Johnson leads Florida over Georgia Southern

Junior designated hitter Brian Johnson’s hot streak at the plate continued on Monday as the reigning SEC Player of the Week matched a career-high with five RBIs to lead the No. 1 Florida Gators (29-8) over the visiting Georgia Southern Eagles (22-17).

Florida topped Georgia Southern 8-2 at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, FL as Johnson went 2/4 from the plate, hitting a three-run homer in the first and two-RBI double in the seventh to power the Gators to their fourth win in the last five games.

Senior right-handed pitcher Greg Larson (4-0) picked up the victory on Monday in a short outing, allowing an earned run on four hits while striking out three in 3.0 innings. Four relievers combined to toss seven shutout innings before junior closer Austin Maddox gave up an earned run in the final frame.

UF scored all eight of their runs with two outs and eight of the nine Florida starters registered a hit in the contest. The six Gators pitchers that participated did not walk a single batter in the outing.

Monday’s game was the beginning of a nine-game homestand for Florida. It continues this weekend with a three-game series against Georgia on Friday (7 p.m., CSS), Saturday (7 p.m., CSS) and Sunday (3 p.m., ESPN2).