Making just his third career start, Florida sophomore Bryan Augenstein (Sebastian, Fla.) was perfect for 7.2 innings before yielding a single through the right side of the infield on a 3-2 pitch to Cincinnati junior Brian Szarmach in the Gators’ 10-4 victory on Saturday night at McKethan Stadium. The 6’5” right-hander set down the first 23 batters he faced and totaled a career-high nine strikeouts over eight innings. There have been only seven no-hitters in UF’s 92 years of baseball.

“Bryan has worked extremely hard,” said head coach Pat McMahon. “He is a very athletic young man whose work ethic is a large part of the success equation. Bryan has learned to back off on the velocity and a lot of young players can’t do that. It shows a lot of maturity.”

“I have been conditioning and working as hard as I could during the fall and spring to put myself in positions like this,” said Augenstein. “I feel that I have learned a lot from our coaches and my ability to locate pitches has improved a lot.”

Augenstein (8.0 IP, 3 H) was lifted in the ninth after allowing two more hits and was charged with a pair of runs on his way to his first collegiate victory. Freshman southpaw J.K. LaCoste (Jacksonville, Fla.) will make his collegiate debut for the Orange and Blue (2-0) against junior RHP Glen Simon in tomorrow’s series finale at noon.

Neither team produced a hit until the Gators broke through with five runs in the third on four hits and two Bearcat errors. Senior Chris Woods (Gainesville, Fla.) opened the frame by legging out a bunt to second base off Cincinnati junior Kyle Rapp and advanced to second on a passed ball. Junior Adam Davis (Fort Myers, Fla.) followed with a towering homer over the left-field bleachers to give UF a 2-0 lead.

After sophomore Brandon McArthur (Seffner, Fla.) ripped a single up the middle and junior Matt LaPorta (Port Charlotte, Fla.) flew out to the warning track in center field, junior Brian Jeroloman (Wellington, Fla.) connected on a two-run blast that landed over the left-field fence. Jeroloman’s dinger was his first hit of the campaign, ending an 0-for-6 drought. Junior Brian Leclerc (Clearwater, Fla.) was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a balk before junior Gavin Dickey’s (Tallahassee, Fla.) grounder was misplayed, leaving the Gators with runners on the corners. A throwing error by Rapp on a pickoff attempt allowed Leclerc to score the fifth run of the inning.

Jeroloman was plunked to start UF’s fifth at bat and Dickey reached on a one-out error before junior David Cash (Odessa, Fla.) walked to load the bases with one down. A fielder’s choice by senior Stephen Barton (Miami, Fla.) brought Jeroloman home with an unearned run for a 6-0 advantage.  

Cincinnati sophomore reliever Kevin Schrader took over on the hill for Rapp (5.0 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 4 ER) in the sixth but was lifted with two outs after issuing consecutive walks to LaPorta, Jeroloman and Leclerc. Sophomore A.J. Upton induced a pop-up from junior Chris Petrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) on his initial pitch to strand the trio of runners.

Sophomore Bryson Barber (Pensacola, Fla.) delivered a pinch-hit single in his first at bat of the season to boost UF’s lead to 7-0 in the seventh. Cash drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on Barber’s laser past the Bearcat first baseman.  

The Gators pushed across three more runs in the eighth to build a 10-0 lead. McArthur was hit by a pitch to begin the stanza and advanced to second on LaPorta’s flyout. Jeroloman reached on a fielding error for two Florida runners aboard and Leclerc stroked a single to score McArthur. Petrie then collected his first two RBI as a Gator by punching a base-hit into right field.

The Bearcats averted the shutout with six hits and four runs in the ninth inning and prevented Augenstein from going the distance. Junior Nick Maragas led off with an infield single to third and freshman Adam Yeager roped a single to right to end the evening for the right-hander. Sophomore pinch hitter Adam Calez greeted senior Darren O’Day (Jacksonville, Fla.) with a double to plate Maragas and UC freshman Josh Harrison had an RBI grounder that resulted in the second run. Following a ground out to O’Day by senior Mark Muscenti, senior Logan Parker (double) and freshman Cory Hodskins (single) had consecutive hits to narrow the deficit to 10-4. The right-hander had senior Jack Nelson end the game with a fly ball to Petrie in left.

With their outburst in the ninth, the Bearcats matched the Gators’ total of seven hits. Seven different players accounted for UF’s hits, while the trio of Davis (1-for-4), Jeroloman (1-for-3, three runs) and Petrie (1-for-2) chipped in with two RBI apiece. Szarmach was 2-for-4 to lead Cincinnati.

Game Notes

• There have only been seven no-hitters in Florida’s 92 years of baseball. The last occurred on March 19, 1993, when Doug Brennan (7.0) and Chris Nelson (2.0) combined to defeat Pace, 16-0.
• Today’s first pitch was delayed 44 minutes due to rain in the area.
• Bryan Augenstein’s last start was March 22, 2005 against UCF (2.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, ND).
• Of Adam Davis’ 19 career home runs, only two have been two-run shots.
• Florida opened the scoring in the series opener with four runs in the second.
• The Gators were hit five times this afternoon for a total of seven in the series.

-UF-