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Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan 
Buddy Reed and Dalton Guthrie  

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Junior Zack Collins drove in four runs to power No. 6 Miami to a 5-3 victory over No. 1 Florida on Saturday night at Alex Rodriguez Park to even the teams' weekend series. Sophomore Michael Mediavilla (2-0) limited the Gators to one run over five innings to earn the win in front of a capacity crowd.
 
With Florida down to its final out, sophomore Dalton Guthrie doubled to left field, prompting a pitching change. Junior All-American closer Bryan Garcia replaced junior Cooper Hammond (1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 3 K) and junior Buddy Reed (2-for-5) delivered a run-scoring single into right field to bring in Guthrie and extend the game. After Reed moved into scoring position on catcher's indifference, Garcia preserved the win and collected his third save by striking out sophomore JJ Schwarz (2-for-5).
 
Miami grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI double by junior Johnny Ruiz (3-for-3). Juniors Jacob Heyward and Willie Abreu started the frame with back-to-back singles off of junior A.J. Puk (0-1) and Ruiz laced a two-bagger down the left-field line to score Heyward. However, the Gators gunned down Abreu at the plate on a relay from junior left field Ryan Larson to Guthrie to Schwarz. Puk stranded the runner in scoring position by striking out freshman Romy Gonzalez and having junior Edgar Michelangeli pop out.
 
The Gators answered in the third on an RBI single by Schwarz that drove in Reed with the tying run. Reed singled into right field for UF's second hit against Mediavilla and swiped second for his team-leading fourth stolen base. Schwarz roped a 3-1 offering into right center field to put the visitors on the board.
 
The Hurricanes re-claimed the lead, 3-1, in the home part of the frame on a two-run single by Collins. Sophomore Peter Crocitto led off with a double and moved to third when sophomore Carl Chester's bunt was mishandled by Puk. Junior Christopher Barr was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Collins sliced a base-knock through the right side to drive in a pair of runs. Puk struck out Heyward but then a wild pitch enabled Collins to take second base. After the left-hander caught Abreu looking on strikes, he plunked Ruiz to re-load the bases with two down. Freshman Brady Singer was summoned from the bullpen for Puk (2.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 K) and stranded the runners by having Gonzalez ground out to freshman third baseman Jonathan India.
 
Collins expanded the hosts' advantage to 5-1 with another two-run single with the bases full in the fourth. Michelangeli drew a leadoff walk from Singer and was sacrificed over by Crocitto. Chester was hit by a pitch and Barr earned a free pass before Collins gave UM a four-run cushion on his base-hit into right field.
 
Sophomore Jeremy Vasquez narrowed the Gators' deficit to 5-2 in the eighth with an RBI grounder that brought home Schwarz. Schwarz and junior Peter Alonso had started the inning with consecutive doubles off of freshman Frankie Bartow.
 
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
"I thought we battled back there in the eighth and ninth; all you can hope for is to give yourselves a chance. We had the tying run at the plate and our best hitter up and their guy made a heck of a pitch. Credit Miami, their starting pitcher made some pitches when he needed to and they were very aggressive to A.J. (Puk). It was good to stretch Brady Singer out a little bit, other than the leadoff walk there in the (fourth) inning he gave up his two runs I thought he pitched well. It was good to get Michael Byrne out there and we got Frank Rubio and Nick Horvath out there to piece it together to keep it close. Obviously, we need to do a little more offensively. It was just one of those nights where they kept us off-balance, credit their pitchers."
                                                                                                                  
Postgame Notes

• Miami ended a four-game losing streak to Florida tonight (series finale at McKethan Stadium last February, two games in Omaha at the NCAA College World Series, last night's opener in Coral Gables).
• A.J. Puk had five strikeouts over 2.2 innings and has 11 strikeouts and one walk in two starts this year.
• Deacon Liput raised his season-opening hitting streak to seven games with a two-out single in the sixth inning.
• Brady Singer worked 3.1 innings, giving up two hits and two runs, with three walks and a strikeout.
• Right-hander Michael Byrne made his collegiate debut in the eighth inning and put up a zero.
• The Hurricanes out-hit the Gators, 9-7.

 
Up Next
The Gators and Hurricanes will wrap up the series tomorrow at 1 p.m., with sophomore right-hander Alex Faedo (1-0, 1.59) opposing junior left-hander Danny Garcia (1-0, 0.00). The game can be heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell and will be carried on ESPN3 through the Watch ESPN app.
 
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