Florida baseball falls short against Kentucky in Game 1
Fresh off a series win over the No. 2 team in the country in Vanderbilt, Florida couldn’t keep that momentum going in the first game of their weekend series against Kentucky on Thursday night. The Gators overcame a 5-0 deficit to tie the game, but UK pulled out a 7-5 win over No. 10 UF. Now, Florida will have to win on Friday and Saturday to pull out a series victory.
The Gators (31-14, 13-9 SEC) and the Wildcats (27-15, 11-11 SEC) combined for 22 runs and 12 hits, but the game was a pitching duel through the first three innings.
It was a good start to the game on the mound for Florida’s Franco Alemán, who allowed just two hits in the first three innings and no runs. But Kentucky’s Cole Stupp was even better. He gave up just one hit in the first four innings of the game, and with the Wildcats lineup coming up to the plate at the bottom of the fourth, Alemán started to lose control.
He forced a groundout against the leadoff hitter, but after three straight singles loaded the bases, Cam Hill singled to right field to put two runs across. After a passed ball from catcher Nate Hickey, a third run scored.
UF hoped it could limit the damage at that, and it almost did as Alemán forced a strikeout for out three, but it came on a wild pitch. The runner managed to reach first and a run scored, though a second run was thrown out at home to end the frame, but not before UK took a 4-0 lead. In the fifth, the Wildcats got another run on the board with an RBI single.
Florida’s offense finally awoke in the sixth, though. Josh Rivera led off with a double, and a sacrifice fly from Jacob Young brought him home. In the seventh, Jud Fabian and Kris Armstrong led off with base hits to put runners at the corners. A single from Kirby McMullen put a run across, but Strupp looked poised to avert grave danger, forcing two outs.
But he walked Rivera to load the bases, and another walk against Colby Halter brought a run home. That ended Strupp’s night, but his replacement, Alex Degen, gave up a single to Young that scored two more runs and tied the game at five. A strong drive from Hickey to right field on the next at-bat threatened to bring the tying run across, but it was caught for out No. 3.
Trey Van Der Weide entered for Alemán (who allowed 10 hits and five runs in six innings) at the bottom of the seventh, and though one runner reached base against him on a fielding error, he didn’t allow any hits.
The Gators had their best chance to take the lead in the eighth when they loaded the bases with one out. But a pair of strikeouts from Jordan Butler and Rivera ended the threat, and the Wildcats made UF pay for failing to seize the opportunity.
Hill led off the bottom of the inning with a single on a bunt, and a wild pitch moved him to second. After another single, Van Der Weide was pulled for Jack Leftwich, who allowed a single but followed it up with a strikeout. Florida almost escaped without allowing the run, but John Rhodes cracked a two-out single to left field that broke the tie and gave Kentucky a two-run lead.
With UF’s last chance coming at the top of the ninth, Halter and Young struck out. Hickey stepped to the plate as the Gators’ last hope, but he popped up in foul territory for the game’s final out.
The loss is a big-time setback in an SEC series Florida can’t afford to lose. They’ll have to bounce back in Game 2, which starts on Friday at 6:30 p.m. EDT.
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Series Preview: No. 10 Florida heads to Kentucky for three-game tilt
