Florida first baseman Vickash Ramjit struggled in his last weekend at McKethan Stadium.
The senior came into Sunday’s rubber match against Auburn after going 1 for 7 at the plate in the first two games of the series. Ramjit’s batting woes continued for the first seven innings on Sunday – the first sacker went hitless with two strikeouts in his first three at-bats.
But Ramjit had a chance to erase his bad memories in the bottom of the eighth.
Florida scored its first run of the game on a Casey Turgeon double, and Taylor Gushue and Zack Powers worked walks to load the bases, bringing Ramjit to the plate. He didn’t stay there long.
The senior saw three pitches from Auburn right-hander Terrance Dedrick – all strikes. Ramjit walked back to the dugout before third baseman Josh Tobias hit into a fielder’s choice to end the rally and the Gators’ chances to win its final home game of the season.
“That’s baseball; it happens,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.
Florida (28-25, 13-14 Southeastern Conference) went down in order in the ninth to end the game 4-1, dropping the series to Auburn (31-20, 11-16, SEC).
The Gators’ troubles with runners in scoring position began early in the game.
Gushue and right fielder Justin Shafer knocked back-to-back singles with two outs in the first, but designated hitter Zack Powers grounded out to end the inning.
Auburn starter Justin Camp walked nine-hole hitter Cody Dent on five pitches to start the third inning, and center fielder Richie Martin singled. But the middle of the order failed to produce, with Turgeon dropping down a sacrifice bunt and Gushue and Shafer going down in order. The Gators did not get a runner past second again until the eighth inning.
“We just didn’t hit well at all this weekend,” Martin said. “We just couldn’t get the bats going.”
But while the offense struggled at the plate, Florida saw an improved performance from its starting pitcher, freshman Eric Hanhold.
The first-year right-hander had not pitched more than 4.1 innings in a game all season, but gave the Gators five innings of one-run ball on Sunday.
“I felt pretty good,” Hanhold said. “I was just trying to get a good start for us so we could get some momentum.
Hanhold surrendered a leadoff homer to Tigers third baseman Damek Tomscha to start the fifth inning, but he recovered and picked up three fly outs to end his start.
“He’s throwing the ball down hill,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s got three pitches he throws for strikes; he’s got a really good arm … One run over five innings, he did his job.”
But when Hanhold turned the ball over to freshman Jay Carmichael, the Gators got into trouble.
After getting the first out of the sixth, Carmichael beaned Auburn designated hitter Patrick Savage. Carmichael recovered to get a strikeout and induced a ground ball to shortstop, but Dent could not handle the sharp grounder, allowing second baseman Jordan Ebert to reach base.
O’Sullivan brought in left-hander Danny Young to match up against left-handed center fielder Ryan Tella, but the move backfired. Tella launched a home run to right field, giving Auburn a 4-0 lead – an advantage that proved insurmountable for Florida.
“We’ve got to put it behind us; we’ve got to have a good practice tomorrow,” O’Sullivan said.
Contact Adam Lichtenstein at alichtenstein@alligator.org.
First baseman Vickash Ramjit bats during Florida’s 4-0 win against Ole Miss at McKethan Stadium on Sunday. Ramjit went 1 for 11 at the plate against Auburn.
