Florida Gators take down Mississippi State in walk-off fashion

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Through seven innings the Florida Gators had just three hits and trailed No. 21 Mississippi State 6-2. On the year, Florida was just 1-10 when trailing after seven innings. The Gators bucked the trend on Friday night, scoring five unanswered runs over the last two frames to take the series opener, 7-6.

Cade Kurland (2-for-5) was the hero of the night, providing the walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to cement the win. Ty Evans (2-for-4) and Tanner Garrison (2-for-3) homered and drove in two runs apiece in the effort, with the former scoring a team-high three runs.
 
Florida starter Brandon Neely retired the Bulldogs (18-9, 3-4 SEC) in order in the top of the first. Evans made sure the Gators (15-10, 5-2 SEC) did not follow suit, hitting an opposite-field home run over the right-field wall with one out to give UF an early 1-0 lead.
 
Neely blanked Mississippi State in the second before the Bulldogs manufactured one run in the third to knot it up. David Mershon drew a two-out walk, stole second and came home on an RBI single to left-center off the bat of Dakota Jordan.
 
The Gators regained a 2-1 edge in the bottom of the third. Leading off the frame, Garrison deposited a 3-2 pitch onto the left-field berm for his first big fly of the year.
 
The Bulldogs stormed back to take a 5-2 advantage in the top of the fourth. Bryce Chance singled through the right side to score Aaron Downs, followed by a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch of Amani Larry. Mershon then produced a sacrifice fly to center while a bases-loaded walk of Hunter Hines accounted for the inning’s fourth run.

Players of the Game

Cade Kurland: Kurland was 2-5 on the night and called game down 0-2 in the bottom of the ninth with a bases-loaded single up the middle.

Cade Fisher: The sophomore left-hander was moved to the bullpen but didn’t let it affect his performance. Fisher threw 3.1 innings allowing just two hits while striking out five and allowing one run.

Blake Purnell: It may go unnoticed but Purnell’s one inning of work was critical for the Gators. Purnell entered in the eighth inning of a four-run game

Notes

• Friday night’s official attendance was 7,167, marking the 15th-largest crowd in team history.
• The Gators posted their seventh come-from-behind win of the season.
  • It also marked Florida’s second walk-off victory of the campaign.
  • Florida improved to 2-10 when trailing after seven or eight innings.
• Neely made his first start since June 6, 2022.
• Evans recorded his 12th multi-hit game in the last 15 contests (10 of 12).
  • Evans has hit safely in 22 of 24 games this year.
  • Evans hit his seventh home run in the first inning.
• Garrison hit his first home run as a Gator in the third.
• Florida is 31-7 in home series and 46-13 at home overall since the start of the 2023 season.
• The Gators are 43-15 in weekend series since 2023 and 52-18 across the team’s previous 24 series.
  • Florida is 42-18 in its last 60 games vs. SEC opponents including a 34-15 regular-season mark.
• Florida is now 71-52 all-time vs. Mississippi State including 33-23 at home.
  • The Gators are 24-12 against the Bulldogs under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan (10-6 at home).
  • Florida has won six straight games in the series.

Quotes

On Neely’s first start and overall thoughts on the game…
“I thought the first couple of innings Brandon looked really, really sharp. I mean really sharp. The fourth inning, we walked a couple guys, hit a couple guys. I think there was an intentional walk there with Jordan, too, so technically we walked three in that one inning and hit two. Really really proud of the way Cade Fisher pitched tonight. Without that performance, we probably wouldn’t have won the ballgame. He was just really, really good. Then obviously, Blake came in, did his job in the eighth. Had a tough decision to make whether to bring Luke down, too, but it just felt like if we could somehow keep it a two-run game then maybe we’d have a chance. Obviously, he came in and did a great job. The at bats the last two innings were really, really good. Hayden Yost, freshman, two-strike hit the other way and then Armando comes off the bench and draws a walk after a two-strike count. We didn’t get the bunt down and then the left-hander they brought in threw some really good sliders to Colby. We then just kind of strung some things together. Ty’s hit obviously was huge. Cags’ ball was a fortunate enough one for us. It had a weird spin to it and I thought that Shelly’s at bat was really good. He didn’t chase out of the zone. Then with Cade coming up, they called the first pitch a strike so he’s already in the hole. 0-1 because he’s not in the box. Then he just put a really good swing on it, another 0-2 count swing. That’s a really good two-strike at bat there. Overall, it was a heck of a game. One that you’re sitting there thinking that you’ve used Neely, you’ve used Cade Fisher and you’ve used Luke McNeillie for an inning. You’ve used all your bullets, so if it doesn’t turn out the way it did, you take a loss by using three of your best arms, but for us it worked out.”

On Fisher and McNeillie throwing well…
“There’s a lot of things that happened throughout the game. It’s easy to forget that eighth that Blake threw. He kind of kept the game right there. Luke, I think this is his fourth really good outing in a row, so obviously he’s throwing the ball really good.”

On Neely running into trouble in the fourth…
“We talked about it before the game. He said he felt like he could probably go 80 pitches or so and he went maybe 81 or so. There was a lot of misfortune in there, too. Mississippi State did a really good job of battling with two strikes. They got a couple hits in the four-hole that weren’t necessarily hit very hard but they battled and they didn’t swing and miss very much. The shortstop, Mershon, he’s a pain. He battled the entire night and made a heck of a play on Cade Kurland’s ball. He’s just a good player, a really good player. They’ve got some speed. When you look at the box though, we held Dakota Jordan to one hit and Hines to one hit. They’re two of the better hitters in our league. I watched Dakota run down the line, I think his last at bat, and he was flying down the line. Big, physical, very impressive player. But that one inning goes back to, again, free passes and hit by pitches.”

What’s next for the Florida Gators

Florida will send freshman Liam Peterson to the mound against Jurrangelo Cijntje, who is an ambidextrous pitcher. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on SECNetwork+.