GAINESVILLE, Fla.—Florida exploded for a season high 17 hits and used a five-run ninth inning to come-from-behind and beat Vanderbilt 10-6 on Thursday night in Nashville.

Entering the ninth, Florida (23-11, 7-6 SEC) trailed 6-5 but rallied to score five runs on five hits, including a three-run double by freshman Austin Langworthy.
 
Vanderbilt (21-14, 6-7 SEC) took the early lead and held it for most of the game. The Gators won for the first time this season when trailing after the seventh inning.
 
Senior Ryan Larson continued his hot hitting, going 5-for-5 at the plate with two RBI. Deacon Liput had three hits on the night and scored two runs.
 
Vanderbilt took advantage of a Florida error in the second inning and scored three runs – one earned – on three hits.
 
Florida immediately got two runs back in the third as Ryan Larson singled then scored on a sac fly from Dalton Guthrie.
 
A two-out RBI single from Austin Langworthy brought home another run to make it 3-2.
 
Another UF error proved costly in the fourth as Vanderbilt added a pair of unearned runs to increase its lead to 5-2.
 
Florida got a run back in the fifth but failed to capitalize further, leaving the bases loaded. A pair of singles and a walk set the Gators up with a scoring opportunity and Nelson Maldonado drew a full-count walk to bring in a run to make it 5-3.
 
But that was all the damage UF would do, as a grounder and pop out ended the inning.
 
Jeren Kendall gave Vanderbilt a 6-3 lead with his 11th home run of the season, a solo shot to right field in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Larson notched his third hit of the night with a leadoff double in the sixth inning and came in to score on Deacon Liput's RBI grounder to first base.
 
The Gators cut it to one in the seventh and Larson was the catalyst again. Maldonado led off the inning with his second hit of the night and Larson lined a two-out double to right center to make it 6-5 in favor of the home team.
 
Junior Alex Faedo pitched six complete innings, giving up six runs – just two earned – on seven hits. Freshman Garrett Milchin took over and worked two scoreless innings out of the pen.
 
In the top of the eighth, the Gators nearly tied the game but an unlucky bounce ended the threat. With the bases loaded, Guthrie took off for home but the ball ricocheted right back to home plate and the catcher made an easy tag for the third out.
 
Florida led off the ninth with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners for the man of the hour and he came through again. Larson's single through the left side tied the game and gave him a career high five hits.
 
With the bases loaded, Guthrie took a 2-0 fastball right back up the middle for a single to give the Gators a 7-6 lead, their first of the night.
 
The momentum continued as Langworthy cleared the bases with his third hit of the night, a double into the left field corner.
 
Entering Thursday's game, the Gators had scored just two ninth-inning runs all season and were 0-6 when trailing after seven innings on the year.
 
After taking the lead, head coach Kevin O'Sullivan called for closer Michael Byrne to come on and finish it off and he did, striking out two in a scoreless ninth.
 
Game two against the Commodores is Friday night at 7:30 p.m. Fans can watch live online via SEC Network+.
 
 
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
"This is one of those memorable wins that hopefully can really push us forward. We got the starters pitch count up and they used Ruppenthal, who's arguably their best long reliever, I don't know how many pitches he threw but he threw quite a bit. And they used their closer Hayes there at the end. Ruppenthal might be done for the weekend now.
 
"We just hung in there. I thought Alex's stuff was good on the mound. There were just a couple situations that got him in trouble. Obviously the error there at third base on the bunt did not help the three run inning. Credit Vanderbilt's hitters, I thought they did a nice job that inning. In particular, Toffey put a really good swing with two outs and a runner at second – really shortened up his stroke and hit a ball back up the middle for the third run of that inning. Then the two-run inning he fell behind Bleday, 2-0 count to start the inning and you've got to throw him a cookie and he gets a base hit and things kind of roll from there. It was just a couple things that put him behind the eight ball tonight. But I did think his stuff was a lot better, and he threw a lot of quality changeups. That's going to help him moving forward against a heavy left-handed lineup like he saw tonight. Garrett Milchin came in, a freshman, just did great. And obviously Byrne did a great job.
 
"Offensively, what can you say. We had some really competitive at bats. Langworthy coming back, he had three hits and four RBI. What can you say about Ryan Larson, a senior, went 5-for-5 on the night. We scored those five runs there in the ninth inning, it was special. It was a special night. I told our guys, we won a really, really important game tonight, but still it wasn't that clean…it's not clean yet. That's the thing I try to preach to them. We don't have to play great to win ball games at a high level, we just have to play clean baseball and not make the mistakes that we've been making. In spite of all the mistakes tonight, because it wasn't clean, we battled and hung in there and beat a really good Vanderbilt team in a tough place to play."