Gators beat Stetson in heated affair

There is no love lost between the Stetson Hatters and Florida Gators, and that showed Tuesday night at Florida Ballpark.

Stetson jumped on freshman lefty Timmy Manning with two solo home runs in the top of the first inning to open a 2-0 lead on the hosting Gators. Manning settled down and Florida got him a lead in the bottom of the second.

Kirby McMullen worked a walk and scored on Sterlin Thompson's double to right-center. After two quick outs, Colby Halter tied the game with a double to left-center that plated Thompson. Halter scored to give Florida a lead when Jacob Young singled to left field.

Manning would give the lead up on a pair of hits but the Florida offense was quick to get it back.

Tempers flared in the fourth inning. Former Florida Gators pitcher Nick Long (2016-17) entered the game for the Hatters in the second inning. In the top of the third Long gave Jud Fabian some chin music before eventually striking him out. He threw over Kirby McMullen's head, and Gators' third baseman stared his former teammate down. In the fourth inning Long threw up and in at Jacob Young twice before Young turned and shouted something at the Stetson dugout. Volunteer assistant Lars Davis also got into it with the Hatters' dugout as the umpires met to discuss, ultimately giving both teams a warning before Long was removed from the game.

"I don't know if it was intentional or not but their pitcher threw four or five balls at our batters' heads," Nathan Hickey said after the game. "We don't take that very lightly. When that happens, it doesn't matter what team it is. "If someone starts throwing at our heads we're not going to take that lightly. We're going to do what we gotta do."

The Gators scored one run in the fourth inning and four more in the fifth.

Sterlin Thompson collected the second of his three hits on the night. Thompson stole second and advanced to third on a balk, which allowed him to score on a Josh Rivera single to right field. Halter a Young singled before Nathan Hickey drove both runners home with a double. Hickey scored on a Jud Fabian double, a ball misplayed by the right fielder, to make the score 8-3.

Kris Armstrong stayed hot, hitting his third home run in the last four games but Stetson tacked on two more solo shots in the ninth to lead to the 9-6 end.

"We've always been good we just needed that push," HIckey said. "That this is the real deal. That we're the real deal. Hopefully we keep carrying this with us as we go along."

The Gators are back on the road this week to take on the Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky (26-15 / 10-11 SEC) will host Florida for a three-game series starting Thursday night. Thursday's game will be broadcast on SEC Network, while Friday and Saturday will be streamed on SEC Network+.

"We're excited," Hickey said. "They're good this year. I don't know where they are in the rankings but I know they're pretty good. I have friends on the team. They're excited. We're excited. We want to go up there and we want to win."