GAINESVILLE, Fla.- The Jacksonville (8-12) Dolphins defeated the No. 6 Florida (12-8) Gators on Tuesday night by a final score of 7-6.
The Dolphins' two insurance runs in the ninth inning courtesy of
Conner Spelman's two-out single to right field canceled out the two run bottom of the frame for Florida and proved to be the difference as JU completed its biggest win of the season so far.
"It was a huge team effort," said head coach
Chris Hayes postgame. "Everyone in that dugout contributed today. We kept competing and did enough in the end to get the win.
Blake Barquin did a great job giving us enough and shoutout to our bullpen (
Dylan Faulkner,
Divine Valle and Issac Williams) for coming in and securing the win."
Jacksonville came out the gates hot, loading the bases with a
Will Gale walk, a
Blake Edmonds single through the right side and a
Justin Nadeau walk.
Aidan Masters took advantage of the bases loaded and lined a hit up the middle to score Edmonds and Gale, giving the Dolphins an early 2-0 lead.
Blake Barquin started on the mound for JU, striking out two Gator batters.
After a scoreless second inning, Jacksonville came up to bat looking to add to their lead. After a pair of base hits by
Blake Edmonds and
Josh Steidl, Masters drove in another run to make the lead 3-0 Dolphins.
The Gators would respond quickly in the bottom of the third, with a two-run homer by Caglianone and a two-RBI double, giving Florida the lead 4-3 in the bottom of the third. Jacksonville was quick to respond, loading the bases with a
Cade Hentz base hit, a
Will Gale walk and
Blake Edmonds getting hit by pitch.
Justin Nadeau took advantage of the opportunity and singled in Hentz to tie it up at 4-4.
Josh Steidl came up to the plate and broke the tie off of a groundout to first, giving the Dolphins a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth.
Blake Barquin pitched three innings, struck out four and gave up two walks and four earned runs. He was given a no-decision.
Dylan Faulkner came into to relieve Barquin and made an immediate impact with three straight outs including one punch-out. After a scoreless top of the fifth by Jacksonville, Faulkner continued to throw heat with another strikeout and an inning ending 6-4-3 double play.
The score would remain 5-4 through the top of the seventh.
Divine Valle came out of the bullpen to relieve
Dylan Faulkner. Faulkner (1-0) was given the win after pitching 3.0 innings, walking three Gators, and striking out three.
Valle cruised through the bottom of the seventh and eighth giving up zero hits. The score remained 5-4 heading into the top of the ninth, with the Dolphins looking to add some insurance runs. Base hits from Nadeau, Masters, and
Abdriel Delgado loaded the bases for the Dolphins. With two outs and an 0-2 count,
Conner Spelman delivered with a two-RBI base hit up the middle, extending the Jacksonville lead 7-4.
"We came up big when we needed to most," added Hayes. "
Conner Spelman was having a rough day at the plate but came up huge when we needed him, on an 0-2 count, driving in two runs, that was the difference maker for us."
Jack Carver came into the bottom of the ninth looking to close out the Gators. Valle threw two scoreless innings, shutting down the Gator bats with zero hits.
The top-10 ranked Gators weren't ready to roll over though, as a solo Caglianone home run cut the deficit to 7-5 and gave UF newfound momentum. After Carver walked the next Gator batter, the Dolphins went to the bullpen and brought in Issac Williams. Florida inched closer when a Russell single made it 7-6 Jacksonville. Williams locked in and delivered the final out, punching out the final Gator batter to give the Dolphins the win. The redshirt-freshman from Fleming Island earned his third save of the year, giving up only two hits.
"This was another step in our development and growth as a team," said Hayes. "We have to continue to learn how to close out games and this was a huge step for us today being able to finish this game out and get the victory."
Three Strikes
- Jacksonville natives delivered today: Dylan Faulkner (Clay) got the win and Isaac Williams (Fleming Island) earned the save. The last four pitchers for JU, (Faulkner, Valle, Carver and Williams) are all Duval natives.
- Cade Hentz was dominant all night, reaching base in all five at-bats, which included four base hits.
- Aidan Masters had a season-high three RBIs on the night.
On Deck:
The Dolphins travel to Louisville, Kentucky this weekend to take on Bellarmine in the second conference weekend series of the season. First pitch of game one will be at 2:30 PM on Friday.
