Defeating the South Florida Bulls 6-2 Friday night in its 2010 season opener, No. 7/9 Florida Gators baseball had the task of facing them two more times before the weekend was out. Florida (3-0) followed through, taking down USF (0-3) 9-1 on Saturday and coming from three runs down to win 7-6 in extra innings Sunday at McKethan Stadium.
Read all of the details about each game and plenty more after the break!
Saturday’s game featured Brian Johnson (1-0), a freshman left-hander who fanned three and tossed 5.2 scoreless innings for the win in his collegiate debut. Supporting him with offense was sophomore outfielder Tyler Thompson, who hit 2-5 with a career-high four RBI. Freshmen OF Kamm Washington (fourth) and designated hitter Austin Maddox (seventh) each contributed solo shots as their first collegiate hits.
Senior OF Matt den Dekker went 2-4 to continue his 11-game hitting streak, while junior second baseman Josh Adams had his own 14-game streak snapped with a 0-3 outing with two walks.
While Saturday’s contest was a bit-one sided, the Gators had to fight hard for a victory Sunday as the Bulls took them to the limit. Freshman catcher Mike Zunino’s walk-off single in the 10th gave Florida the 7-6 win and a sweep of USF.
Down three runs in the bottom of the ninth, the Gators rallied to tie the game and force extra innings. Bulls shortstop Sam Mende committed a fielding error with two-outs in the ninth which allowed Florida to score the tying run in what otherwise would have been a game-ending out.
Trailing 3-1, South Florida scored five runs in the top of the eighth to take a 6-3 lead. The Gators responded with three runs on a rally including contributions from den Dekker, Adams and sophomore first baseman Preston Tucker.
Florida has now defeated USF a school-record seven-straight times, outscoring the Bulls 22-9 and out-homering them 5-0. Den Dekker finished the series 6-13 (.462) with four runs scored, while Washington was 4-7 (.571).
The Gators stay home to face the Central Florida Knights Wed., Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m.
An in credible weekend for Gator sports
It really was. If only UF won the overall swimming titles.
The swimming team are losers…. Just kidding