Gators Sweep Stetson in Fall Doubleheader

The Gators baseball team brought out the brooms on Sunday, sweeping Stetson in two exhibitions games 7-6 and 5-1.

Game One | Florida 7, Stetson 6

Brandon Sproat got the start on the mound for the Gators with Austin Amaral on the bump for Stetson. Sproat and Amaral both threw scoreless innings in their two innings on the mound and Sproat gave up one hit across his two frames and struck out four.

Brandon Sproat (‘23 elig) sitting 94-96 T97 thru 2. Missing bats on mid-80s SL (clip), showing CB at 80-82. #PGDraft @GatorsBB pic.twitter.com/QpR7dose6u

— PG College Baseball (@PGCollegeBall) November 6, 2022

Jac Caglianone took over on the mound for the Gators in the third. He only recorded one out before a rain delay cut his outing short.

A long delay sent Chris Arroyo to the mound for Florida, recording the last two outs to end the top of the third.

Bats Come Alive

Tyler Shelnut led off the bottom half of the third with a stand up double, sparking a three run inning for the Gators. Michael Robertson’s infield single sent Shelnut to third and Wyatt Langford’s RBI double plated Shelnut. Back-to-back RBI singles from Caglianone and Josh Rivera sent home the final two runs of the inning, giving the Gators a 3-0 lead.

♨️ Rivera rakes ♨️@joshrivera24 drives in the third run of the frame with a single up the middle!

3-0 #Gators pic.twitter.com/1XPoAB3pse

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) November 6, 2022

However, Stetson responded with a Drew Wyers grand slam, putting the Hatters ahead 4-3.

But the Gators only needed one swing of the bat to answer. Dale Thomas, a junior transfer from Coastal Carolina, crushed a home run in the fourth to tie the ballgame at four. Later in the sixth, another power swing by Ty Evans sent the ball over the fence, putting Florida on top 5-4.

After two walks and a single by Stetson in the eighth, Jayden Hinton’s RBI single sent in two runners to reclaim the lead 6-5. Brandon Neely was handed the ball in relief of Philip Abner and he got out of the jam for the Gators.

https://twitter.com/GatorsBB/status/1589369240326262784?s=20&t=wSKccVNrPusfuf5wYuQ0Jg

Thomas began the bottom half of the eighth working a walk and advancing to second on a passed ball. Robertson also walked and advanced to third on a wild pitch. An RBI fielders choice by Langford and an RBI single by Caglianone sent home the final two runs of the game. In a back-and-forth affair, the Gators took game one 7-6.

Neely pitched 1 1/3 scoreless frames with two strikeouts to close the game.

Sproat, Caglianone, Arroyo, Ryan Slater, Abner and Brandon Neeley all saw time on the mound for Florida.

Slater earned the win, tossing 2 1/3 shutout innings while Jason Gonzalez was handed the loss after allowing one earned run on two hits and one walk.

#Gators take game one! ✅#GatorsWin | #GoGators

Presented by @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/dwh30QDUMH

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) November 6, 2022

Game Two | Florida 5, Stetson 1

Hurston Waldrep took the bump to start game two and had Condron Ballpark speechless in his start. He went six up and six down, striking out all six batters faced in his two innings of work. Additionally, Waldrep pitched an immaculate inning in his second inning of work.

Here's a look at Waldrep's immaculate inning from tonight. 6 K's on 6 batters faced- 2 on FB, 1 on SL, 1 on CB, 2 on SPL. Just utter domination & execution of full repertoire. #PGDraft @GatorsBB https://t.co/zoC9n6C6gK pic.twitter.com/HO1RYo09FF

— Kyler Peterson (@KPetersonPG) November 7, 2022

The Gators once again crossed the plate first on a Shelnut RBI single in the bottom of the second, plating Caglianone to lead 1-0. Stetson responded in their half of the third, tying the game 1-1.

Cade Fisher, Nick Ficarrotta, Yoel Tejeda Jr. and Blake Purnell would all see time on the mound until the Gators finished the game in the seventh.

Shelnut sparked a rally of hits, leading off the last half with a single. BT Riopelle came up next and worked a walk and Shelnut advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Shelnut collects a one-out single through the left side!

Riopelle to the plate. pic.twitter.com/uIeH3mrzNq

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) November 7, 2022

Then, a throwing error by Stetson sent Shelnut across the plate to wrap up the Gators 2-1 win.

However, fall exhibition games play all three outs in the seventh, so Florida had one more out left in their bottom half and Lastres didn’t put it to waste. He ripped a bases clearing RBI double to finish the combined 16-inning doubleheader.

Purnell was awarded the win while Cooper Smith for Stetson had the loss.

Florida up next

The Gators will be wrapping up the fall with their Orange & Blue World Series on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.