Takeaways from Florida baseball's sweep of Georgia Southern

Story by Hunter DeLauder

Florida baseball concluded its fall ball exhibitions with a doubleheader sweep against Georgia Southern on Sunday. The Gators played two seven-inning games and looked dominant in the first one, winning 8-2.

Game 2 saw the Gators storm back and score a combined 10 runs in the fifth and sixth innings to complete an 11-6 comeback victory. This comes on the heels of a 5-1 win over Jacksonville back on Oct. 31 and secures a perfect 3-0 record to close out the fall.

​McNeillie leads the way in Game 1

​To no surprise, Florida threw its best lineup on the field for Game 1 and the results showed. The Gators put together a complete performance on the mound and at the plate with the unit Gator Nation will likely see the majority of during the spring.

UF ambushed Georgia Southern early on, putting up five runs in the first three innings, which was more than enough with the arms going on the mound. Junior Luke McNeille took the bump first and carried over his strong performance from the JU game into this one.

​In a short sample size, McNeillie faced eight hitters and wasted no time getting them out. He commanded the zone and overwhelmed Georgia Southern hitters, leading to strikeouts or easy outs for the Gators’ defense to make. McNeillie allowed one hit to Eagles first baseman James McCoy, who had five hits across the two games on Sunday.​

“Mostly, I’m just looking to compete in the zone. I mean, can’t be too picky, but I had a few pitches that were missed spots and good swings on them,” McNeillie said. “Luckily, a few of them are outs, but overall, I felt good. Landed everything for strikes.”

​McNeillie finished the fall making two appearances, threw four shutout innings, struck out seven and gave up just two hits and two walks. The third-year pitcher from Milton, Ga., enjoyed playing opponents other than the same Florida lineup he sees every day in intra-squad scrimmages.

​“It’s nice,” McNeillie said. “Third fall, I’ve faced Cade Kurland probably 50 times, so it’s nice to just see different teams and have us all together as a group just trying to beat another team rather than competing against each other.”

​The strong preseason puts him in a cluster of other Florida pitchers jockeying for the Sunday spot in the weekend rotation. With McNeillie, the only thing for him will be control and stringing it together for more than two innings in relief, something that has not gone well for him in the past.

​After McNeillie exited the game, Florida’s bullpen continued to keep the Eagles lineup in check for the remaining five innings — giving up two runs on five hits and walking just two hitters, all of which came from Christian Rodriguez.

​Redshirt Freshman Joshua Whritenour keeps showing he will be one of the Gators’ premier bullpen arms this spring. Coming off Tommy John from a year ago, there was a belief that Whritenour could impress, but not to the level he is throwing at right now. For the better part of the fall, Whritenour has been nearly unhittable. But you really don’t know until you face other opponents.

​Well, those doubts have been laid to rest after two shutdown appearances in relief. Against JU, Whritenour slammed the door shut with a two-strikeout ninth inning to secure that win. Tasked with the same job in the seventh on Sunday, Whritenour did allow a leadoff single, but recorded a double play and a weak comebacker to the mound for the final three outs. 

​“It’s awesome,” McNeillie said on having Whritenour back on the mound. “It’s just awesome to see them back out on the field doing what they love.”

Long ball carries Florida in Game 2

​Florida combined both projected starters and backup players for the second game of the doubleheader and it showed early. Determined to leave Gainesville with a win, Georgia Southern came out the better team in Game 2.

​The Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning after a pair of back-to-back one-out walks from starting pitcher Russell Sandefer, scored off a Frank Wells two-run double. Sandefer did a good job of evading trouble later in the inning, as Georgia Southern had runners at second and third with only one out, but could not get them in.

​It was not the best day for Sandefer, who is another pitcher fighting for that third starting pitcher spot. He finished three hits, two earned runs, three walks and five strikeouts in two innings.

​Trailing 2-0 and being no-hit through two innings, Florida needed a spark. They got one from catcher AJ Malzone, who launched a ball over the right-field berm, onto the practice field for a solo home run that made it 2-1.

