Miami drops series to heavy-hitting, stellar-pitching No. 4 Florida Gators
Maybe next year.
Miami Hurricanes baseball fell to the No. 4 Florida Gators 8-4 Sunday at a sold-out Mark Light Field, dropping their fifth consecutive home series to UF in Coral Gables since the Canes last won the series at the Light in 2014.
Canes pinch-hitter Dorian Gonzalez Jr. hit a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the eighth to narrow UF’s lead to 6-4, but the Gators came right back in the ninth with a 2-run homer by Colby Shelton for the final score.
“It was a roller coaster of a weekend,’’ UM coach J.D. Arteaga said. “It didn’t start the way we wanted it. That was a great game all the way around yesterday. And today… the long ball hurt us.”
Home runs again were Florida’s friend. The Gators (8-3) hit five home runs Sunday, including two by Shelton. UF smacked nine home runs in all for the three-game series in which UF won the first and final games, with a victory by Miami (6-5) in between.
UM has lost three of its last four games and leads the all-time series, which began in 1940, 135-134-1.
Gators projected top-five MLB draft pick Jac Caglianone, a two-way star, allowed three hits and struck out 11 Hurricanes in six innings en route to his first victory on the mound this season. Offensively, Caglianone was 3 for 4 with a solo home run.
Other than the grand slam, the game was not without drama, punctuated by back-to-back homers and an ejection in the fourth.
With UF up 2-0, Gator Ty Evans led off the fourth with a home run to left-center. Tyler Shelnut followed with a homer to left to make it 4-0. As Shelnut approached first, he flipped his bat way high, looked briefly at the UM dugout and continued rounding the bases. As he was swarmed by teammates near the UF dugout, home plate umpire Brian Miller ejected him for excessive celebration because of the bat flip.
College baseball is cracking down this season on what it considers unsportsmanlike conduct.
“Not a fan of it,’’ Arteaga said of bat flips. “Call me traditional. When the story is the bat flip, me personally, I’d rather the hit, the home run or whatever it is be the talk or the story. Not the bat flip or how you’re wearing your uniform or anything like that. So, no, I’m not a fan of it. I’m glad they are cracking down. It was getting out of hand — and dangerous, to be honest with you.
When you get a big, emotional game and things like that happen, very quickly things can spiral out of control.”
The Gators got off to a good start with two runs in the first.
The Canes? A bad start, as freshman shortstop Antonio Jimenez misplayed Luke Heyman’s hard-hit grounder that ricocheted into the outfield. After the error, cleanup hitter Shelton hit a solo homer to give Florida the unearned runs.
UM’s left-handed junior starter Henrick Hernandez (2-1) allowed five runs — 3 earned — on six hits in five innings. He struck out nines
Arteaga was asked his message to fans: “Same message from Day One. We’re working our tails off and we’re going to get better. It’s right around the corner. We’re going to get to where we need to be.’’
