By Walter Villa
Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com
(photo by Tim Casey)
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Florida Gators were three outs from storming the mound at Mark Light Field – three outs from making a notation in college baseball history that hadn’t been written since the days of the typewriter.
Florida starter Alex Faedo, a 6-5, 220-pound sophomore right-hander who is looking like he could be a significant factor in the 2017 MLB Draft, struck out a career-high 12 batters in 6.1 scoreless and hitless innings. He allowed just two walks and was removed after reaching 95 pitches.
Left-hander Kirby Snead kept the potential of no-hitter alive with 1.2 innings of excellent relief work, striking out three. But things unraveled for closer Shaun Anderson in the ninth. He lost the no-hitter on a soft opposite-field single over shortstop by Miami first baseman Christopher Barr and the shutout when Johnny Ruiz ripped a three-run double.
Top-ranked Florida hung on for a 7-3 win, taking two out of three games in its series against fifth-ranked Miami (5-2).
But the Gators (7-1) jogged on the field for the post-game handshakes instead of sprinting joyously, which no doubt would have been the case had they closed the deal on the no-hitter.
Still, Faedo’s performance was the big takeaway on the day.
“Alex set the tone, pitching with emotion – it was good emotion,” Gators shortstop Dalton Guthrie (2 for 4, 2 R, 2 RBI) said of Faedo, who is 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA. “He had reason to be [animated]. He was throwing the crap out of the ball. If he wants to show that emotion and pitch like that, he can do whatever he wants for me.”
Miami has not been no-hit since April 18, 1964, but it was fitting that it nearly happened against the Gators, who have dominated the Canes lately. Over the past seven years, the Gators are 23-6 against Miami and have eliminated the Canes from the playoffs an astonishing four times.
The Gators showed their superiority over their in-state rivals yet again this weekend.
Junior right-hander Logan Shore dominated Miami on Friday in a 5-0 win. Shore went the distance, allowing three singles, one double and no walks while striking out eight.
Miami should feel fortunate to get one of three in the series considering the fact that Shore and Saturday’s starter, junior left-hander A.J. Puk, are considered among this year’s top dozen MLB draft prospects. The Canes beat Puk 5-3 on Saturday.
Sunday, though, it was back to dominating starting pitching for the Gators.
Faedo had just a couple of close calls while he was on the mound. In the second inning, Miami DH Edgar Michelangeli ripped what would have been a double down the left-field line. The ball was ruled foul despite Miami’s protests. Faedo came back to strike out Michelangeli in that at-bat.
“I missed up in the zone, and they hit a questionable double,” Faedo said of Michelangeli’s shot. “I just wanted to make sure I buried the next one in the dirt and let [catcher Mike Rivera] do his thing back there and block it.”
Leading off the fifth, Ruiz hit a hard grounder right at Florida first baseman Peter Alonso, who let it get to his body for a two-base error.
Faedo, though, worked out of the jam, striking out Romy Gonzalez to end the inning. Faedo then punched the air before trotting off the mound.
“I don’t think about it,” Faedo said of his reaction. “It felt good to not let anyone score. I didn’t want to let anyone score off me today.”
In the sixth, Faedo nearly lost his no-hit bid when Miami’s Carl Chester hit a squib-shot off the end of his bat. Alonso fielded the spinning baseball and tossed to Faedo, who beat Chester to the bag on a close call.
“I don’t know how I got over there, honestly,” Faedo said. “I know Chester is really fast. I must have [fallen] off the mound to get over there.”
While Faedo was dominating, the Gator offense was playing small ball with 12 hits – 10 of them singles, including two bunts.
Florida’s only extra-base knocks were a double by Deacon Liput and a two-run triple by J.J. Schwarz, who finished with two hits, two runs and three RBI. But even the latter hit looks better in the box score than it did on the field. In reality, it was a single that became more when Canes right fielder Willie Abreu tried for the shoestring catch.
Even though the Gators offense was far from explosive against Miami starter Danny Garcia (1-1, 2.19 ERA) and three Canes relievers, they did enough to give Faedo a 7-0 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
At that point, the no-hitter was intact, but things were silent in the Florida dugout.
“No one was talking about it,” Schwarz said, “but everyone knew what was happening. You want a no-hitter all the time.
“I know [Miami’s fans wanted the no-hitter broken up] because [Barr’s hit] was the loudest I heard them all weekend.”
Once Faedo was pulled, Snead served as the bridge to Anderson, who gave up three hits and got just one out.
“It’s no biggie,” Faedo said when asked about Anderson failing to secure the no-hitter. “It doesn’t matter.
“I always want to see every [Gator] do well. He will pick it up [next time].”
Dane Dunning came in to get the final two outs, preserving the Gators win and their ranking as the top team in the country.
“They’re a very good team – that’s why they’re ranked where they are ranked,” Garcia said. “But we should have adjusted a little faster.”