over the right field scoreboard.
"I was going to sit off-speed." Dwyer said of his plate approach against Shafer.
"They had been working away all day. Luckily, he left something up. (I) put a good swing on it."
Freshman shortstop Richie Martin said Florida didn’t bounce back as it should have after failing with the bases loaded in the 10th.
"It obviously took some of our tempo," Martin said.
"We had to go back out on defense and perform, but we didn’t do that. It’s put us in another hole."
Sophomores Shafer and Powers led off the sixth inning with back-to-back singles.
After catcher Kevin Stypulkowski advanced them with a bunt, designated hitter Taylor Gushue tied the game 2-2 on a run-scoring single up the middle.
The Gators went up 4-2 when Gushue scored on the first of Vickash Ramjit’s two infield singles and an RBI groundout from center fielder Cody Dent.
The lead would not last. O’Sullivan attempted to get four innings out of reliever Johnny Magliozzi, but the sophomore right-hander ran out of steam in the top of the seventh.
After retiring the first two batters on flyouts to the warning track, he gave up a single to Sean Dwyer and an opposite field two-run home run to Eagles’ first baseman Brooks Beisner, tying the game 4-4.
Beisner finished the series 6 for 12 with two home runs, two doubles and six RBI.
"They hit great," Cooney said of his teammates.
"Squaring a lot of balls up. When we (were) getting guys on, we were getting them over, getting them in."
Florida was not able to do so, but Dent said the team will not panic because of the early struggles.
"It’s a long season," Dent said. "It’s the beginning of the season we have to come out here and work hard. Focus on getting back on track for Tuesday and carry that into the weekend."
Contact Josh Jurnovoy at jjurnovoy@alligator.org.
Senior Vickash Ramjit runs to third base during Florida’s 8-3 loss to Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday at McKethan Stadium. Ramjit had two hits in Florida's 4-1 loss to Indiana on Friday.
