On a persistently breezy 53-degree night, the Gators faithful began to file out of the ballpark in bunches. After a quick 1-2-3 seventh inning from Knights reliever Eric Hepple, roughly a third of the 3,253 in attendance had had enough of the cold weather and UF’s cold bats.
Riding the high horse of a seven-game winning streak, UCF trampled over the kings of college baseball’s landscape on Tuesday.
It can be conveyed on a scorecard (FC5U, E5), but it can’t be explained or appreciated there. In the annals of Gators baseball individual plays, perhaps the strangest of them all — FC5U, E5 — now belongs to Wil Dalton.
Nick Horvath’s arm has more range than Madonna’s singing voice.
Wil Dalton was just getting started.
What do the magic bullet theory, particle physics and long-distance relationships have in common?
Ping.
On a chilly Jacksonville evening, a nagging breeze danced across Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium. The wind nudged fly balls around the outfield without favor.
For all his offensive firepower early in the season, Florida second baseman Blake Reese was still learning. His latest lesson came on an unusually warm February Sunday in Coral Gables.
Palm trees bristled and clay clouded the air on Sunday in Coral Gables.
The beginning of game two between the Gators and Hurricanes was less baseball and more slapstick comedy.
Center fielder Nick Horvath coiled his arms into his sides, arched his back and glared at Miami starting pitcher Jeb Bargfeldt. With a runner on first base in the third inning, the Gators were in unfamiliar territory: losing in a baseball game against the Hurricanes.
The 16th and final NCAA baseball regional announced in 2017 was Gainesville. The Gators obviously knew they were in, but in Coral Gables, crowded around a television in the bowels of Mark Light Field, the Hurricanes huddled together and lunged toward the screen in anticipation.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Gators fans started to get restless with Bethune-Cookman pitcher Branden Frank.
Gators pitcher Jack Leftwich had retired his previous 12 batters when FAU second baseman Eric Rivera stepped into the batter’s box to lead off the fifth inning.
Friday is supposed to be Brady Singer’s day, Saturday is supposed to be for Jackson Kowar, and Sunday — Sunday is all about Tyler Dyson. The three titans who form UF’s weekend pitching rotation delivered on making every start about them with solid opening-weekend performances all around. But that was expected.
Sophomore pitcher Tyler Dyson spiked his pitch into the dirt. The ball skipped between the legs of catcher Cal Greenfield and to his right, allowing Siena’s Brendan Conley to advance to third.
Joe Drpich looks more like an offensive lineman than a baseball player.
It started with a fly ball to right field, hanging in the air for about five or six seconds, carrying nothing but Wil Dalton’s pride.
After the ceremonial first pitch from 2017 College World Series MVP Alex Faedo, after unveiling the national championship banner on the left field wall, after all the pomp and circumstance of honoring a year coach Kevin O’Sullivan would like to ignore, the Gators offense was bone dry.
Solutions by The State News
