No. 1 Florida (17-1) used a five-run fifth inning and added four
more runs in the seventh en route to a 10-2 victory over Vanderbilt (7-11) in
the SEC opener for both squads in front of 4,141 fans on Friday night at
McKethan Stadium. The Gators established a school-record with their 15th-consecutive
win and captured their league debut for the fourth time in five years under
head coach Kevin O’Sullivan.
Junior right-hander Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.)
(3-0) allowed two runs and matched his season high of six strikeouts over 6.2
innings for the victory, senior Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) (2-for-5)
tallied three RBI and senior Daniel Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) was
3-for-5 and scored twice as the hosts scored 10 unanswered runs. Three Gator
relievers, junior Steven Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.), freshman Corey
Stump (Lakeland, Fla.) and freshman Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.),
combined to toss 2.1 scoreless innings.
“I
thought Hudson [Randall[ was really sharp,” O’Sullivan said. “The first four
innings seemed like they flew by and you’ve got to tip your cap to Kevin
Ziomek. I thought he [Ziomek] was throwing the ball extremely well. He was
throwing 90-93 mph and moving the ball back and forth. He was very comfortable,
he had a good pace going and it was kind of reminiscent of (our game) last
Sunday against Florida Gulf Coast. Overall, I’m awfully proud of our guys.
Obviously, we answered back there in the fifth inning and I thought we had some
good at-bats all night long. I thought our situational hitting was good. We
only struck out four times tonight and we had four walks. I think we’re doing a
good job with our two-strike approach, we’re battling at the plate and you’re
going to see that on Friday nights in the SEC.”
more at http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=22682
