JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville University baseball fell to the #2/#6 Florida Gators on Tuesday night 18-8 at John Sessions Stadium.
The Dolphins (5-4) hit three home runs on the night, but could not ultimately keep pace with the Gators offensively.
Bryce Fisher started the ballgame for the Dolphins, going 4.2 innings and registering five strikeouts.
Following a scoreless first inning, the Gators grabbed the bats for the second time. A one-out hit batsman and an error on a deep fly ball to left field put runners on second and third with one away. On a slow roller to third, the Gators scored to make it 1-0 on the 5-3 put out for the second out of the inning. Fisher got his second strikeout to end the inning.
A one-out hit for the Gators in the top of the fourth had Florida aboard. That was followed by a ground ball between the 3-4 holes that put runners at the corners. A sacrifice bunt by the Gators' nine-hole hitter made it 2-0 Florida. An error by the Dolphin's third baseman allowed another run to score for the Gators to make it 3-0. A bloop single into center field that led to an error plated another, making it 4-0 Florida. A grounder to the first baseman,
Hogan McIntosh, got the Dolphins out of the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning,
Chandler Howard blasted his third home run of the season over the right field wall to cut the Gators' lead to 4-1.
After two-out hit batsmen in the top of the fifth,
Tommy Allman came in to relieve Fisher and a tap into no-man's land for an infield hit loaded the bases for Florida. A walk to the nine-hole hitter brought a run in to make it 5-1 Florida. A grand slam by the Florida lead-off man gave Florida a comfortable 9-1 lead.
Jacksonville rallied in the fifth. A deep fly ball to left field off the bat off
Colin Wetterau fell for an error as he coasted into second base. A ground out moved Wetterau to third and a base hit to center by
Elias Flowers scored the run to cut the Gator lead to 9-2. After
Chase Malloy was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second with one-out,
Cam Ridley blasted his second home run of the season to make it 9-5.
Kris Armstrong then dug in and hit a home run over the center field wall to go back-to-back and make it 9-6 Gators. The Gators settled down and retired the next two batters to preserve the lead, but it was a huge inning for the Dolphins.
A lead-off home run in the top of the sixth for Florida gave the Gators a four-run lead, 10-6. Allman settled down after giving up the home run, picking up his second strikeout of the night.
A lead-off triple put Florida back on the base paths in the top of the seventh. Following a pair of groundouts, a two-out home run for Florida extended its lead to 12-6.
Malloy led off the home half of the seventh with a base hit and he advanced to second on a wild pitch. A double by McIntosh scored Malloy making it 12-7 Gators.
Chandler Howard kept the hit parade going with an RBI base hit to cut the Florida lead to four runs, 12-8.
Florida added two more in the eight and scored four in the ninth.
ON DECK
Jacksonville travels to Gainesville for the second and final game of the midweek matchups against Florida. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
THREE STRIKES
- Cam Ridley blasted his second homer in as many games, and has already topped his home run total from last season
- Chase Malloy was hit by the 20th pitch of his JU career in the fifth
- Hogan McIntosh, Chandler Howard and Colin Wetterau all recorded multi-hit games
