Trailing 8-5 with the bases loaded and just one out, third baseman Dale Thomas stepped up to the plate.
Five pitches later, he struck out.
Then, Florida catcher Tanner Garrison got his opportunity.
Five pitches later, he also struck out.
The Gators left 12 runners on base Saturday night and failed several times to plate runs throughout the game.
No. 8 Florida (11-7, 1-1 SEC) failed to score after the third inning and lost to the No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies (18-1, 1-1 SEC) 10-6 Saturday night at Condron Family Ballpark.
Gators freshman starting pitcher Liam Peterson lasted just 35 pitches.
After a three run first inning, the right-hander was taken off the mound after surrendering back-to-back home runs and a single in the top of the third inning to make it a 5-3 ballgame. Despite making a change, the outcome only worsened.
Freshman righty Alex Philpott tossed two consecutive walks to load up the bases, and the Aggies pushed three runs home on a walk and two sacrifice groundouts.
“We’re really close,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We’re really close to being the team that I think we can be. It’s just that we’re going through some growing pains with the young arms.”
Florida’s young bullpen showed some resilience in the middle innings, and a couple of freshman pitchers had solid outings.
Freshman lefty Robert Satin pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning with some help from his defense.
Gators first baseman Jac Caglianone secured the first out in stellar fashion. He ranged nearly 50 feet behind the first base bag and narrowly missed the wall to make an over-the-head catch for the first out of the inning.
“Everybody gets enamored by his strength and his power,” O’Sullivan said. “But his defense, at least from my standpoint, it’s not overlooked at all. He’s extremely good defensively.”
Satin pitched one more clean inning and set up freshman right-hander Grayson Smith, who worked a 1-2-3 sixth and struck out three batters an inning later.
However, the Gators’ pitching success went to waste due to several missed opportunities from its offense.
With the bases loaded and just one out in the seventh inning, third baseman Dale Thomas and catcher Tanner Garrison both struck out. One inning later, designated hitter Luke Heyman grounded into a double play with two runners on to end the inning.
The Aggies eventually sealed the contest with a two-run ninth inning to extend their lead to 10-5. Florida added a run on a sacrifice fly in the ninth but left two runners on to end the contest.
The Gators will resume their weekend series against the Aggies at 1 p.m Sunday. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
“I feel good about going into tomorrow,” O’Sullivan said. “Our main guys are rested and ready to go… We’re gonna put this one behind us and get ready to play tomorrow.”
Contact Luke Adragna at ladragna@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @lukeadrag.
Luke Adragna is a third-year journalism student and the Florida Gators football reporter at The Alligator. He is a cat ethusiast and completes the NYT Daily Mini in less than a minute each day.