​Following Sandefer, redshirt senior and fan-favorite Billy Barlow took the mound for Florida, trying to keep the Eagles’ offense at bay and the deficit to one. Barlow, who has been notorious for being inconsistent, did a solid job on Sunday and shut down Georgia Southern. He tossed two shutout innings in relief, gave up one base runner off a one-out walk that got out anyway trying to steal and struck out two.

​However, things went sideways for redshirt freshman pitcher Schuyler Sandford in the fifth, who got two of the first three hitters out before giving up an RBI single that extended Georgia Southern’s lead to 3-1, a double to McCoy and a walk right after to load the bases.​

Seeing enough from the dugout, Sandford left the game, leaving new pitcher Caden McDonald in a tough spot. Things did not go great for the two-way player, giving up a bases-clearing double to Bennett Edwards that extended the Eagles’ lead to 6-1. Florida got out of the inning shortly after, but now faced a five-run deficit with nine outs left in the game.

​One of the biggest qualities for the Gators is when they seem to be out of it, they never really are and showed that again on Sunday.

​Landon Stripling kicked off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run that landed in the UF bullpen, making it 6-2. Some bad pitching and defense allowed Florida to crawl back into the game and score three more runs to cut the lead down to 6-5 heading into the sixth inning.

​After a scoreless top of the sixth, Cade Kurland mashed a leadoff home run that tied the game up at 6-6.

​“Slider up, left a hanger,” Kurland said on the home run. “You hang it, we bang it.”

​Kurland continues to stay red-hot at the plate and, more importantly, has not skipped a beat since returning from offseason shoulder surgery. Kurland went 2-for-6 on the day with a home run, a triple (Game 1), a walk and two RBIs.

Kurland’s home run seemed to ignite the sixth-inning rally as Florida’s next six batters all reached and scored. UF not only erased a five-run hole but watched its lead grow to five runs after Hayden Yost cranked a two-run double to make it 11-6 and the final from Condron Family Ballpark.

​“That’s electric, that’s the brand of baseball we play here,” Kurland said on the comeback. “We’re never out of a game, it’s awesome. It fires me up.”

Despite all the recent coaching uncertainty circling the ball program, you wouldn’t know it based on the way the Gators have performed in fall ball. Kurland and McNeillie believe the team’s ability to play through adversity shows how tight this group really is.

​“The program is made of players we have and the brand and baseball we play,” Kurland said. “We play hard, we show up every day, keep our heads down and we compete. That’s all there is to it.”

​McNeillie added similar sentiments and even thinks the comradery of this team is stronger than in years prior.

​“Our team has definitely gotten closer. We’ve all come together and just grown with all the chaos outside of the locker room,” McNeillie said. “… This is probably the closest team I’ve been with since I got here.”

​Florida wraps up fall ball with its Orange and Blue Series this week. Those games will be played on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

More scrimmage notes

• ​Sam Miller went 2-for-3 with a double and RBI.
• Ricky Reeth looked strong out of relief: 2.1 IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 2 K.
• Brendan Lawson did not play in either scrimmage – dealing with an unknown injury, told he is day-to-day.
• Neither Aidan King, Liam Peterson or Cooper Walls pitched on Sunday. 
• Karson Bowen caught the first two innings, but still isn’t hitting in live ABs. He is still expected to be the opening day catcher. 
• Ethan Surowiec went 0-for-4 with an RBI.
• Schyuler Sandford’s final line: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 4R, 4ER, 1BB, 0K
• Christian Rodriguez final line: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
• Jackson Barberi pitched the sixth and seventh innings: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K.
• Cash Strayer walked twice and scored, but he has a real shot at getting serious playing time this spring. Has been the best freshman this fall.
• Colton Schwarz made a web gem play and threw from third base in Game 2 to get an out.
• Kolt Myers went 1-for-2 with a BB and two runs scored.
• Justin Nadeau went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
• Kyle Jones showed off his speed with an infield single. Finished 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a walk.
• The Gators tallied 17 strikeouts across 14 innings on the mound. Across 23.0 fall innings, Florida pitchers struck out 30 batters while surrendering 15 walks and 18 hits.