GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It was tucked at the end of a string of comments from Gators head coach
Kevin O'Sullivan following Tuesday night's victory over Florida State.
The statement was all of nine words, but nine words when strung together, O'Sullivan has not used often – if at all – this season.
"I thought the
whole bullpen was really good tonight."
In a season of hot-and-cold, up-and-down relief pitching, the Gators bullpen turned in its most memorable performance in Florida's 7-5 win over the Seminoles in Jacksonville, UF's final non-conference game. The Gators close the regular season with nine consecutive Southeastern Conference games — a stretch that will determine the SEC East winner — starting this weekend at Texas A&M.
The bullpen's improbable outing brought to mind the NCAA Regional outing last spring of lefty
Carsten Finnvold, who took over in the first inning with the bases loaded and nobody out in an elimination game against Oklahoma. The unheralded Finnvold went the rest of the way to keep Florida's season alive.
This time it took three.
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Relievers
Nick Ficarrotta,
Blake Purnell and
Philip Abner combined for nine scoreless innings after starter
Clete Hartzog failed to record an out in his nine-pitch outing. The Gators led 4-0 after the top of the first, but by the end of the frame, FSU was ahead 5-4.
That would have spelled doom for the Gators on many nights this season. Not this one.
First, Ficarrotta entered with the game tied 4-4, nobody out, and the go-ahead run at second. He retired three of the four batters he faced in the inning, giving up an RBI single to former UF teammate Jordan Carrion that put the Seminoles ahead. Ficarrotta hung around until the fourth when he ran into trouble, and
Blake Purnell took over with two on, nobody out, and FSU still in front.
Following a sacrifice bunt that moved both runners into scoring position, Purnell finished the Seminoles with a pair of strikeouts. That set up back-to-back homers from
Wyatt Langford and
Jac Caglianone to lead off the top of the fifth, and the Gators never trailed again.
Purnell was an instrumental part of the bullpen a season ago, appearing in a team-high 36 games with a 3-3 record, four saves and a 2.86 ERA. He earned
Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American honors after redshirting the previous season. However, before Tuesday night, Purnell had turned into an empty uniform.
He had pitched in only 12 games and had not recorded a win or save. He had an ERA of 8.76, which will not prompt O'Sullivan to call your number often. But in a desperation spot, Purnell pitched five scoreless innings Tuesday, striking out a career-high eight.
That left it up to lefty
Philip Abner to finish off the Seminoles, and following a shaky outing in Sunday's home win over Missouri, Abner tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to ensure a pleasant bus ride back to campus.
Florida's bullpen has been too accommodating in a season when offensive numbers are up nationwide. The UF bullpen had a collective 5.71 ERA when Ficarrotta stepped onto the mound Tuesday night, surrendering 126 runs (108 earned) in 170 1/3 innings. Tuesday's performance trimmed the pen's ERA to 5.42.
It's only one game, but as Finnvold proved a season ago, that's all it takes sometimes to make a difference.
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