No. 17 Miami Drops Game 2 to No. 2 Florida, 2-0

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 17 Miami dropped another close matchup in its rivalry series with No. 2 Florida Saturday night, falling to the host Gators, 2-0, in Game 2.

A night after losing 1-0, the Hurricanes (2-3) could not capitalize on their scoring opportunities in their third straight defeat.

“We outhit them, but we didn’t get any hits with guys on base,” head coach Jim Morris said. “We pitched and played good defense. If you play like that, the hits are going to come.”

Junior Jeb Bargfeldt twirled the first quality start of his Miami career in a losing effort. The lefthander allowed just three hits across his 89-pitch outing.

Bargfeldt (1-1) struck out three and walked three before being relieved by sophomore Andrew Cabezas in the seventh with his team facing a 2-0 deficit.

“I felt good. I had command of three if not four pitches at times,” Bargfeldt said. “You have to have that when you come against teams like [Florida]. I knew I had to bring my ‘A’ game and I knew my defense was going to play behind me, so I tried to just fill up the strike zone as much as possible.”

Florida righthander Brady Singer (2-0) delivered a strong effort for the hosts in front of 6,160 fans.

Singer struck out 11 across 7.2 shutout innings. He scattered five hits and three walks in the 109-pitch performance.

For the second consecutive night, the Hurricanes strung together a late rally, this time in the eighth inning. Freshman Nico Baldor drew a pinch-hit walk and junior Carl Chester followed with a single to left to put two runners aboard.

But Singer struck out Michael Burns and Nick Horvath – who switched to the mound from his starting position in center in relief of Singer – struck out senior Johnny Ruiz to extinguish the threat.

Junior James Davison, making the second start of his career in left field, led the offense with a two-hit, two-steal performance.

Chester had his first multi-hit performance (2-for-4) of the season in the loss.

A solo home run from Gators designated hitter Mark Kolozsvary put Florida ahead 1-0 in the third inning.

Miami had its first scoring opportunity in the fifth, when Davison connected for a single off the hand of Singer and stole his second base of the night.

An infield single by catcher Joe Gomez gave Miami runners on first and third, but Singer induced an inning-ending double play on a groundout by junior Brandon Gali on the first pitch of the at-bat to end the threat.

Florida (5-1) doubled its lead in the sixth on a two-out solo home run by Jonathan India to left off Bargfeldt.

Freshman Gregory Veliz nearly tied the game in the seventh after entering as a pinch hitter, but his deep flyout to center was hauled in on the warning track by Horvath.

Senior Edgar Michelangeli, who walked to open the inning, was stranded at third when Davison’s bunt attempt was fielded cleanly by Singer for the final out of the inning.

Sophomore Andrew Cabezas tossed two scoreless innings of relief.

“We just have to keep our heads up and keep battling,” Morris said. “Understand we’ve faced two of the better pitchers in the country right now. They’re very good.”

The two teams return to McKethan Stadium Sunday afternoon for the series finale. First pitch for Game 3, slated for broadcast on SEC Network+ and WVUM 90.5 FM, is set for 1 p.m.