Freshman
left-hander Danny Young (Boca Raton, Fla.) threw a career-high 5.2
scoreless innings and Florida (24-19/11-8 SEC) belted a season-high three
homers in a 7-2 series-opening victory over Tennessee (17-23/5-14 SEC) on
Friday night at McKethan Stadium.
Young
(3-3) surrendered six hits in picking up his second SEC win, while the
sophomore trio of Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) (2-for-4, two RBI), Taylor
Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) (2-for-4, three RBI, two runs) and Casey
Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) (2-for-3, two runs) each went yard. The Gators
have now claimed 10 of their last 11 outings and boast an eight-game winning
streak at home.
“I
thought Danny (Young) did a nice job,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan
said. “He threw strikes, and we got a couple of double plays. Overall, we threw
strikes and only walked a couple of batters. (Justin) Shafer and (Taylor)
Gushue both had a double and a home run apiece, and (Casey) Turgeon had another
home run. But, I thought we swung the bats really well tonight. Eight out of
the nine guys in the lineup got hits tonight. We threw all freshmen tonight,
and on a Friday night in the SEC that doesn’t happen too often. Other than it
getting a little sloppy in the ninth, it was a clean game and I was pleased by
how we played tonight.”
Shafer
opened the scoring with a leadoff homer in the second inning into the
left-field bleachers off of Tennessee freshman right-hander Aaron Quillen (1-3).
Shafer’s fourth big fly of the season was his first round-tripper since March
24 at Vanderbilt.
The
Vols put their first two runners aboard in the third inning against Young, as
sophomore Will Maddox (3-for-4) was hit by a pitch and freshman A.J. Simcox
legged out an infield single to third base. Young induced a 3-6-3 double play
ball from junior Scott Price (2-for-5), moving Maddox to third base. Freshman
Christin Stewart drew a two-out walk for runners on the corners and Young had
junior Pierce Bily pop up to Turgeon to end the frame.
Gushue
cranked a three-run homer and freshman Richie Martin (Brandon, Fla.) had
an RBI single in the bottom of the frame to expand Florida’s lead to 5-0. Freshman
Harrison Bader (Bronxville, N.Y.) started with a single just out of the
reach of Vols’ junior second baseman Taylor Smart and moved to second on senior
Cody Dent’s (Boynton Beach, Fla.) team-leading seventh sacrifice bunt.
Bader went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Martin’s base-knock into left
field. After Turgeon lined a single into right field, Gushue blasted his
team-leading fifth homer over the wall in right field. Redshirt sophomore Zack
Powers (Seffner, Fla.) later collected his fifth double of the season with
two down, giving the Gators five hits in the inning.
“I
was trying to be aggressive,” Gushue said about his three-run homer. “I just
wanted to get the first strike I could handle and put a good swing on it and
wanted to see it up. Good things happen when you do that.”
Freshman
Vincent Jackson (3-for-4) began UT’s fourth with a single up the middle but
Young had Smart hit into a 4-6-3 double play. Although junior Ethan Bennett
tripled to center field, Young put another zero on the board by having
sophomore Parker Wormsley ground out.
The
Gators added two more runs in the fifth to increase their margin to 7-0.
Turgeon belted his fifth homer of the year to right field with one down,
matching Gushue for the top spot, and Gushue followed with his 11th double to
the gap in left center field. Shafer collected his second extra-base hit of the
game with a double down the left-field line that scored Gushue and prompted a
pitching change. Sophomore Eric Martin took over for Quillen (4.1 IP, 10 H, 7
R) and a throwing error by Simcox allowed senior Vickash Ramjit (Miami,
Fla.) to reach base but Shafer was thrown out at the plate to complete the
inning.
Young
recorded the first two outs of the sixth but was struck with a line drive by
Jackson and replaced by redshirt freshman Aaron Rhodes (Venice,
Fla.). Over a career-high 5.2 shutout innings, Young scattered six hits, with
two walks and one strikeout.
“Danny
(Young) had an unbelievable start,” Gushue said. “He has a lot of fight in him;
he hates losing. Just the little things set him off and that is good from a
pitching standpoint. He can have that fire up there and it helps him gets through
those tough situations.”
In
the seventh, Wormsley reached on a one-out fielding error by Rhodes and went to
third on a double by Maddox. Rhodes (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K) struck out Simcox and
freshman Parker Danciu (Delray Beach, Fla.) came in and had Price ground
out to keep the zeroes on the board.
After
Danciu worked 1.1 scoreless innings and had a pair of strikeouts, freshman Tucker
Simpson (Oxford, Ala.) came in for the ninth. The righty fanned Bennett but
the batter was able to reach on a passed ball. A one-out double into right
center by Maddox thwarted the shutout and Maddox took third on a wild pitch. An
RBI grounder by Simcox finalized the 7-2 margin. Florida held an 11-10
advantage in hits.
