ChompTalk.com

If tonight’s Florida baseball game felt a lot like last year, you’re not alone.

All last season, the Gators pitching staff struggled with bonus at-bats thanks to two-out walks. Friday night, UF walked 10 batters, gave up five runs in two-out situations and fell to Vanderbilt, with a miraculous postseason run like 2024’s seeming increasingly unlikely.

Florida (20-12, 1-9 SEC) fell to No. 23 Vanderbilt (22-8, 5-5 SEC) 6-0 in the series opener.

“I’ve never quite seen anything like this,” said Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan. “This is about as disappointing of a game as I can remember.”

Liam Peterson made his usual Friday start for the Gators. It started with a slight scare as a single, a stolen base and a walk put runners on the corners with two outs. He punched the final out to escape the jam. Florida went up to hit for the first time Friday with a clean slate.

Gators shortstop Colby Shelton would lay down a two-out single for Florida’s first knock, followed by a walk drawn by outfielder Blake Cyr. They’d both end up stranded as Peterson headed back out for the second with the score still knotted at zeroes.

Peterson had a much smoother second frame, retiring the side in order and tossing his second strikeout of the game to hand it back over to UF’s bats.

The Gators put a runner on as Brody Donay walked and stole second. Nobody could hit him around and the game stayed scoreless after two innings as Peterson took the hill once again.

He worked two quick outs with the help of a nice diving catch in center field by Justin Nadeau. Vandy kept the inning alive with a walk before sending another ball into deep center. Nadeau almost made another great grab before colliding with the wall and letting up an RBI triple.

Peterson walked another before picking up the third out. Florida infielder Bobby Boser would single with one out, before Shelton singled behind him but inexplicably turned the corner for second and was thrown out. His choice proved costly as Cyr grounded out at first to end the inning and strand Boser.

After three innings, the Gators trailed 1-0.

Florida’s defense held up behind Peterson, who picked up his third strikeout in the fourth frame, picking up a double play after a successful challenge to end the top fourth without any added insurance for the Commodores. The Gators went 1-2-3 through the bottom frame to end the fourth inning down 4-0.

After letting up his fourth walk of the night to start the fifth inning, Peterson gave up a pair of RBI knocks before closing the frame down 3-0. The Gators would strand two on the bases in the bottom frame to end the fifth inning and send Peterson out for his sixth and final inning.

Peterson picked up his sixth strikeout after a leadoff single, but was pulled for left-handed reliever Jacob Gomberg. The sophomore tossed a four-pitch walk and was quickly swapped for Jake Clemente. The right-handed starter-turned-reliever punched out the last two outs to escape the bases-loaded jam.

“[The pitching] was not good,” said O’Sullivan.

Heyman would lay down a two-out single in the bottom frame but was left stranded. After six innings, the Gators still trailed 3-0. Clemente held firm on the other end for the Gators, stranding two and picking up two Ks in the top seventh. The Gators got nothing in the bottom frame and sent him back out for the eighth inning.

Clemente would let up a leadoff walk in the top frame and was pulled for righty Christian Rodriguez. He’d pick up one out before letting up an RBI single to make way for Jackson Barberi. He let up a 2-RBI single of his own to make it 6-0 after the top eighth.

UF was retired in order to end the eighth inning, and entered the final two frames down 6-0 with Barberi manning the mound. He got through the top frame cleanly, setting up a 6-0 deficit with three outs remaining for Florida. Vanderbilt completed the shutout and the Gators were handed their 12th loss of the season.

“We have to have some urgency,” said O’Sullivan. “I’m upset about it. I’ve been upset about it.”

Florida will look to even up the series tomorrow at 1 p.m. on ESPN SEC Network+.