Florida Gators
Alabama
No. 5 Florida Rallies For Series Victory Over Alabama, 7-4
Sunday, March 29, 2015 | Baseball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Sophomore Buddy Reed snapped a 4-4 tie with a two-run, bases-loaded single in the eighth inning and freshman Mike Rivera added an RBI single in the frame as No. 5 Florida captured the rubber game of its weekend series with Alabama, 7-4, on a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon at McKethan Stadium. The Gators (23-6/5-4 SEC) had evened the game against the Crimson Tide (14-12/4-5 SEC) in the seventh inning on a two-out solo homer by freshman Jeremy Vasquez.
Junior Richie Martin (1-for-3, two runs) opened the scoring in the fourth inning with a leadoff homer to left field off of sophomore Geoffrey Bramblett. It was Martin's second round-tripper of the season and first since Feb. 15 against Rhode Island.
Freshman Cody Henry answered for the Crimson Tide with a game-tying, two-out RBI double in the fifth. After sophomore right-hander Dane Dunning retired the first two batters of the stanza, senior J.C. Wilhite (2-for-4) had an infield single and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Henry's double into left center scored Wilhite and freshman Chandler Avant (2-for-5) followed with a single for runners on the corners before Dunning induced a ground ball from junior Georgie Salem that forced Avant at second for the final out.
A two-run single in the home part of the inning by sophomore Ryan Larson moved the Gators back in front, 3-1. Freshman JJ Schwarz opened the frame with a single into left field, Rivera was hit by a pitch and Vasquez moved his teammates into scoring position with his first career sacrifice bunt. With the infield drawn in, Larson poked a base-knock up the middle.
Alabama seized a 4-3 lead in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by junior Kyle Overstreet and a two-run homer by sophomore Will Haynie. Sophomore Casey Hughston had drawn a one-out walk, stole second and went to third on an errant relay throw to set up the sac fly. After a two-out infield single by junior Chance Vincent, Haynie connected on a two-run shot into the left-field bleachers to give the visitors the lead and prompt a pitching change. Sophomore A.J. Puk replaced Dunning (5.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R) and completed the frame with a strikeout.
Vasquez knotted the game at four runs apiece in the seventh with a two-out solo homer over the right-field wall. It was his second big fly of the series and of his rookie campaign.
In the eighth, freshman Dalton Guthrie led off with a walk and Martin's sacrifice bunt attempt was misplayed, resulting in two Gators aboard. Junior Harrison Bader pushed his teammates into scoring position with a bunt and senior Josh Tobias (2-for-3) was walked intentionally to load the bases with one down. Sophomore Thomas Burrows replaced junior Jake Hubbard (2-2) and Reed greeted the southpaw with a two-run single through the left side of the infield. With two down, Rivera came through with an RBI single into right field that brought home Tobias for a three-run advantage. The single raised Rivera's hitting streak to eight games and gave him eight straight contests with an RBI.
In his first relief appearance of the year, Puk (5-2) worked 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and registering five strikeouts, to pick up the victory.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
On winning the series vs. Alabama:
“I think the offense picked up the pitching this weekend. It's not very often that you lose the first game of the series in 10 innings and lose in that type of way. It was disappointing and everybody was kind of down, but they fought. The hitters came back and scored five runs in the first yesterday and paced our offense for that game. Today, we had a lead, but Dane [Dunning] makes one pitch he probably wants back that [Will] Haynie hits out. I thought Dane threw the ball very well today. Our offense responded right back and scored four runs between the seventh and eighth. I thought our offense this weekend did a really nice job. There were a lot of positives. I thought this was one of the better outings for Dane, take away the one 0-2 pitch.”
“A.J. [Puk] looked great in relief and [Logan] Shore looked great last night. We're going to get that routine back and settled the way it should be. I'm looking forward to those guys moving forward and throwing the ball better. We've got the pieces to make this a very successful season. We've just got to put the pieces of the puzzle together. I think that once we do that, we have a chance to be a very good club. I'm very pleased with how we battled back and how we swung the bats this weekend.”
Sophomore center fielder Buddy Reed
On giving Florida the lead in the 8th:
“It was a great job for those guys to get on base. Alabama walked (Josh) Tobias and brought in a lefty. I've been working hard in the cage. It was a good pitcher, and I just wanted to put the ball in play to help my team.”
On A.J. Puk's performance out of the bullpen:
“I think (A.J.) Puk did a great job. He did a great job getting ahead of hitters, not walking them and throwing strikes. It was definitely a good job for him to come in and finish the last innings.”
Sophomore left-hander AJ Puk
On coming out of the bullpen:
“I'm not going to lie, getting pulled from the rotation isn't my favorite thing. I didn't pitch well last week, so I wanted to come out this week and prove myself again. Hopefully, I'll get another shot.”
Freshman first baseman Jeremy Vasquez
On his second homer of the season in as many days:
“Now, I can get my barrel through the zone a lot quicker. I can drive the ball up better now. Every day my hand is getting stronger, and I'm feeling better.”
Postgame Notes
- The Gators notched their seventh come-from-behind win of the campaign.
- Kevin O'Sullivan is 15-5 against Alabama, including 8-1 in Gainesville.
- Josh Tobias and Buddy Reed each turned in multiple-hit outings.
- Mike Rivera has at least one RBI in eight straight games and an eight-game hitting streak.
- Florida is 19-3 at McKethan Stadium this year and has taken all six of its weekend series on its home turf.
- Jeremy Vasquez recorded his second career homer and second of the series.
- The Gators have 25 home runs through 29 games, one away from tying last season's 26 total homers.
- A.J. Puk struck out four of the first five batters he faced.
Up Next
The Gators will face No. 9 Florida State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville in the second of the three Share A Little Sunshine meetings. The game can be heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell.
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