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Thursday, March 28, 2024

After Friday disaster, Florida’s bullpen battles back

A combined two-hitter on Saturday and no runs in the final six innings Sunday a harbinger for the Gators — and their opponents

<p>Outfielder Kendrick Calilao runs out of the batters box Mar. 14 against Jacksonville. The sophomore is one of just two Florida players without an error this season</p>

Outfielder Kendrick Calilao runs out of the batters box Mar. 14 against Jacksonville. The sophomore is one of just two Florida players without an error this season

When the visiting Jacksonville Dolphins stormed the grass of Florida Ballpark Friday night, the Gators’ bullpen appeared rudderless, far from ready for conference competition.

Florida led 4-2 after six innings, but the arms and the gloves faltered from there. Across the final three innings, Jacksonville reeled in eight runs on nine hits, three sacrifice flies and a quartet of Florida fielding errors.

Neither of these flaws were unforeseen looking back at the beginning of the season. 

In the first 15 games, the Gators committed 21 errors, including four games with three or more. Second-year shortstop Josh Rivera and freshman Colby Halter were the biggest culprits with six and four respectively. Two of Halter’s came Friday at second base. Only two Gators, center fielder Jud Fabian and outfielder Kendrick Calilao, haven’t committed an error.

On the mound, Florida allowed an average 2.07 runs in the final three innings of games. The number skyrockets to 2.5 per game ignoring sweep over then-winless Florida A&M. Jacksonville’s closing flurry was the fifth time in 2021 the Gators surrendered four or more runs in the closing four innings. 

The rest of the weekend, the Gators flexed their strengths and honed their weaknesses. The bullpen showed a promising sign of life in what became a complete performance.

Florida’s bats remain on fire. The offense hung 23 runs on the Dolphins in three days and smashed nine home runs, including five from Rivera and third baseman Kirby McMullen. The Gators average more than eight runs a game and scored less than five one time in the first 17 games.

The starting pitching continued to improve. Jack Leftwich allowed two hits and surrendered no runs Saturday. The right-hander struck out 21 batters against just eight hits and three earned runs his last three trips to the mound and lowered his ERA to 1.82. 

He’s not even the only Florida starter with a sub-2.00 ERA, as Tommy Mace sits at 1.96 following a seven-strikeout, two-run performance in five innings Friday. The slightly more mercurial second-year southpaw Hunter Barco owns a 5.95 ERA through four starts, but he struck out 29 batters in 19.2 innings on the mound, and the three weekend starters boast a combined 8-1 record.

The real excitement of the weekend came in the closing innings, when the Gator bullpen strung together two scoreless outings for the first time all year. 

Freshman Jordan Carrion and second-year Brandon Sproat closed out Leftwich’s gem Saturday, not allowing a single base runner between them in the final three innings. Sunday, tortured reliever Franco Aleman finally exorcised early-season demons with just one hit in 2.2 scoreless innings to relieve Barco.

The Gators didn’t solve every equation against Jacksonville. They had an error each of the two games, still leaving them with five games all year without a blemish.

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But back-to-back days of strong bullpen work, from pitchers either previously unheralded like Carrion or unsuccessful like Aleman, is nothing to turn one’s nose up at. 

Time will tell if the shutouts foreshadowed form. With a rivalry game against Florida State Tuesday and the beginning of SEC play Thursday, it will tell quite soon. 

Contact Ryan Haley at rhaley@alligator.org or follow him on Twitter @ryan_dhaley

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Ryan Haley

Ryan Haley, a UF journalism senior with a sports & media specialization from Jacksonville, Florida, is Summer 2022's Engagement Managing Editor. He grew up playing a bunch of different sports before settling on golf, following Rory McIlroy and all Philadelphia sports teams. He also loves all things fiction, reading, watching shows and movies and talking about whatever current story or character is in his head.

DM Ryan on Twitter or shoot him an email.


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