No. 4 Florida (28-8/9-6 SEC) used a four-run
first inning and scored in the first four frames to take the rubber game of its
series at Tennessee (21-15/7-8 SEC), 8-1, on Sunday afternoon in front of 3,322
fans at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Junior left-hander Brian Johnson (Cocoa
Beach, Fla.) (5-1) tossed six scoreless innings and helped his own cause with a
three-run double in the first inning that set the tone for the afternoon.
After claiming the series on its last trip to
Rocky Top in 2010, it marked the first time since 1998-2000-2002 that the
Gators had emerged victorious in consecutive visits to Knoxville. At the
halfway point of the SEC schedule, Florida trails co-leaders No. 2 Kentucky
(32-5/11-4 SEC) and No. 7 LSU (30-7/11-4 SEC) by two games.
The Gators raced out to a 4-0 lead in their
initial at bat on a bases-clearing double by Johnson (1-for-3) and a sacrifice
fly by freshman Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.). Junior Nolan
Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) (2-for-4) opened the game with a single into
right center field off of sophomore Nick Williams (2-4) and junior Mike
Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) (1-for-3, two runs) was hit by a pitch for the second-straight
plate appearance in the series. A base-hit into right field by senior Preston
Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) (2-for-4) loaded the bases with one down and Johnson drove
in all of his teammates with a two-bagger down the right-field line and took
third on the relay throw home. Shafer’s fifth sac fly of the year into left
field scored Johnson.
Junior Vickash Ramjit (Miami, Fla.)
(2-for-4, two runs) opened the second with a homer into the left-field seats to
give Florida a 5-0 lead. It was his fourth round-tripper of the season and
first since March 31 at Ole Miss. Fontana followed with a walk to end the
afternoon for Williams (1.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R). Sophomore Carter Watson had freshman
Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) hit into an inning-ending 6-3 double
play.
UF plated another run in the third on a
two-out error to build a 6-0 advantage. Zunino and Tucker started the inning
with back-to-back singles before Johnson grounded into a 4-6-3 double play that
erased Tucker and moved Zunino to third base. Junior third baseman Zach Luther
misplayed a ball hit by Shafer that enabled Zunino to come across.
The Gators tacked on two more runs on three
hits in the fourth to boost their margin to 8-0. Senior Daniel Pigott
(Ormond Beach, Fla.) began the frame with his seventh double of the year into
left field and Ramjit followed with a base-hit up the middle. Junior Cody
Dent (Boynton Beach, Fla.) delivered an RBI single through the left side to
drive in Pigott, the runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch by
Watson and Turgeon lofted a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Ramjit.
Senior Zach Osborne opened the Vols’ fifth into
left field and Johnson started a 1-6-3 double play on a ball hit by freshman
Will Maddox. Soon after, Dent made a great defensive play on Luther’s grounder
to complete the inning.
Johnson departed after six strong innings in
which he scattered six hits, with four strikeouts and a walk, and senior Greg
Larson (Longwood, Fla.) kept Tennessee off the board in the seventh. Larson’s
104th career appearance moved him past Josh Fogg (1996-98) for fourth on the
school’s all-time list.
Sophomore Daniel Gibson (Lutz, Fla.)
entered the game for Florida in the eighth and had Luther ground out before
issuing a walk to junior Drew Steckenrider (2-for-3). Freshman Ryan Harris
(Jupiter, Fla.) plunked senior Davis Morgan for a pair of runners aboard and
had a groundout by junior Chris Fritts push both Vols into scoring position.
Freshman Bobby Poyner (Wellington, Fla.) had freshman pinch hitter Jared
Allen ground out to strand the runners.
