Senior Daniel Pigott (Ormond Beach,
Fla.) cranked a three-run homer in the sixth inning that snapped a 3-3 tie and
propelled No. 1 Florida (31-9/11-7 SEC) to a 6-3 victory over Georgia
(24-17/8-10 SEC) in the deciding game of the Eastern Division rivals’ series in
front of 4,492 fans on Sunday afternoon at McKethan Stadium.
Pigott (3-for-3) matched his career best by
driving in four runs as the Gators claimed the regular-season series against
the Bulldogs for the sixth-consecutive year. Junior Mike Zunino (Cape
Coral, Fla.) was 2-for-4 with his team-leading 11th homer, sophomore Karsten
Whitson (Chipley, Fla.) (2-0) picked up the win in relief and junior Austin
Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) had a perfect ninth to secure his 11th save in
11 opportunities this season.
“I
thought it was another one of those days where the whole team contributed,”
head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I thought that we got a really good
start out of Hudson Randall; it was great to see him back on the mound. I
thought, for the most part, all of the relievers came in and did a really,
really nice job. It was nice to get Karsten [Whitson] out there again. Steven
[Rodriguez] and Austin [Maddox] did a great job there at the end for the last
five outs or so and I thought our hitters did a nice job. We didn’t strike out
the entire game, and put the ball in play. I have to commend Georgia. They played
outstanding defense all weekend long. It was a good SEC series.”
“All
of these wins are important. We’re still two games back from Kentucky for the
SEC lead. South Carolina continues to win so they’re tied with us in second
place, and we are actually one game back from LSU. So, there are four of us
within two games of the lead. The wins are all important, but it gives us
momentum going into Tuesday night.”
