BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 4 Florida Gators hit three home runs and held off a late chance at Olsen Magic by the Texas A&M Aggies in a 6-5 win on Friday night at Blue Bell Park.
Cade Kurland broke a 5-5 tie with an opposite-field solo home run with one out in the seventh inning to put the Gators (37-10, 15-7 SEC) in front, and three bullpen arms took it the rest of the way for Florida.
Things got interesting in the ninth when the Aggies (26-20, 9-13 SEC) put a pair of runners on base with two outs after free passes were issued to both Hunter Haas and Trevor Werner, but Florida stopper Brandon Neely got Jace LaViolette to line out to shortstop to end the rally.
Werner finished 2-for-4 with a double and a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth that tied the game at 4-4 at the time. Nathan Dettmer was solid in the start, going 5.0 innings with four runs allowed on five hits and three strikeouts.
The loss went to reliever Brandyn Garcia who struck out a pair in 2.0 innings of work, but two of the three hits he allowed left the yard as solo homers off the bats of BT Riopelle and Kurland.
Ryan Slater moved to 7-0 for the Gators with the win, while Neely notched his 10th save of the year with his scoreless ninth.
TOP AGGIE PERFORMERS
Trevor Werner – 2-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, BB, 1 R
Max Kaufer – 2-for-3, 1 R
Jace LaViolette – 1-for-5, HR, RBI
Evan Aschenbeck – 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
UP NEXT
The Aggies will look to even the series with the Gators on Saturday in the middle game of the weekend. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. and will be aired on SEC Network with Dave Neal and Chris Burke on the call. The game will also be aired locally on 1150 AM / 93.7 FM The Zone with Andrew Monaco and Rody Barker in the booth.
GAME SUMMARY
T2 | UF 2, A&M 0
Florida opened up the scoring in the top of the second when BT Riopelle put a two-run homer just out of the reach of Kasen Wells in right field for his eighth dinger of the year.
T3 | UF 3, A&M 0
One inning later the Gators tacked on another score, getting one-out singles from Cade Kurland and Wyatt Langford to put runners on the corners. One batter later Jac Caglianone picked up the RBI with a grounder to shortstop.
T4 | UF 4, A&M 0
The Gators built the lead to 4-0 with another run in the fourth, taking advantage of a leadoff walk to Riopelle. Luke Heyman pushed him up 90 feet with a single and Colby Halter pushed forward both runners with a sac bunt. Tyler Shelnut then plated Riopelle with a sacrifice fly to left field.
B4 | UF 4, A&M 1
It took just one pitch for the Aggies to get the run back in the fourth as Jace LaViolette blasted the first pitch of the inning out to left-center field for a solo homer, his 12th of the year.
B5 | A&M 4, UF 4
Texas A&M was able to draw even with one big swing from Trevor Werner in the seventh inning. Max Kaufer and Hunter Haas each singled with one out to get on and two batters later Werner ambushed the first pitch he saw from Gator starter Brandon Sproat for a three-run homer that knotted things at 4-4.
T6 | UF 5, A&M 4
Riopelle struck again in the sixth to put the Gators back on top, homering to the near exact spot to lead off the Florida half of the inning.
B6 | A&M 5, UF 5
A one-out single by Ryan Targac and a walk to Jordan Thompson started something for A&M in the sixth, and the Aggies cashed in on the first Florida miscue of the game, an error by shortstop Josh Rivera, to score Targac and tie it up.
T7 | UF 6, A&M 5
Another solo homer proved costly for the Aggies in the seventh as Kurland sent a solo shot into the right-field bullpen to surge the Gators back in front by a run.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle
On the Team's Performance in Game One …
"I thought we played really well. That's as good a game as we've played the entire season. That's what I told the team. One thing you can do in this game is play well and lose. It's sure a lot better than playing poorly and losing. I would take a better result but we're fighting neck and neck with a top five team in the country, and you get to the bottom of the ninth in your ballpark with a guy on base down a run with Jack Moss, Trevor Werner and Jace LaViolette up… you take that situation every day. The only way this game hurts us is if we carry it into tomorrow. We need to carry the fact that we played really well into tomorrow and we'll be fine."
Junior Infielder Trevor Werner
On How the Team will Move on from this Game …
"We hung up there with one of the best teams in the country. I feel like that was one of the best games we played all year. Coach told us after the game that that's what a regional or superregional looks like, the crowd and the back-and-forth game. That's only going to make us stronger as we move forward."
Junior Pitcher Nathan Dettmer
On Winning the Free-Bases …
"When we win the free-base war, we usually win the game. When we give the offense a chance and limit those free bases where we've been struggling, that's the key to winning. Even though this one didn't turn out, when we keep pitching like that, we're gonna give our team a chance."
