Florida Gators

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Senior Dorian Hairston snapped a 1-1 tie with a three-run homer in the fourth inning during Kentucky's 7-4 victory over No. 1 Florida on Saturday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium to even the weekend series. The Wildcats (16-6/3-2 SEC) ended the Gators' (23-2/4-1 SEC) winning streak at 17 games, one shy of the school record set during the 2012 season.
 
UK tallied three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to set up an Easter Sunday rubber match at 1 p.m. Senior right-hander Dustin Beggs went 5.2 innings to improve to 6-0 on the campaign, while sophomore Evan White was 3-for-3, homered and scored twice. Freshman Justin Lewis tossed 3.1 scoreless innings for the Wildcats to pick up his fourth save. Freshmen Nelson Maldonado (3-for-4) and Jonathan India (2-for-4) had multiple-hit outings for the second straight day to lead the Gator offense.
 
White broke the ice for the Wildcats with a solo homer in the first inning off of junior A.J. Puk (1-2). The left-hander rebounded the strike out the next two hitters for three strikeouts in the frame.
 
In the third with two down, India tripled into left center and sophomore Dalton Guthrie drew a walk from Beggs. However, the right-hander had junior Buddy Reed fly out to left field to end the threat.
 
Freshman Deacon Liput tied the game in the fourth with a two-out homer that cleared the fence in right center. Both of his big flies this year have come in SEC play.
 
Kentucky re-claimed the lead in the bottom of the inning on a three-run homer by Hairston. White drew a leadoff walk but was erased on a fielder's choice by junior JaVon Shelby. Following a walk to junior Gunnar McNeill, Hairston connected on his second round-tripper of the year to right center field for a 4-1 margin.
 
The Wildcats plated three runs on five hits in the fifth to build a 7-1 advantage. Junior Storm Wilson legged out an infield single with one down and moved to third on a base-hit by White, ending the afternoon for Puk (4.1 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 5 K, 2 BB). Shelby greeted junior reliever Frank Rubio with an infield single that scored Wilson and McNeill followed with a two-run double down the left-field line.
 
Florida countered with three two-out runs in the sixth to narrow the gap to 7-4. Sophomore Mike Rivera came through with a two-run triple to bring in Reed (single) and junior Peter Alonso (walk) and sophomore Jeremy Vasquez had an RBI single into right field. A single by Maldonado brought freshman Justin Lewis in for Beggs (5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R). India collected his second hit of the game with a base-hit into right field but Vasquez was thrown out at the plate to close the frame.
                                                      
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
Opening Statement:
"I thought we had a pretty good approach against arguably their best pitcher (Dustin Beggs). I thought we hit a lot of balls hard. We just had those two innings in the fourth and fifth where we gave up three runs apiece and lost the count. We probably threw too many pitches. I thought the relief pitching did fine. I thought Frank (Rubio) gave us a good effort there, I thought Scott (Moss) threw the ball well and I thought Brady (Singer) threw the ball very well. We'll learn from it. I thought offensively we were fine, we had a lot of good at bats and the approach was good today. Credit Kentucky, they put together two big innings against us."
 
Postgame Notes

• This will mark the 11th consecutive year that the series result between Florida and Kentucky will be 2-1.
• The Gators are 14-14 against the Wildcats during Kevin O'Sullivan's nine-year tenure.
• UF suffered its first loss since a 5-3 setback at No. 6 Miami on Feb. 27.
• Kentucky opened the scoring for the second day in a row.
• Jonathan India had his second triple in as many games with a three-bagger in the third inning.
• India and Nelson Maldonado had multiple-hit outings for the second straight game.
• Deacon Liput blasted his second homer of the year in the fourth inning.
• A.J. Puk had five strikeouts and two walks over 4.1 innings.

 
Up Next
Florida and Kentucky will wrap up the series tomorrow at 1 p.m., with sophomore right-hander Alex Faedo (5-0, 2.61) facing senior right-hander Kyle Cody (2-1, 6.95). Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell have the call on the Gator IMG Sports Network and the entire series will be streamed on SEC Network+ through the WatchESPN app.
 
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