WHAT HAPPENED: Freshman Hunter Ruth pitched 7.2 innings out of the bullpen to lead the Gators to a 6-3 win and series sweep over Alabama on Sunday at McKethan Stadium.
 
Florida scored six unanswered runs after falling behind 1-0 in the second inning. Austin Langworthy had three RBI on the afternoon, including a two-run home run.
 
Alabama took a 1-0 lead in the second inning after an errant throw from Kendrick Calilao allowed a runner to come in from third.
 
The Gators answered in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead. A RBI double from Langworthy and a sac fly from Brady Smith made it 2-1.
 
Langworthy's homer in the fourth made it 4-1 and it stayed that way until the eighth inning when Florida strung together four singles to add two more runs.
 
Alabama's T.J. Reeves had a pinch-hit, two-run home run in the ninth inning for the final margin.
 
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Hunter Ruth – The Gainesville native stepped up when called upon Sunday afternoon. UF starter Jack Leftwich exited the game in the second inning after a blister flared up and Ruth took over. He proceeded to pitch a career-high 7.2 innings with one run allowed on four hits. He struck out five with one walk.
 
STANDOUT STAT: 2.93 – Ruth worked very efficiently on Sunday, averaging less than three pitches (2.93) per hitter in 7.2 innings. He threw 82 total pitches and faced 28 batters.
 
FROM THE COACH: Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan – On Hunter Ruth: "Getting Hunter out there and going as long as he did and being as efficient as he was, that's a huge, huge step for him. He's worked awfully hard to get back from the [Tommy John] injury. That's a huge lift for us. He came into a tough situation in the second inning, first and second with nobody out, and only gave up one. Other than an errant throw he wouldn't have given up anything that inning."
 
On the offensive performance this weekend: "I think [Langworthy] and Wil Dalton both had good weekends, and so did Brady McConnell, he had a terrific weekend offensively. I thought Langworthy and Wil both had really good weekends and we need both those guys moving forward so that was really good to see."
 
On team's outlook after the weekend: "We played two very good teams [to start SEC play] in Mississippi State and Vandy and got beat pretty handily in four of the six games. We needed to play well, certainly at home. You really don't want to get behind the eight ball too much … When it takes more than one weekend to get back to .500 that gets to be a little bit of a daunting task. So it was a really important weekend for us."
 
UP NEXT: Florida wraps up its homestand on Tuesday with a midweek contest against Florida A&M at 6 p.m. at McKethan Stadium. The game will air on the Gators Sports Network and SEC Network+.
 
Next weekend, the Gators will travel to Oxford, Miss., for a three-game series at Ole Miss.