Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Gator baseball dominates Seminoles for 14th straight win


Senior Preston Tucker's three-run home run in the bottom of the third inning erased an early 2-0 FSU lead and No. 1 Florida went on to post a 9-2 win over No. 6 Florida State before a record McKethan Stadium crowd of 6,005 Tuesday night.

The previous mark was 5,930, set last year against FSU.

Tucker lined a one-out, 2-2 pitch from FSU reliever Scott Sitz into the Seminole bullpen in right-center, and the Gators (16-1), who got their leadoff batter on base in all eight innings, added single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh before capping the night with three in the eighth to win their 14th game in a row.

The streak ties the all-time UF mark set in 2001 and first equaled in 2004.

Gator relievers Greg Larson, Steven Rodriguez, Daniel Gibson and Austin Maddox combined to hold FSU scoreless over the final 6 1/3 innings on just two hits, with Larson (3-0) picking up the win and Maddox earning his team-high sixth save.

Sitz (1-1) took the loss for the Seminoles, who had a 10-game winning streak ended in dropping to 14-2.