Florida Gators

VIDEO
Highlights from the Gators' successful trip to Dick Howser Stadium
 
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The trio of Dalton Guthrie, JJ Schwarz and Peter Alonso powered No. 2 Florida to an 8-2 win over No. 6 Florida State on Tuesday night at Dick Howser Stadium. The Gators (30-5) completed a sweep of the Sunshine Showdown with their 10th victory over the Seminoles (22-9) in the last 12 meetings.
 
The five straight triumphs in the series match Florida's longest stretch against FSU and head coach Kevin O'Sullivan has now guided UF to season sweeps in 2012, 2014 and 2016 during the annual series played in Gainesville, Jacksonville and Tallahassee.
 
Guthrie went 3-for-5 out of the leadoff spot and drove in two runs, Schwarz was 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs and a solo homer and Alonso was 3-for-5 as part of the Gators' 12-hit attack. Freshman Jackson Kowar registered seven strikeouts over four innings, while junior Frank Rubio (2-0) collected his second win of the campaign. Over the three games versus the Seminoles, Florida held a 17-4 scoring advantage and its pitching staff compiled a 1.00 earned run average, with 30 strikeouts in 27 innings.
 
Junior Buddy Reed opened the scoring in the first inning with a grounder that scored Guthrie. Guthrie had opened the game with an infield single against sophomore Ed Voyles (0-1), stole second and went to third on a wild pitch before coming in on Reed's ground ball to short.
 
Guthrie extended the Gators' lead to 2-0 in the second inning with a two-out RBI double that brought in sophomore Jeremy Vasquez. Vasquez singled through the right side with one down, moved to second on a balk and advanced to third on a grounder by freshman Nelson Maldonado. Guthrie's ninth double of the season went down the left-field line.
 
Guthrie came through with a two-out RBI single in the fourth for a 3-0 advantage for the visitors. Freshman Chase Haney retired the first two hitters before plunking Maldonado. Maldonado went to second on a failed pickoff attempt by the reliever and scored on Guthrie's base-hit into right field. However, Guthrie was thrown out attempting to take second on the relay throw to end the frame.
 
Freshman Jackson Lueck (2-for-4) began the home part of the inning with his first career homer over the fence in right center field to put the Seminoles on the board.
 
The Gators answered with an RBI single by Schwarz in the fifth to re-claim a three-run margin. Freshman Deacon Liput laid down a bunt that was thrown away by Haney, enabling him to occupy second base. Reed sacrificed his teammate to third and Schwarz singled up the middle to bring across Liput.
 
Junior Matt Henderson led off the Seminoles' fifth with a walk, ending the night for Kowar (4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 7 K, 2 BB). Sophomore Nick Horvath walked sophomore Taylor Walls, bringing in Rubio. The right-hander had a fielder's choice by senior John Sansone force Henderson at third base, a fielder's choice by freshman Cal Raleigh erase Sanson at second base and then had sophomore Dylan Busby fly out to right field to preserve the 4-1 lead.
 
Junior Quincy Nieporte had a one-out single for FSU in sixth, only to have Rubio induce an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to halt the threat.
 
Walks to junior Ben DeLuzio and Henderson started the hosts' seventh, prompting a pitching change. Junior Kirby Snead came in for Rubio (2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 K) and yielded an infield single to Walls. Freshman Jonathan India made a diving stop at third base on a ball hit by Sansone, resulting in DeLuzio scoring but getting the all-important first out. Snead had Raleigh ground out, advancing the runners into scoring position, and Guthrie snagged a line drive by Busby to keep the Gators in front.
 
Schwarz began the eighth with a solo homer to left field off of junior Jim Voyles, Schwarz's fourth homer was his first since March 6 against Dartmouth. The Gators tacked on three more runs in the ninth an RBI single by Schwarz and consecutive walks with the bases full to India and junior Ryan Larson.
 
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
Opening Statement:
"We moved the lineup around a little bit and I don't think it was anything more than getting a fresh look and putting some guys in different parts of the order to make them stop thinking so much. I don't think it had any bearing on winning the game, I think we had good approaches throughout the game. I thought we came out of the gates swinging the bats very well. When JJ (Schwarz) is swinging the bat like he did tonight and Pete Alonso is, it's pretty impressive, and Dalton (Guthrie) had three hits. It's one thing to beat Florida State three times in the same year, but I was telling the guys that even though it was frustrating game pitching-wise, we held them to four runs over 27 innings, which is very, very hard to do, especially after they came off a weekend in which they won two of three against a really good Louisville team. To come up here on a Tuesday and hold them to two runs and make some pitches when we needed to says a lot about our team. I thought the play of game was (Jonathan) India's backhand play to his right in the seventh that stopped the momentum – that's what you have to do on the road."
 
Postgame Notes

• The Gators have claimed their last five meetings with the Seminoles, matching their longest stretch of victories in the series for the fourth time.
• Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan is 18-15 against Florida State, including 5-5 in Tallahassee.
• Florida is 8-3 against top-10 opponents this year and 10-3 against top-25 teams.
• Dalton Guthrie stole his sixth base in eight attempts during the first inning and scored the game's opening run.
• He had his team-leading 18th multiple-hit game with a single in the first, a double in the second inning and an RBI single in the fourth.
• Jeremy Vasquez raised his hitting streak to a career-high nine games with a second-inning single.
• JJ Schwarz connected on his 22nd career homer in the eighth with a solo shot.
• The Gators played error-free baseball for the fourth game in a row.
• Florida is 14-1 against Sunshine State rivals this year.

 
Up Next
Florida begins a three-game series at Arkansas on Thursday night. Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell have the call on the Gator IMG Sports Network and the game will be carried on ESPNU and streamed through the ESPN app with Clay Matvick and Kyle Peterson.
 
Follow the Gators
FloridaGators.com
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook