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Florida is finding different ways to lose each game this season. In the first half of a doubleheader on Friday, the Gators blew a four-run lead over the final two innings and the Ole Miss Rebels walked it off, 10-9.
Liam Peterson returned to the Florida rotation, making his first start in two weeks, and showed some rust. He walked just one batter but allowed five runs on seven hits through 4 1/3 innings. Jake Clemente came out for a long relief outing and was excellent his first time through the order. Clemente allowed just one baserunner on an error through 2 2/3 innings with four strikeouts, but things fell apart in the eighth and ninth.
Clemente came back out in the eighth in line for the win following a Brendan Lawson grand slam that put the Gators out in front by four. Lawson also got ejected for spiking his bat toward the Ole Miss dugout and yelling in that direction. He should get to play the second half of the doubleheader with an appeal, but he'll likely miss the midweek game if it's upheld, which it should be.
Ole Miss strung together three singles and a walk in the eighth to cut the lead to two, and Clemente got the hook after walking the first two guys he saw in the ninth. Jackson Barberi came in to secure Florida's first SEC win of the season, but a walk to load the bases foreshadowed the disaster to come. Will Furniss doubled down the right field line to tie the game with no out and keep two runners in scoring position, so Kevin O'Sullivan intentionally walked the next batter to set up a force out at home.
Barberi got the force play to home, but a long fly ball to right field drove in the deciding run. Ashton Wilson had a chance to gun down the runner at the plate, but his throw was up the third base line and Luke Heyman had no chance to make a tag.
It's hard to pin this loss on the pitching staff, though. Walking the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth isn't good, but Clemente had been strong for most of the night and deserved the chance to finish it off. Florida's offense isn't really at fault, either. They finally provided some decent run support for their pitchers, and the Lawson grand slam felt like a dagger. Justin Nadeau walked three times in the leadoff spot, and Heyman hit an early home run.
There aren't silver linings after extending a losing streak against conference opponents to eight games, but Ole Miss used up a lot of bullpen arms in the comeback win. There's a chance that Florida wins the final game of the three-game set, but another weekend series loss isn't good for the resume if this team is going to turn things around and make a bid for the postseason.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida baseball drops eighth straight SEC game in walk-off loss
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Liam Peterson returned to the Florida rotation, making his first start in two weeks, and showed some rust. He walked just one batter but allowed five runs on seven hits through 4 1/3 innings. Jake Clemente came out for a long relief outing and was excellent his first time through the order. Clemente allowed just one baserunner on an error through 2 2/3 innings with four strikeouts, but things fell apart in the eighth and ninth.
Clemente came back out in the eighth in line for the win following a Brendan Lawson grand slam that put the Gators out in front by four. Lawson also got ejected for spiking his bat toward the Ole Miss dugout and yelling in that direction. He should get to play the second half of the doubleheader with an appeal, but he'll likely miss the midweek game if it's upheld, which it should be.
Ole Miss strung together three singles and a walk in the eighth to cut the lead to two, and Clemente got the hook after walking the first two guys he saw in the ninth. Jackson Barberi came in to secure Florida's first SEC win of the season, but a walk to load the bases foreshadowed the disaster to come. Will Furniss doubled down the right field line to tie the game with no out and keep two runners in scoring position, so Kevin O'Sullivan intentionally walked the next batter to set up a force out at home.
Barberi got the force play to home, but a long fly ball to right field drove in the deciding run. Ashton Wilson had a chance to gun down the runner at the plate, but his throw was up the third base line and Luke Heyman had no chance to make a tag.
It's hard to pin this loss on the pitching staff, though. Walking the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth isn't good, but Clemente had been strong for most of the night and deserved the chance to finish it off. Florida's offense isn't really at fault, either. They finally provided some decent run support for their pitchers, and the Lawson grand slam felt like a dagger. Justin Nadeau walked three times in the leadoff spot, and Heyman hit an early home run.
There aren't silver linings after extending a losing streak against conference opponents to eight games, but Ole Miss used up a lot of bullpen arms in the comeback win. There's a chance that Florida wins the final game of the three-game set, but another weekend series loss isn't good for the resume if this team is going to turn things around and make a bid for the postseason.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida baseball drops eighth straight SEC game in walk-off loss
Continue reading...
