The Gators scored five runs in the eighth and ninth inning to come from behind and take game one against the Bulldogs 7-6. They improve to an impressive 5-2 in SEC play on the season in a solid night for the Gators bullpen.
Evans got the Gators on the board first with a solo homerun in the bottom of the first. Gators up early 1-0.
The Bulldogs responded in the third, tying the game 1-1.
In the bottom of the third, Garrison hit his first homerun as a Gator to take a 2-1 lead.
Mississippi State loaded the bases in the fourth and Cade Fisher took over on the mound. The Bulldogs added four runs, going up 5-2. Neely’s first Friday start of the season ended after 3.1 innings with four strikeouts.
From there, both teams bats were quiet until the seventh inning when the Bulldogs added another run, now up 6-2. Fisher’s day out of the bullpen ended after 3.1 innings and five strikeouts. Fisher Jameson took over for the Gators and then Purnell kept them scoreless in the eighth.
After a quiet few innings for the Gators offense, they were able to get back on the board with an RBI groundout from Shelnut and then an RBI double from Cade Kurland, now only down 6-4.
Luke McNeillie continued to work his magic in the ninth, going 1-2-3, striking out every batter he faced. He has not given up a run in SEC play.
Hayden Yost started the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff single to left field and then Armando Albert walked. Evans brought in a run with two outs on an RBI single to left field, the Gators now only down 6-5. Caglianone singled to load the bases. Tyler Shelnut, the tying run, was walked, and the game was tied 6-6. Kurland hit a single to center field to end the game and score Evans.
The Gators win 7-6 in walk-off fashion to start their series against the Bulldogs. They move to 5-2 in SEC play on the season.
Game two will be 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
ChompTalk.com 
Leave a comment