Superior Pitching Helps Gainesville Top Branford

The Gainesville Hurricanes  beat the red-hot Branford 5-2 on Thursday night, ending the Buccaneers’ five-game win streak.

Dominant early

Sophomore BJ Johnson got the start and retired the first five batters he saw at Tiny Talbot Field. Johnson went five scoreless innings for the Hurricanes (6-3), pitching himself out of trouble with runners in scoring position. He also got some help from his defense when junior center fielder Chris Eckhardt made a full-extension diving grab in the fifth to rob Branford (8-5) of extra bases, followed by a backhanded stop by freshman second baseman Ty Quinn.

Junior Cade Dixon then relieved Johnson after a walk, two hits and a run. Dixon escaped the jam by only allowing one more run with the help of a dropped third-strike double play after an umpire review.

Patrick Williams got the start for the Buccaneers and had a 1-2-3 first inning. Then sophomore Esteban Barranco came up to bat after a walk and a single and drove both runners in with a double to left-center field. Williams then went one more inning and was relieved by Holston Frazier.

Base Runners

Gainesville started squaring the ball up in the third inning. After Eckhardt doubled off the center-field wall, Connor Kemph drove a ball to the left-center gap for a RBI double to make it 3-0 GHS.

Both teams began to work pitch counts and got runners on via walks. Gainesville had the bases loaded with two down in the fourth, but failed to score. The teams struggled to drive runners in, leaving eight runners on each.

BHS junior catcher Jackson Dugan came through in the fifth, driving in two with a single and knocking Frazier out of the game.

After getting out of the jam in the sixth inning, Dixon shut the door on the Buccaneers in the seventh. After a leadoff double and an error, Dixon got the save to win the game for Gainesville.

Stat Summary

BJ Johnson finished with 5+ IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K and the W. Williams had 3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K and the loss. Barranco went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs. Taylor Brewer went 2-for-3 and Eckhardt went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.

https://twitter.com/carston_handy/status/1900373951252943090

Up Next

Gainesville looks to make it three in a row when they travel to Starke for a 7 p.m. game Monday against the Bradford Tornadoes (6-6).