The bullpen made the Gators sweat it out but Florida was able to hold on to an 8-7 win in Jacksonville to extend its winning streak to six games.
The Jacksonville Dolphins scored seven runs on just hits, thanks to seven walks and four hit batters.
Freshman Timmy Manning earned the start but was off in the first frame. Two singled sandwiched in between a strikeout gave JU runners on first and second with one out. Manning hit a batter and then surrendered a double to give up two runs. Manning would give up three runs in the first frame but bounced back striking out the next two batters.
"I think what you see is typical of really talented freshmen," Kevin O'Sullivan said. "He shows flashes of putting together some really quality pitches, and then there's other times where, like young pitchers do, they have a four-pitch walk with two outs and nobody on and find themselves in a little bit of trouble. But you certainly see those flashes of really putting this whole thing together."
Florida bounced back in the next frame when Jud Fabian led off with a single to left and Sterlin Thompson homered to bring both of them home. The Gators went down quietly the rest of that inning but got back after it in the third.
With two outs and a runner on first, Thompson singled, and Josh Rivera walked to load the bases. Colby Halter singled home two and Cory Acton drove in one more to make it 5-3.
As has been the case this season, the Gators bullpen struggled to shut down the other team after Florida scored runs. Ben Specht and Brandon Sproat allowed two runs on just one hit with two walks and a hit batter.
The teams traded runs in the middle innings before the Gators took an 8-7 lead in the seventh inning. Jacob Young walked to start the inning and advanced to third on a Nathan Hickey single to right field. Young scored on Kirby McMullen's ground out to shortstop. The duo of Ryan Cabracas and Jordan Carrion finished out the game, with Carrion earning his first career save on his 20th birthday.
The Gators will head to Auburn, Alabama this weekend to take on the Auburn Tigers (15-18/2-13 SEC).
