10:05 pm | May 31, 2019 | Go to Source | Author: Gatorsports
Special to Gatorsports.com
LUBBOCK, Texas — Pitching woes Friday again hurt Florida on the opening day of the NCAA Lubbock Regional.
Four Gators pitchers gave up 17 hits en route to an 11-8 loss to Dallas Baptist, knocking the Gators (33-25) into a 1 p.m. elimination game today against Army (35-25), which lost to Texas Tech, 11-2, earlier Friday. Dallas Baptist (42-18) will play Texas Tech (40-17) at 7 p.m. in a winner’s bracket game.
Dallas Baptist jumped on Florida starter Tommy Mace (8-5) early. After two outs, Jackson Glenn followed a single with a two-run home run for a 2-0 lead.
The Gators quickly tied the score at 2-2 on Cory Acton’s two-run home run in the top of the second.
The Patriots went back up by two with two runs in the bottom of the second, thanks to an RBI double by Blayne Jones and run-scoring single by Bryce Ball to knock Mace out of the game after 1.1 innings. Mace gave up four runs on six hits.
DBU made it 5-2 in the fifth on a RBI single by Andres Sosa before pulling away with two runs in the sixth for a 7-2 advantage.
The Gators, however, wouldn’t go down without a fight, scoring three runs in the seventh inning on Austin Langworthy’s two-out, three-run double after three walks to cut the deficit to 7-5.
Sosa added an insurance run for Dallas Baptist with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh off Ben Specht, who followed Christian Scott in the fifth inning, for an 8-5 lead.
UF made it 8-6 in the eighth after Brady Smith was hit by a pitch, Wil Dalton walked and Kendrick Calilao’s fielder’s choice resulted in a throwing error.
The Patriots again took command with three runs in the home half of the eighth for a 11-6 lead. Catcher Herbert Iser had the big hit, a two-RBI double.
Florida cut the deficit in the ninth on Nelson Maldonado’s RBI single which scored Kirby McMullen, who had doubled, and Dalton’s RBI double that settled the final outcome.
MD Johnson (10-2) won despite allowing six hits and five runs in 6 2/3 innings. Burl Carraway earned his fifth save, getting Calilao on a game-ending lineout to left as the potential tying run after surrendering RBI hits to Maldonado and Dalton.
The Gators lost a regional opener for the first time since 2013. That was also the last time Florida opened the NCAA tournament on the road.
NCAA Lubbock (Texas) Regional
At Rip Griffin Park, Lubbock, Texas
Friday
Texas Tech 11, Army 2
Dallas Baptist 11, Florida 8
Saturday
Game 3 — Army (35-25) vs. Florida (33-25), 1 p.m., AM-850, 98.1-FM
Game 4 — Texas Tech (40-17) vs. Dallas Baptist (42-18), 7 p.m.
Sunday
Game 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 3 p.m.
Game 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 9 p.m.
Monday
x-Game 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 4 p.m.
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