WHAT HAPPENED: Florida outlasted Jacksonville 13-8 on a chilly Tuesday night at McKethan Stadium. It marked the end of a 14-game homestand for the Gators.
 
Freshman Nolan Crisp, making his first start on the mound, set the tone early. He retired the first seven batters he faced and allowed just one baserunner through four innings. He was limited on a pitch count, and gave way to the Gators bullpen in the fifth.
 
Florida's offense took advantage of the strong start from Crisp. The first four batters of the first inning reached base and Nelson Maldonado gave UF a 1-0 lead with a RBI single to left. Kendrick Calilao singled to bring in another run and Maldonado scored on an error for a 3-0 lead through one inning.
 
The Gators added three more in the third inning. Calilao once again drove home a run with a sac fly, then Cory Acton singled home Maldonado and Wil Dalton scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-0.
 
Florida extended the lead to 11-2 through five innings, but the Dolphins did not go quietly. Duncan Hunter hit a three-run homer in the sixth and John Cassala cut the lead to three with a three-run shot in the seventh that made it 11-8.
 
Brady McConnell gave the Gators a little breathing room with a two-run home run in the bottom half of the seventh to make it 13-8.
 
Justin Alintoff pitched the final three innings to close out the game and earn his first career save.
 
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Nolan Crisp – After not seeing any time on the mound last weekend, Crisp got the call for his first start at Florida and he was outstanding. He pitched four innings and allowed just one baserunner (single) in his longest outing of the season. He had two strikeouts and no walks. Usually working in a bullpen role, Crisp is tied for the national lead with seven saves on the year.
 
STANDOUT STAT: 4 – Shortstop Brady McConnell went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and a career-high four RBI, including a two-run homer.
 
FROM THE COACH: Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan – On tonight's game: "I thought offensively we were really good early on … offensively, we were solid tonight. The disappointing part was the bullpen. We continued to give up rebound runs; we'd score two, give up two, score three, give up three. A lot of three-ball counts to start innings. In the bigger picture what happens is when you're up 11-2, you're already starting to think about how to get other guys in the ballgame, guys that maybe haven't played in a while. It ended up being a three-run game at one point, it ties your hands about making some moves. Tonight was a night where if we would have done what we're supposed to do on the mound for a couple innings, some other guys would have had opportunities to play.
 
"It was uninspired. I don't think we played focused tonight. I thought we just lacked the killer instinct at times. When you have a team down 11-2, let's continue to apply pressure and have good at bats. Let's go out there on the mound … a typical midweek game you're going to throw 4-5 guys, all you have to do is go out there and get three outs then hand the ball off to the next guy and give your offense a chance to score another run or two. Unfortunately we weren't able to do that tonight and like I said it didn't allow me to make changes in the lineup to get some of those other guys in there."
 
On Nolan Crisp: "He was very efficient, probably the biggest reason why we won the ballgame to be honest with you … we needed to extend him a little bit and give him the chance to use his slider and changeup a little bit more."
 
UP NEXT: Florida travels to Nashville for a three-game series at No. 6 Vanderbilt this weekend. Game one is Thursday at 7 p.m. on SEC Network. Game two is Friday at 7:30 p.m. and the finale is Saturday at 2 p.m. All three games will broadcast on Gators Sports Network and SEC Network+.