Florida baseball vs. Alabama live blog updates, score, highlights

Stanford reached base for Florida on a bizarre error at first base. He hit a tapper that might have gone foul, and the first baseman knocked it fair and crashed into the pitcher. Cyr, Schwarz and Strayer all popped up to the infield to end the game.

Florida’s bullpen has been downright miserable today, but at least Jackson Hoyt got some good work in. He got Plattner to pop up to shortstop, and both Osterhouse and Vaughn flied out to center field. Jones made a great play, crashing into the wall to end the inning.

Florida went down in order in the eighth. It’s time to wave the white flag. Kurland flied out to center field, Bowen grounded out to short and Surowiec struck out looking. Hagan Banks threw this inning for Alabama.

Whritenour walked a pair to bring Kevin O’Sullivan out. Luke McNeillie took over and walked the first batter he saw on four pitches. Florida pitchers have walked eight batters so far and hit two more. Alabama has the same line, and there have been five errors today. Classic Sunday baseball in the SEC.

McNeillie walked another — that’s four straight for the staff — scoring a run. Fowler missed a grand slam by inches. It ended up being an RBI single somehow. Lebron flied out to shallow center field, preventing another run from coming in.

Neal cleared the bases with a base hit through the right side. Alabama leads by seven. Neal moved over to third on a deep flyout from Torres. Lemm grounded out to first to end the inning.

Florida put up a crooked number in the seventh, starting the rally with a two-run homer from Cyr. Surowiec walked on four straight pitches before that to make it a two-run shot.

Alabama turned to Bobby Alcock on the mound. He walked Stanford on five pitches but got a double play ball. Fortunately for Florida, Lebron couldn’t handle the diving play, and he was only able to make the out at first. Strayer singled up the middle to score Stanford, and Myers put men on first and third with a single to left-center. Jones went down looking, though, ending the rally.

Lugo-Canchola came back out for the sixth, but another long ball off him gave Alabama the two runs it needed to tie the game. Lemm singled up the middle after Torrees struck out swinging, and Plattner got all of it to hit the top of the scoreboard. Kevin O’Sullivan came out to talk to ELC before that. He’s probably regretting not making the move.

Russell Sandefer took over for Lugo-Canchola to face Osterhouse. Stanford stuck his glove out too far and was called for interference. Osterhouse tried to swipe second, but he was gunned down by Stanford. The catcher giveth and the catcher taketh away.

Sandefer walked Vaughn and gave up a single to the right side to Holt. Strayer bobbled it, so Vaughn made it over to third. It’s a good thing Stanford caught the runner stealing earlier, because they would have scored on that play. Sandefer walked Fowler to bring up Lebron, prompting Sully to make another pitching change.

Joshua Whritenour came in, but it didn’t go well. Alabama took the lead on a wild pitch. Whritenour lost control of a slider and hit Lebron, who took a step toward the mound but cooled down. Neal hit a grand slam to blow the game wide open, and the chipiness continued. Lebron held up at third, waiting for Neal, which Miller didn’t like. Miller talked too much and got tossed.

Colton Schwarz replaced Miller at third base. Torres singled through the right side, but Whritenour finally got out of the inning with a three-pitch strikeout on Lemm.

Strayer struck out swinging, but Myers reached on an error by Crowther. He made a bad throw to first, but it didn’t go far enough to move Myers over to second. Jones grounded into a fielder’s choice and stole second to get into scoring position, but Kurland watched strike three to end the frame.

Walls got Vaughn to ground out to third base, but he walked Holt. Stanford took a ball to the throat during the at-bat, but he shook it off as best he could. That was the end of the line for Walls, as Kevin O’Sullivan opted to bring in Ernest Lugo-Canchola to face the top of Alabama’s lineup.

ELC got Fowler swinging on a slider, but Lebron was ready for it. He crushed a no-doubt home run before Neal ended the inning with a 4-3 groundout.

Cyr grounded out to third, and Stanford flied out to right field for a pair of quick outs. Stanford got some distance on his, and Cyr forced Torres to make a nice stop at the hot corner, but neither play was too out of the ordinary. Miller fouled off a few pitches, but he swung through a fastball to end the first 1-2-3 inning of the day for Florida.

