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Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan
JJ Schwarz, Alex Faedo, Kirby Snead & Dalton Guthrie
Alex Faedo 1-on-1 with Kelly Price

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Sophomore right-hander Alex Faedo enjoyed a career day with 6.1 no-hit innings and a personal-best 12 strikeouts as No. 1 Florida (7-1) downed No. 6 Miami (5-2), 7-3, on Sunday at Alex Rodriguez Park. The Gators' pitching staff carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning and totaled a season-high 17 strikeouts in taking the series from the Hurricanes for the sixth time in seven years. Miami has not been no-hit in 52 years and redshirt junior Christopher Barr kept that streak intact with a single into left field as part of a three-run ninth.
 
After issuing a two-out walk to junior Zack Collins in the first inning, Faedo (2-0) retired 10 straight batters and notched at least two strikeouts in five of the six innings he worked this afternoon. The Tampa native leads UF's pitchers with 19 strikeouts, lowered his earned run average to 0.75 and has limited opponents to a .098 average.
 
Sophomore JJ Schwarz (2-for-5, two runs) drove in a season-high three runs with an RBI grounder in the first and a two-run triple in the seventh inning, while junior Peter Alonso (2-for-5), sophomore Dalton Guthrie (2-for-4, two runs), freshman Deacon Liput (2-for-2) and sophomore Jeremy Vasquez (2-for-3) contributed multiple hits to the Gators' 12-hit outburst.
 
Florida used an RBI grounder by Schwarz to open the scoring in the first inning against junior Danny Garcia (1-1). Guthrie was hit to start the contest and junior Buddy Reed followed with a single into center field. A failed pickoff attempt by Garcia enabled Guthrie to take third base but Reed was thrown out at second. Schwarz drove in his third of five runs during the series with a grounder to short.  
 
Guthrie came through with a two-run, two-out single with the bases full in the second for a 3-0 Florida advantage. Vasquez led off with a single but was erased on a fielder's choice by sophomore Mike Rivera. Liput raised his hitting streak to eight games with a bunt single and freshman Jonathan India drew a two-out walk to fill the sacks. Guthrie then poked Garcia's next pitch into left field to plate Rivera and Liput.
 
Rivera increased the Gators' lead to 4-0 in the sixth with an RBI grounder. Schwarz and Alonso started the inning with back-to-back singles and Vasquez laid down a bunt to move them into scoring position. Freshman Andrew Cabezas replaced Garcia (5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER) and Rivera drove in Schwarz with a ground ball to second base.
 
UF tacked on three more runs in the seventh to build a 7-0 cushion, highlighted by a two-run triple from Schwarz. India and Guthrie started the stanza with consecutive singles before India was erased at third base on a bunt by Reed. Schwarz smashed Cabeza's first offering into right field and Alonso followed with a sacrifice fly to complete the scoring for the visitors.
 
In the bottom of the frame, Faedo issued a leadoff walk to Collins and had junior Jacob Heyward fly out to center field, prompting a pitching change. Junior Kirby Snead recorded a pair of strikeouts to close out the inning.
 
Junior Shaun Anderson began the ninth for Snead (1.2 IP, 0 H, 3 K) and sophomore Carl Chester reached on a throwing error to begin the inning. Barr foiled the Gators' no-hit bid with a single into left field and a one-out single by Heyward loaded the bases. Junior Johnny Ruiz delivered a bases-clearing double to put the Hurricanes on the board and junior Dane Dunning was called upon to record the final two outs to secure the triumph.
 
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
"Alex (Faedo) gave us a huge lift today. As much as anything, he gave us an emotional lift coming off of a tough loss, our first loss of the season last night. I could tell early on, during batting practice and pregame, that Alex (Faedo) was very, very focused. My only concern was making sure that he kept his emotions in check, but he was outstanding today. What can you say? Twelve strikeouts over 6.1 innings and we struck out 17 and walked only three today. This was a big game today – one of those lessons that we learn that there will be a lot of times that a series is going to come down to Sunday. I thought the approach at the plate was very good and seven of our nine starters had hits."
                                                                                                                  
Postgame Notes

• Kevin O'Sullivan's club has defeated the Hurricanes in 23 of the past 29 meetings and has taken six of the last seven regular-season series between the Sunshine State rivals (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016).

• Alex Faedo set career highs in innings pitched (6.1) and strikeouts (12) in earning his second win of the campaign.
• The right-hander's total of 12 strikeouts was the most by a Gator since A.J. Puk had a dozen against Vanderbilt last May.
• Florida's most recent no-hitter remains Jonathan Crawford's gem against Bethune-Cookman at the NCAA Gainesville Regional on June 1, 2012.
• Deacon Liput was 4-for-8 (.500) in the series and drew three walks. He has a hit in all eight of the Gators' games this season.
• Peter Alonso (.455) and JJ Schwarz (.417) were also over .400 in Coral Gables.
• The Gator pitching staff totaled 32 strikeouts in the series and permitted six walks.

 
Up Next
The Gators will meet UCF (6-2) in a home-and-home series starting on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Orlando, with the teams facing off at McKethan Stadium on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The games can be heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell.
 
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