Brady McConnell turned on a ball and sent it to the bleachers in left field to put an end to Jacksonville’s comeback in the seventh inning.
Florida held a nine-run lead just two innings prior but had allowed the Dolphins to work their way within three runs.
That two-run home run put the game out of reach.
No. 14 UF staved off multiple rallies by JU to hold on for its second-straight win.
Florida clinched the season series over Jacksonville with a 13-8 victory at home, concluding its 14-game homestand.
“Offensively we were solid tonight,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “But the disappointing part is the bullpen, we continued to give up rebound runs.”
The Gators’ lively bats allowed them to put the game out of reach early.
Nelson Maldonado started the scoring with an RBI single in the first, plating Jacob Young. Maldonado continues to be UF’s most reliable hitter. The senior captain went 3 for 5 on the night, continuing a 15-game tear in which he’s hitting .490 (27-55).
Kendrick Calilao later hit an RBI single to score McConnell. Calilao finished 1 for 2 and added another RBI in the third inning, his team-leading 28th. Maldonado later came around to score on a wild pitch to give the Gators a 3-0 lead after the first.
UF (16-7) scored five more runs in the third and fourth innings to take a commanding 8-0 lead.
It built such a lead in part because of Nolan Crisp’s execution on the mound.
The freshman excelled in his first start, earning the win and bouncing back from his worst outing of the season against FSU. Crisp walked three batters and allowed three runs in just one relief inning in the win over the Seminoles on March 12.
He held Jacksonville (12-9) to just one hit in four innings and finished with two strikeouts.
“Very efficient,” O’Sullivan said of Crisp. “Probably one of the biggest reasons we won this ballgame.”
When Crisp was replaced by Ben Specht in the fifth inning, the Dolphins offense began stringing together hits. Specht loaded the bases and allowed back-to-back RBI singles with two outs to put an end to the shutout.
Still, Florida led 8-2.
UF built on that lead in the fifth inning, beginning with a solo home run by Austin Langworthy, his third of the year.
Langworthy’s homer began a string of four consecutive hits by the Gators. Brady Smith doubled. Young singled. And McConnell singled to score Smith. Young later scored the 11th run of the night for Florida on a Maldonado sacrifice fly.
Nick Blasucci, who followed Specht out of the bullpen, allowed a three-run homer to JU’s Duncan Hunter to cut the deficit to 11-5 in the sixth inning.
In the following inning, John Cassala got a hold of a ball off Justin Alintoff for a three-run homer, narrowing the gap to three runs.
Florida’s bullpen struggled in relief of Crisp. After four scoreless innings to begin the game, Specht, Blassuci and Alintoff allowed eight runs on nine hits to let Jacksonville back into the game. Albeit, Alintoff earned his first save of the season.
It was McConnell’s home run that put the game away.
The top of the order excelled against Jacksonville, after everyone, other than Maldonado, struggled against Mississippi State. Young, McConnell, Maldonado and Calilao hit 10 for 14 with eight runs scored and nine RBIs between them.
UF will look to carry that offensive momentum into its first road series of the season against No. 8 Vanderbilt beginning Thursday night.
“We knew that this win was really going to affect us going into the weekend,” McConnell said. “Especially after we dropped two with Mississippi State, that we needed this win.”
Follow Kyle Wood on Twitter @Kkylewood and contact him at kwood@alligator.org.
Florida second baseman and center fielder Jacob Young went 3 for 4 in UF's 13-8 win over Jacksonville on Tuesday at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium.