Walls got into hot water to start the bottom of the fourth, hitting Torres and allowing Lemm to single up the middle. He dug deep to get a double play ball, plus Lemm got called for sliding into Kurland on the play. The runner’s interference sent Torres back to second base. A ground ball to first got Walls out of the inning without giving up a run.

Luke Smyers, a freshman left-hander, is in for Mitchell — Alabama’s third pitcher in four innings. He walked Jones on four pitches, and the Florida leadoff man immediately took advantage of Smyers’ high leg kick by swiping second base. Kurland also walked on four pitches, and Jones advanced on the passed ball, bringing out pitching coach Jason Jackson.

Ashton Crowther replaced Smyers. That’s four pitchers in as many innings if you’re scoring at home — or even if you’re alone. Bowen did his job, driving in Jones on a sacrifice fly to left.

Crowther, another lefty, picked off Kurland, who was running on first movement. He got Surowiec to line out to second to end the inning.

Holt drew a four-pitch walk from Walls to open the bottom of the third. For a nine-hole hitter, he’s been on base a ton this series, but Fowler couldn’t advance him with a three-pitch strikeout. Lebron flied out to center field, dipping his batting average below .300, and Neal hit into an inning-ending fielder’s choice. So far, so good for Walls. He’s worked around any mistakes.

Cyr fouled out behind first base. Brennan Holt, the second baseman, made the catch. Stanford snuck one over a leaping Lebron at shortstop. Lebron got some serious air there, but he couldn’t come down with it. He was a little slow to get up but seemed alright. Mitchell hit Miller with a breaking ball that came in just a little too much. Strayer loaded the bases with a line drive single that short-hopped the glove of Osterhouse on a sitting dive.

Myers grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. He’s come up short on two bases-loaded at-bats today.

Walls threw a clean second frame for Florida. He jammed Will Plattner on a ball inside that ended up breaking the bat.

Justin Osterhouse lined out to Strayer in right field, and Vaughn struck out swinging at a nice changeup from Walls.

Mitchell should have had a 1-2-3 inning in the second, but Kurland reached on an error from Lebron at shortstop. LeBron dropped the ball, transferring it from his glove to his hand. There was nothing difficult about the play, making the mistake a head-scratcher. Florida couldn’t punish Alabama, though. Jones led off with a lineout to left, Bowen popped up to the shallow outfield in left and Surowiec flied out to right-center.

Cooper Walls gave up a leadoff base knock to Bryce Fowler, which isn’t ideal after a long offensive inning. He got Justin Lebron to fly out to right field, where Strayer indeed took over for Wilson, but Walls walked Brady Neal on four straight pitches. If the plan was to pitch around Neal, who is 5-for-8 this weekend, it worked out well. Walls struck out Jason Torres and John Lemm with his curveball, stranding two baserunners.

Kyle Jones worked the count full to open the game, but Myles Upchurch caught him looking with a curveball that dropped into the middle of the zone. Jones will want that one back, but the guys behind him did their job.

Cade Kruland walked on five pitches, and Karson Bowen singled into right field to put men on the corners. Ethan Surowiec worked a seven-pitch walk, but Florida scored before his at-bat came to an end. Upchurch tried to pick off Bowen at first, but the ball popped out of Luke Vaughn’s glove and off the umpire, allowing Kurland to scurry home.

Blake Cyr walked on four straight balls after a first-pitch strike. Upchurch is laboring, and the strike zone looks like a pinhole for him right now. He walked Cole Stanford, his third straight free pass and fourth of the inning, brought in Bowen and forced Alabama to make a change. Sam Mitchell is taking over for Upchurch.

Sam Miller popped up for a quick out, which is just about the worst thing he could do in this situation. Ashton Wilson got hit in the wrist, bringing a third run in, but he had to leave the game after being checked by the trainer. Cash Strayer pinch ran for him and should take over in right field. Kolt Myers struck out to leave the bases loaded, but Florida got three.