FAMU baseball falls short of upsetting eighth-ranked Florida Gators

Florida A&M baseball put Florida on upset alert.

On Wednesday, March 4, the Rattlers (3-9) closely contested the USA TODAY Coaches Poll’s No. 8 Gators (13-1) in a 7-5 loss at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville.

It was the Gators’ 13th straight win.

After a three-run showing at the top of the fifth, the Rattlers led Florida 5-4 going into the back half of the non-conference matchup. Then, at the bottom of the seventh inning, the Gators scored three runs to regain the lead, with two being unearned from a FAMU error.

FAMU outhit Florida 9-8. Jackson McKenzie led FAMU with three hits.

Pitcher Clark Lincoln took the loss on the mound for the Rattlers after pitching 2.2 innings and facing 10 batters. The right-handed sophomore struck out three and allowed two runs.

Next, FAMU baseball returns to Tallahassee for a three-game non-conference weekend series against the Villanova Wildcats (3-6) on Moore-Kittles Field. Villanova beat North Florida 4-0 in Jacksonville on Wednesday.

Start times for the FAMU-Villanova series are Friday, March 6, at 4 p.m.; Saturday, March 7, at 2 p.m.; and Sunday, March 8, at 1 p.m.

It’ll be the Rattlers’ final non-conference series before they open Southwestern Athletic Conference play at home versus the Southern Jaguars next weekend.

Gerald Thomas, III is a multi-time national award-winning reporter for his coverage of the Florida A&M Rattlers at the Tallahassee Democrat.

Follow his award-winning coverage on RattlerNews.com and contact him via email at [email protected] or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU baseball tightly contests Florida Gators in 7-5 loss