Florida Gators

Highlights from tonight's game
 
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 3 Florida banged out 12 hits, including six for extra bases, in a 7-4 victory over No. 1 Texas A&M on Friday night at McKethan Stadium. The Gators (25-3/5-2 SEC) established a program record with their 25th consecutive home triumph and head coach Kevin O'Sullivan improved to 6-1 in his career against the nation's top-ranked squad.
 
Freshman Jonathan India was a career-best 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and matched his career high by driving in three runs, junior Peter Alonso (2-for-4) homered, junior Kirby Snead (2-0) picked up the win in relief of junior starter Logan Shore and junior Shaun Anderson recorded the final out for his fifth save.
 
The Gators used three doubles to grab a 2-0 lead in the second inning and chased Aggie freshman Tyler Ivey (2-1). Freshman Dalton Guthrie led off with a double into right field and scored on a one-out double into right center by sophomore Jeremy Vasquez (1-for-3, two runs). Following a four-pitch walk to freshman Nelson Maldonado, India had a ground-rule double that bounced over the wall in left center field to drive in Vasquez. Sophomore Brigham Hill replaced Ivey (1.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R) and stranded the runners by inducing a pair of grounders.
 
Alonso boosted Florida's margin to 3-0 in the third with his fifth homer of the season that landed in the left-field bleachers.
 
India expanded the Gators' lead to 4-0 with his second double of the game in the fourth inning that brought home Maldonado. With one down, Maldonado had sent a fly ball into center field that was dropped for a three-base error.
 
Texas A&M loaded the bases in the fifth on consecutive singles by junior Ryne Birk (2-for-4), junior Boomer White (2-for-4) and senior Hunter Melton (2-for-5) with one down. However, Snead replaced Shore (4.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 5 K, 3 BB) and kept the Aggies scoreless by having a fielder's choice by junior Nick Banks erase Birk at the plate and a grounder by senior Michael Barash force Banks at second to end the frame.
 
The Gators threatened in the bottom of the inning against sophomore reliever Cason Sherrod but came away empty-handed. Alonso singled up the middle with one down and a bunt single by Liput and a throwing error on the play resulted in a pair of runners in scoring position. Sophomore Mike Rivera lined out to right field and Banks caught Liput off of second base to complete the double play.
 
Florida tacked on three more runs in the sixth on RBI singles by India and Reed and a sacrifice fly by sophomore JJ Schwarz. Vasquez started things off with a walk, Maldonado pushed him to the third with a base-hit through the right side and India had a run-scoring single into right field. After Guthrie laid down a sacrifice bunt, Reed drove in Maldonado with a single into left center and Schwarz plated India with fly ball to right field.
 
White put the Aggies on the board with a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Texas A&M tallied three runs in the ninth on an RBI double by Birk and a two-run homer by Melton to finalize the scoring.
                                                      
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
On tonight's game:
"I thought we swung the bat very well. We got off to a good start with a very good defense. Pete (Alonso) and Deacon (Liput) both swung the bat well, and Jonathan India had a terrific night at the plate going 4-for-4.  I thought Logan (Shore) made pitches when he needed to, but we made some base-running mistakes, which we need to clean up. I don't think we played our best game, but this is a mark of a good team where we can beat a really good team and not play our best."
 
Junior left-hander Kirby Snead
On his outing:
"I just focused on throwing strikes. That was my main focus. I wanted to come in and get out of the jam, then I just wanted to keep putting up zeros. If you put up zeros and score runs, then you'll get a win."
 
Junior outfielder Buddy Reed
On tonight's game:
"Credit to Texas A&M for fighting all the way until the ninth inning. As a staff, we have to do a better job not letting those runs come across the plate. We won, and that is the biggest thing. Tomorrow, it may rain, but we're going to prepare the same way."
 
On Jonathan India:
"As a freshman hitting in the nine hole, he took it and ran with it. He is definitely doing a great job for us. His bat is always going to be there, and his defense is getting better. He's probably one of the best nine-hole hitters in the country."
 
Freshman third baseman Jonathan India
On tonight's game:
"I wanted to have fun and to be relaxed. It is a big SEC series, but I wanted it to be like every other game."
 
Postgame Notes

• Florida extended its home winning streak to 25 straight games dating back to last year, a new school record.
• Kevin O'Sullivan improved to 6-1 against the nation's top ranked team.
• Peter Alonso's fifth homer was the 14th of his career, six have been solo shots.
• With a second-inning double, Deacon Liput has reached base in 27 out of 28 games this season.
• Jeremy Vasquez's RBI double in the second inning made him the ninth Gator to have double-digit RBI this year.
• The Gators had three doubles in the second inning (Liput, Vasquez, Jonathan India).
• India picked up multiple extra-base hits for the second time in his career (3/25 at Kentucky) and his fourth-career multi-RBI game with three RBI.
• With his single in the fifth, Liput now has 11 multi-hit games.
• India collected four hits Friday night. That was the third time this year that Gator batter had a four-hit game (Ryan Larson vs. FGCU on 2/20, Liput vs. Harvard on 3/11).
• Four Gators had multi-hit games (India, Liput, Peter Alonso, Buddy Reed).
• Shaun Anderson notched his team-leading fifth save of the season.
• Kirby Snead tallied his second win of the season, working two innings in relief of Logan Shore.

 
Up Next
The Gators and Aggies will meet again tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m., with sophomore right-hander Alex Faedo (5-0, 2.70) facing senior right-hander Kyle Simonds (5-0, 2.83). Jeff Cardozo and Mick Hubert have the call on the Gator IMG Sports Network and the game will be carried on ESPNU and through the Watch ESPN app. with Tom Hart, Kyle Peterson and Laura Rutledge.
 
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