Cade Kurland broke a 5-5 tie with an opposite-field solo home run with one out in the seventh inning to put the Gators (37-10, 15-7 SEC) in front, and three bullpen arms took it the rest of the way for Florida.
Things got interesting in the ninth when the Aggies (26-20, 9-13 SEC) put a pair of runners on base with two outs after free passes were issued to both Hunter Haas and Trevor Werner, but Florida stopper Brandon Neely got Jace LaViolette to line out to shortstop to end the rally.
Werner finished 2-for-4 with a double and a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth that tied the game at 4-4 at the time. Nathan Dettmer was solid in the start, going 5.0 innings with four runs allowed on five hits and three strikeouts.
The loss went to reliever Brandyn Garcia who struck out a pair in 2.0 innings of work, but two of the three hits he allowed left the yard as solo homers off the bats of BT Riopelle and Kurland.
Ryan Slater moved to 7-0 for the Gators with the win, while Neely notched his 10th save of the year with his scoreless ninth.
TOP AGGIE PERFORMERS
Trevor Werner – 2-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, BB, 1 R
Max Kaufer – 2-for-3, 1 R
Jace LaViolette – 1-for-5, HR, RBI
Evan Aschenbeck – 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
UP NEXT
The Aggies will look to even the series with the Gators on Saturday in the middle game of the weekend. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. and will be aired on SEC Network with Dave Neal and Chris Burke on the call. The game will also be aired locally on 1150 AM / 93.7 FM The Zone with Andrew Monaco and Rody Barker in the booth.
GAME SUMMARY
T2 | UF 2, A&M 0
Florida opened up the scoring in the top of the second when BT Riopelle put a two-run homer just out of the reach of Kasen Wells in right field for his eighth dinger of the year.
T3 | UF 3, A&M 0
One inning later the Gators tacked on another score, getting one-out singles from Cade Kurland and Wyatt Langford to put runners on the corners. One batter later Jac Caglianone picked up the RBI with a grounder to shortstop.
T4 | UF 4, A&M 0
The Gators built the lead to 4-0 with another run in the fourth, taking advantage of a leadoff walk to Riopelle. Luke Heyman pushed him up 90 feet with a single and Colby Halter pushed forward both runners with a sac bunt. Tyler Shelnut then plated Riopelle with a sacrifice fly to left field.
B4 | UF 4, A&M 1
It took just one pitch for the Aggies to get the run back in the fourth as Jace LaViolette blasted the first pitch of the inning out to left-center field for a solo homer, his 12th of the year.
B5 | A&M 4, UF 4
Texas A&M was able to draw even with one big swing from Trevor Werner in the seventh inning. Max Kaufer and Hunter Haas each singled with one out to get on and two batters later Werner ambushed the first pitch he saw from Gator starter Brandon Sproat for a three-run homer that knotted things at 4-4.
T6 | UF 5, A&M 4
Riopelle struck again in the sixth to put the Gators back on top, homering to the near exact spot to lead off the Florida half of the inning.
B6 | A&M 5, UF 5
A one-out single by Ryan Targac and a walk to Jordan Thompson started something for A&M in the sixth, and the Aggies cashed in on the first Florida miscue of the game, an error by shortstop Josh Rivera, to score Targac and tie it up.
T7 | UF 6, A&M 5
Another solo homer proved costly for the Aggies in the seventh as Kurland sent a solo shot into the right-field bullpen to surge the Gators back in front by a run.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle
On the Team's Performance in Game One …
"I thought we played really well. That's as good a game as we've played the entire season. That's what I told the team. One thing you can do in this game is play well and lose. It's sure a lot better than playing poorly and losing. I would take a better result but we're fighting neck and neck with a top five team in the country, and you get to the bottom of the ninth in your ballpark with a guy on base down a run with Jack Moss, Trevor Werner and Jace LaViolette up… you take that situation every day. The only way this game hurts us is if we carry it into tomorrow. We need to carry the fact that we played really well into tomorrow and we'll be fine."
Junior Infielder Trevor Werner
On How the Team will Move on from this Game …
"We hung up there with one of the best teams in the country. I feel like that was one of the best games we played all year. Coach told us after the game that that's what a regional or superregional looks like, the crowd and the back-and-forth game. That's only going to make us stronger as we move forward."
Junior Pitcher Nathan Dettmer
On Winning the Free-Bases …
"When we win the free-base war, we usually win the game. When we give the offense a chance and limit those free bases where we've been struggling, that's the key to winning. Even though this one didn't turn out, when we keep pitching like that, we're gonna give our team a chance."