Baseball At UT Suspended; Will Resume Sunday
Sunday, April 6, 2008 | Baseball
With Tennessee holding a 10-5 lead over No. 13 Florida in the sixth inning, heavy rains and a lengthy delay on Saturday forced the contest to be suspended. The teams will pick up the action at noon on Sunday, with a seven-inning game to follow 30 minutes after. The Vols had already nipped UF in the opener at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, 5-4. Having trailed 5-0 at one point, UT sent 11 batters to the plate in the fifth and plated eight unearned runs to turn a four-run deficit into an four-run advantage.
The Gators opened the scoring in the first inning for the second-straight game courtesy of a balk by redshirt freshman Bryan Morgado and an RBI single by senior Dustin Bamberg (Winter Haven, Fla.). Junior Avery Barnes (High Springs, Fla.) and sophomore Cole Figueroa (Tallahassee, Fla.) reached because of walks and moved into scoring position on a grounder by freshman Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.). Barnes came home and Figueroa went to third when Morgado was called for a balk and Bamberg stroked a base-hit through the left side for the 2-0 lead.
Adams connected on his team-leading sixth homer with Figueroa aboard in the third for a four-run Florida advantage. Figueroa had drawn Morgado's fourth free pass and Adams sent a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left center.
An RBI grounder in the fourth by Barnes extended the Gators' lead to 5-0. Sophomore Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) drew a one-out walk and junior Teddy Foster (Jacksonville, Fla.) singled to left for runners on the corners. Foster moved into scoring position with his first career stolen base and a ground ball to first from Barnes enabled den Dekker to score.
In the bottom of the inning, Tennessee countered with a two-out RBI single through the left side by sophomore Jeff Lockwood to get on the board. Freshman Tommy Toledo (Tampa, Fla.) had retired the first two hitters before yielding a single to senior Shawn Griffin and a walk to junior Cody Brown. Lockwood punched a base-hit just beyond sophomore first baseman Clayton Pisani's (Naples, Fla.) reach for a 5-1 count.
A one-out smash by Adams that hit Morgado knocked the pitcher from the game in the fifth. The left-hander allowed four hits and five runs, with five walks and three strikeouts. Junior Joey Rosas came out of the pen and took over for his injured teammate.
Thanks to three Florida errors, the Vols exploded for eight unearned runs in the bottom of the frame, including a three-run homer by sophomore Yan Gomes, a solo shot by Griffin and a two-run jack by freshman Josh Liles, to build a 9-5 lead. UT loaded the bases with none out, as Liles reached on a throwing error by Figueroa, sophomore Cody Grisham singled and senior Andy Simunic's sacrifice bunt attempt was botched by senior Jon Townsend (London, Ky.). Davis' RBI grounder plated Liles and Gomes tied the game with his fourth homer into the left-field bleachers. Griffin stepped to the dish and mashed his fourth dinger and second of the afternoon to put the hosts in front. After issuing a walk to Brown, Toledo (4.1 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 1 ER) was replaced by sophomore Clint Franklin (Orlando, Fla.). Brown moved over on a groundout by Lockwood and scored when Adams misplayed P.J. Polk's grounder. Liles then launched his first career homer with two down for the four-run cushion.
Simunic doubled to begin UT's sixth and scored on freshman Kentrail Davis' base-knock into right field for a 10-5 count. The game was halted at 6:17 p.m. and the teams waited until just before 8 p.m. before the game was suspended.
-UF-
