Senior Chris Kemp snapped a 1-1 tie
with a two-out single in the seventh to lift Tennessee
(21-14/5-8 SEC) to a 2-1 victory over Florida
(21-18/4-10 SEC) at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore
James Adkins (5-4) registered his second complete game by totaling 11
strikeouts and allowing seven singles as the Vols
clinched their third-straight series victory over the Gators, who suffered
their third league defeat in a row. The teams will wrap up the series tomorrow
at noon, when freshman right-hander Josh Lindblom
(4-2, 3.79) takes the mound against a Gator pitcher to be announced.
Scoreless in the fourth, Tennessee put two runners aboard with one down against sophomore
Bryan Augenstein (Sebastian, Fla.). Freshman Tony Delmonico
beat out a bunt to start the frame and sophomore J.P. Arencibia
reached on an infield hit with one down. Augenstein
countered with a strikeout of senior Kelly Edmundson
and had rookie Ryan Jones ground out to junior Matt LaPorta (Port Charlotte, Fla.)
to end the threat.
An RBI single by junior Brian Jeroloman (Wellington, Fla.)
with one down in the sixth enabled the Gators to draw first blood. Now riding a
career-high eight-game hitting streak, junior Gavin Dickey (Tallahassee,
Fla.) collected his second
hit to start the inning and moved into scoring position on Adkins’ second wild
pitch of the day. The right-hander rebounded by striking out junior Adam Davis (Fort Myers, Fla.)
before Jeroloman stroked a 3-1 pitch through the
right side for a 1-0 lead.
The Vols
evened the score in the bottom of the inning on a two-out infield single with
the bases loaded by Jones. Sophomore Julio Borbon
ripped a leadoff base-hit under Augenstein’s grasp
that reached center field and Delmonico punched a
single into right before Kemp grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Consecutive
walks to Arencibia and Edmundson filled the sacks and Jones legged out a dribbler
on the grass in front of second base, scoring Borbon.
Augenstein kept the game deadlocked when he induced a
ground ball to short by senior Michael Rivera.
Back-to-back one-out hits in the
seventh by sophomore Brandon McArthur (Seffner, Fla.) and
junior Austin Pride (Longwood, Fla.) gave the Gators hope, only to have Adkins
counter with strikeouts of junior Brian
Leclerc (Clearwater,
Fla.) and Dickey.
Three-straight singles with two down
in the home part of the seventh resulted in a 2-1 lead for Tennessee. Borbon
jump-started the rally with a single into left center and Delmonico
laid down a beautiful bunt just inside the first-base line. Kemp drilled Augenstein’s 3-2 offering into center to move the Vols in front.
Florida maneuvered the tying run to third
base in the eighth but Adkins kept UT ahead with a strikeout of junior David Cash (Odessa, Fla.).
Davis started
things off with a single into left, took second on LaPorta’s
grounder and went to third on a wild pitch. Adkins made Cash his 10th strikeout
victim to preserve the one-run lead.
Senior Darren O’Day (Jacksonville, Fla.)
relieved Augenstein prior to the home part of the
eighth and gave up one hit in his lone inning of work. Augenstein
(7-3) permitted nine hits and two runs, with six K and two walks, the ninth
time in 10 starts he has worked at least seven stanzas. Tennessee out-hit UF, 10-7, led by Delmonico (3-for-4), Borbon
(2-for-4, two runs) and Kemp (2-for-4). Dickey finished 2-for-3 for the Gators.
Game Notes
- Gavin Dickey’s eight-game hitting streak is the
longest by a Gator this season.
- Florida has now dropped four SEC
series in a row.
- The Gators are 5-8 in one-run games this year.
- UF has scored first in both games of the series.
-UF-
