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For the first time since a contentious meeting in 2017, the Florida Gators faced the Stetson Hatters on Wednesday night. The Gators came back from a 5-0 deficit and defeated the Hatters, 10-7.

The two teams met in 2017 (Florida’s national championship season) at McKethan Stadium, and Stetson jumped out to a 10-1 lead before mother nature roared her ugly head, forcing a rain delay that lasted nearly two hours. According to Stetson, Florida refused to complete the game and also refused several attempts to complete the game at a later date.

Wednesday’s contest started eerily similarly with the Hatters quickly leading 5-0 through just two innings of play.

Freshman Timmy Manning got his first career start, but struggled with his command. Manning was tagged for five earned runs in 1.2 innings of work, before turning the game over to his bullpen.

The Florida bullpen was sterling, though. Six relievers combined to throw 7.1 innings allowing just two runs on six hits and allowed the Gators to chip away at the deficit.

And the Gators did so rather quickly. The Gators scores two in the third and Jacob Young added a solo homer in the fourth inning. The Florida offense erupted over the fifth and sixth innings for seven runs and the lead. Kris Armstrong led off the fifth with a solo homer before Young reached with an RBI double that scored Kendrick Calilao. Nathan Hickey plated a pair with a two-out single to left. Florida closed the fifth with a 7-5 lead.

Young opened the scoring in the sixth with a sacrifice fly that scored Colby Halter. Jud Fabian followed with a double to left center that scored Jordan Carrion. Fabian reached third on an error and scored on a Hickey single to right-center to increase the lead to 10-5.

Stetson’s Brandon Hylton helped the Hatters close the gap with an RBI double in the seventh and a solo homer in the ninth, but Stetson could get no closer.

Pitching Decision:

• W: Brandon Sproat (2-0)
• L: Nick Chiseri (0-1)

Individual Stats:

• Hickey: 4-5, 3 RBI, R
• Young: 3-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Halter: 2-4, 2B, BB, R

What’s Next:

Florida (11-3) will open a weekend series against Jacksonville. The series kicks off on Friday at 6:30 PM.

The Dolphins are 3-8 on the season but are coming off a sweep of Wofford at home.