No. 2 Vanderbilt (41-6/19-5 SEC) held a 4-2 advantage over No. 5 Florida (37-12/18-6 SEC) on Friday night at Hawkins Field when play was suspended due to lightning and heavy rains prior to the bottom of the sixth inning. The game was stopped at 7:43 p.m. CT. The teams will complete the series opener starting at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday and then start game two 40 minutes following the completion of the contest.
Vanderbilt jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning against sophomore Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) on an infield single by junior Jason Esposito. Freshman Tony Kemp led off with a single up the middle and went to second courtesy of his ninth stolen base. A fly ball into left field by sophomore Anthony Gomez enabled Kemp to take third and junior Aaron Westlake walked on four pitches for runners on the corners. It was just the fifth walk issued by Randall all season. Esposito opened the scoring with an RBI single to shortstop, driving in Kemp and pushing Westlake to third base. Randall worked out of further trouble by having both sophomore Mike Yastrzemski and senior Curt Casali fly out.
The Gators countered with the tying run in the second on an RBI grounder by senior Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.). Sophomore Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) drew a leadoff walk and sophomore Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) bounced a single into left field before sophomore Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) laid down his first sacrifice bunt of the campaign to advance his teammates into scoring position. Adams plated Zunino with a ground ball to second base and Gray stranded Johnson on third base by catching junior Jeff Moyer (Winter Springs, Fla.) looking on strikes.
The Commodores seized a 4-1 advantage in the third with three two-out runs on four hits and a critical Gator error. Gomez reached on an infield single with one down to third base and moved to second on a groundout by Westlake. Esposito then blooped a base-hit just beyond the reach of Maddox at first base to score Gomez with the go-ahead run. Yastrzemski legged out a bunt for two runners aboard and Casali hit a liner that Moyer misplayed, allowing Esposito to come across. Freshman Conrad Gregor singled through the left side to bring in Yastrzemski.
Sophomore Connor Harrell began the home part of the fourth with a double off the wall in left field and was sacrificed to third base by Kemp. Randall retired Gomez on a grounder but then walked Westlake, marking only the second time in 13 starts this season that he had permitted multiple walks. The righty had Esposito fly out to right field to end the inning.
Although UF pulled within 4-2 in the fifth, as junior Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) was plunked with the bases loaded to plate Adams, Gray fanned Zunino to leave the sacks full. Adams started the frame by reaching on an error by third baseman Esposito and Moyer singled into right field. Pigott moved his teammates over with a grounder and junior Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one down. Gray struck out senior Bryson Smith (Watkinsville, Ga.) but then hit Tucker to score Adams and narrow the Gators’ deficit to two runs. The right-hander rebounded to set down Zunino looking on strikes.
The Commodores held an 8-2 advantage in hits when play was halted. In the regularly-scheduled game, Johnson (7-2, 2.53) will face junior Grayson Garvin (10-1, 2.15).
