Gators Dominate Harvard, Plate 10 Runs in Middle Innings

Colby Shelton plated four runs, while Liam Peterson moved to 4-0 on the year with an 11-strikeout effort on the mound.

The Florida Gators opened its three-game series against Harvard with a 12-0 win in seven innings. | Kyle Lander / Gators Illustrated

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Behind 10 runs scored across the middle innings, Florida Gators on Friday earned its fifth run-rule victory of the season with a dominating 12-0 win against Harvard.

Shortstop Colby Shelton plated four runs while going 2-for-4 at the plate and was one of six Gators to record an RBI in the win. Meanwhile, starting pitcher Liam Peterson dominated in five innings pitched with an 11-strikeout effort against only four hits and two walks to move to 4-0 on the year.

"He was good tonight," head coach Kevin O'Sullivan said of Peterson, who tied his career-high for strikeouts on Friday. "Threw a ton of strikes and obviously got us off to a good start on the weekend."

The duo provided an impact immediately with Peterson striking out the side and Shelton plating a run with a single in the first inning. Peterson would have multi-strikeout innings in the third and fifth innings, but Harvard did threaten in that third frame.

Crimson shortstop Jack Rickheim began the inning with a single before advancing to second base on a wild pitch. Left fielder George Cooper added a single two batters later to put runners on the corner with one out, but Peterson responded with back-to-back strikeouts to keep Harvard off the board.

"My mentality was just attack. I knew they were a team that didn't bunt a lot, so I knew they were going to be out there to hit," Peterson said. "I thought in my head that if I keep throwing strikes and keep attacking, they're going to swing, and either hit the ball in play, and I trust my defense to get outs, or hopefully some strikeouts."

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From there, Florida's bats dominated with 11 runs across the next three frames.

Brody Donay (2-for-4, 2 RBIs) scored Bobby Boser with an RBI double in the third inning before Boser plated a run in the fourth after being hit by a pitch with two outs and the bases loaded. Shelton took advantage in the next at-bat with a bases-clearing double, giving Florida a 6-0 lead going into the fifth inning.

"I think that was one of the bigger moments in the game," Shelton said. "Kind of opened the game up. And then, the floodgates just opened up, and we kept scoring and scoring."

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Blake Cyr (single), Ty Evans (double), Hayden Yost (sacrifice flyout) and Boser (fielder's choice) each plated one run in the fifth before Donay added a triple to round out the frame, the first triple by a Gator this season.

"I think (the run-rule) was important because we got to play two games tomorrow. The fact that we only played seven innings, we saved some arms," O'Sullivan said.

Coming off a performance in which he allowed four earned runs in 0.1 inning in Tuesday's loss to UCF, freshman reliever Niko Janssens shined during the sixth and seventh innings, closing out the game with back-to-back hitless innings with a strikeout.

Next Up

The Gators return to Condron Ballpark on Saturday for a double-header against Harvard. The first game is set for a noon start with the second to begin shortly after the conclusion of the first game. Both games will be seven innings and will stream on SEC Network+.

After an injuries Saturday starter Pierce Coppola and Sunday starter Jake Clemente (back), Florida will turn to freshman Aiden King on the mound for the first game and will turn to Matthew Jenkins for the second game if Clemente is unavailable.