Junior Craig Cobb twirled his third complete game of the season to lift Tennessee (20-14/4-8 SEC) to a 4-2 victory over Florida (21-17/4-9 SEC) in front of 2,901 fans at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday night. In raising his mark to 7-1, Cobb scattered eight hits, notched four strikeouts and limited the Gators to single runs in the second and fifth frames. .

The Vols overcame a 2-0 deficit with three runs on five hits in the sixth and added an insurance run in the seventh to claim the opener of the weekend series. Sophomores Julio Borbon (4-for-4) and J.P. Arencibia (two RBI) led UT offensively, while junior Adam Davis (Fort Myers, Fla.) was 3-for-3 for the Gators. Sophomore Bryan Augenstein (Sebastian, Fla.) (7-2, 2.70) will oppose Vol sophomore lefty James Adkins (4-4, 4.33) in tomorrow’s second game of the series at 1 p.m.

Although Tennessee put its first two runners aboard against senior Bryan Ball (Punta Gorda, Fla.) in the first inning, the Vols did not score. Borbon smacked a leadoff double and freshman Tony Delmonico walked before a wild pitch from Ball advanced both runners. The right-hander worked out of the jam with strikeouts of senior Chris Kemp and Arencibia and had senior Kelly Edmundson ground out to end the frame.

The Gators drew first blood in the second on a grounder by junior Chris Petrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) that brought across sophomore Brandon McArthur (Seffner, Fla.). McArthur had roped a triple into the right-field corner with one down off junior Craig Cobb and scored courtesy of Petrie’s 10th RBI of the year.

UT threatened again in the third but came away empty-handed. Borbon sliced a one-out double and Delmonico was hit by a pitch before Ball caught Borbon straying off second for a 1-5-6 putout. The righty then made Kemp his third strikeout victim.

Davis delivered a clutch two-out RBI single in the fifth to give Florida a 2-0 lead. Junior David Cash (Odessa, Fla.) walked to start things off and was sacrificed to second by junior Gavin Dickey (Tallahassee, Fla.). A fly ball by senior Stephen Barton (Miami, Fla.) pushed Cash to third and Davis beat out an infield hit to second to complete a nine-pitch at bat against Cobb.

The Vols plated three runs on five runs in the sixth to seize a 3-2 lead. Borbon collected his third hit of the contest and Kemp stroked a one-out single to give Tennessee runners on the corners. Arencibia ripped a single up the middle to score Borbon and Edmundson’s infield single to short resulted in a tie ballgame. A fielder’s choice by freshman Ryan Jones forced Edmundson at second but moved Arencibia to third, setting the stage for senior Michael Rivera’s go-ahead single to center.

Petrie doubled down the left-field line to open the seventh for the Gators and a sac bunt from Cash moved him to third. Cobb stranded the runner by striking out Dickey and having Barton ground out.

Tennessee tacked on another run in the bottom of the inning on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Arencibia for a 4-2 advantage. Ball issued a leadoff walk to freshman Jarred Frazier and was replaced by junior David Hurst (Jacksonville, Fla.). Over 6.0 innings, Ball (4-5) yielded seven hits, totaled five strikeouts and was charged with four runs. Borbon greeted Hurst with his fourth hit, a single through the right side, to put the Vols in business and Delmonico laid down a sacrifice to give UT runners at second and third. An intentional walk to Kemp loaded the bases and prompted another pitching change, as sophomore Josh Edmondson (LaGrange, Ga.) came out of the bullpen. Arencibia gave the hosts a two-run lead with his sixth sac fly before Edmondson prevented further scoring by retiring Edmundson on a pop-up to center.

Despite runners on the corners in the eighth with one out, Florida could not pull closer. Davis singled to right to begin the frame and wound up on third after a relay throw on junior Matt LaPorta’s (Port Charlotte, Fla.) infield hit went awry. Cobb responded with a strikeout of Barton and had McArthur tap out.

Game Notes

• Adam Davis was caught stealing second base in the first inning by his former Team USA teammate J.P. Arencibia.
• Florida dropped to 5-7 on the road this season.
• The Gators did not commit any errors tonight.
• Davis and Dickey extended their hitting streaks to seven games apiece.

-UF-