Gators beat Vandy on den Dekker homer

Matt den Dekker thought he gave the No. 8 Florida Gators the lead with the first swing of his seventh inning at-bat, only to watch his batted baseball hook foul.

Four pitches later, he did give Florida the lead. This time he left no doubt by putting a fastball from Vanderbilt left-hander Richie Goodenow off the right-field scoreboard, pushing Florida to a 3-2 victory over the 17th-ranked Commodores Friday night in front of 4,093 fans at McKethan Stadium.

“I’ve been trying to work on hitting lefties,” den Dekker said. “I got a good pitch to hit and hit the ball on the barrel. Good things happen when you do that.”

Goodenow relieved Vanderbilt ace Sonny Gray, who lasted 6.1 innings, allowing four hits, two runs and a career-high five walks. The first pitch from Goodenow was a fastball over the heart of the plate that den Dekker was waiting for. He was early with his swing, so the ball started fair, but it quickly began hooking foul.

“I was out in front a little bit and I hooked it, so right when I hit it I kind of knew it was going to hook,” den Dekker said. “I was locked in at that point and tried to stay with him.”

Down 0-1 in the count, den Dekker took two straight breaking balls that started over the plate and moved out of the strike zone, and a fastball high made the count 3-1. The senior center fielder admitted the off-speed pitchers were tough to lay off, but they put him in a positive count with a chance to drive the baseball. Drive it, den Dekker did, and the home run, his fifth of the season with Nolan Fontana aboard with a walk, gave Florida a 3-1 lead.

“He (den Dekker) stuck his nose right in there,” said Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan, whose Gators improved to 19-6 overall and 5-2 in the SEC East. “We talk all the time about controlling the count. Everybody will talk about the 3-1 fastball he hit out, but if (Goodenow) throws those two breaking balls for strikes and controls the count, it may be a different at-bat.”

The Commodores (23-5, 4-3 SEC East) took a one-run lead in the second inning when Florida starting pitcher Alex Panteliodis battled his control. They loaded the bases with two hits and a walk, and a sacrifice fly from Anthony Gomez scored the run.

Panteliodis would settled down after that, going 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits and one run while striking out six batters. He did allow the leadoff hitter to record a hit in five of seven innings but pitched his way out of jams.

“He’s going to have to do a better job with the leadoff hitter,” O’Sullivan said. “You can’t keep playing with fire until you get burned. To his credit, he made some big pitches when he needed to.”

Austin Maddox tied the game at one in the fifth inning with an RBI single that scored den Dekker, who singled with two outs and moved to second after Preston Tucker walked. Maddox went 2-4 on the night, his sixth straight game with multiple hits.

Any SEC win is important, but for the Gators, Friday night meant a little more. They had lost three of their last four games coming into the game, including a series at Ole Miss last weekend.

“We won’t accept failure, but you learn from it and move on,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s what happens to teams. They let one bad game or three of the last four creep in (to their mind), and next thing you know you lose eight out of 10.”

Breaking a rough patch of play wasn’t easy against Gray. The sophomore right-hander was dominant Friday night in his time on the mound, even though he gave up base runners.

In fact, the way Gray (4-3) responded with runners on base is what impressed O’Sullivan the most. He hit Josh Adams with one out in the fourth inning and then gave up a single to designated hitter Brian Johnson, the first hit of his career. Gray then buckled down to strike out Tyler Thompson, who struck out four times, and Kamm Washington.

“I knew that Sonny Gray was going to be good, but he was really good,” O’Sullivan said about the Vanderbilt ace. “The thing that separates him from most is that he dials it up when he needs to. He struck out both Kamm (Washington) and Tyler (Thompson) when he got in trouble, and his stuff was just a little bit better than it had been all night. That’s why he is who he is.”

The victory went to Jeff Barfield (1-0), who relieved Panteliodis and surrendered an eighth inning run to Vanderbilt that cut the lead to 3-2. Kevin Chapman piced up his fifth save of the season, allowing three hits in 1.1 innings.

The series will continue Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. Florida will start freshman left-hander Brian Johnson (2-1, 3.42) against Vanderbilt junior right-hander Taylor Hill (3-1, 2.25).

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE

Conference Overall

EASTERN DIVISION W-L Pct. W-L Pct.


South Carolina 6-1 .857 21-5 .808

Florida 5-2 .714 19-6 .760

Vanderbilt 4-3 .571 23-5 .821

Kentucky 2-5 .286 18-9 .667

Georgia 1-6 .143 9-16 .360

Tennessee 0-7 .000 13-14.481

WESTERN DIVISION W-L Pct. W-L Pct.

Louisiana State 6-1 .857 22-3 .880

Mississippi 5-2 .714 21-6 .778

Arkansas 4-3 .571 20-6 .769

Auburn 4-3 .571 17-9 .654

Alabama 3-4 .429 18-7 .720

Mississippi State 2-5 .286 14-12.538

RESULTS

FRIDAY / April 2


Florida 3, Vanderbilt 2

South Carolina 10, Mississippi State 2

Louisiana State 4, Georgia 3

Mississippi 7, Tennessee 3

Alabama 10, Auburn 5

Kentucky 12, Arkansas 8

SCHEDULE

SATURDAY / April 3


Kentucky (Fr. LHP Taylor Rogers 3-2, 3.99 ERA) at Arkansas (So. LHP Drew Smyly 2-0, 1.69 ERA), 3:05 p.m.

Vanderbilt (Jr. RHP Taylor Hill 3-1, 2.56 ERA) at Florida (Fr. LHP Brian Johnson 2-1, 3.42 ERA), 4 p.m. (SUN)

Mississippi State (Fr. RHP Chris Stratton 2-3, 3.48 ERA) at South Carolina (Jr. RHP Sam Dyson 2-0, 4.15 ERA), 4 p.m. (CSS)

Auburn (Jr. LHP Cole Nelson 4-1, 3.12 ERA) at Alabama (Jr. RHP Jimmy Nelson 4-0, 1.78 ERA), 5 p.m.

Georgia (Sr. RHP Jeff Walters 0-2, 9.38 ERA) at Louisiana State (Jr. RHP Austin Ross 3-1, 4.54 ERA), 5 p.m. (FSN)

Tennessee (Sr. RHP Stephen McCray 2-3, 1.89 ERA) at Mississippi (Sr. RHP Aaron Barrett 6-0, 2.13 ERA), 5 p.m.

SUNDAY / April 4

Vanderbilt (So. RHP Jack Armstrong 3-0, 4.70 ERA) at Florida (Fr. RHP Hudson Randall 2-2, 5.00 ERA), 1 p.m. (SUN)

Georgia (So. RHP Michael Palazzone 3-2, 7.48 ERA) at Louisiana State (TBA), 1 p.m. (CSS)

Tennessee (So. LHP Steven Gruver 1-1, 4.76 ERA) at Mississippi (TBA), 2 p.m.

Mississippi State (TBA) at South Carolina (Sr. RHP Jay Brown 1-0, 3.38 ERA), 2 p.m. (ESPNU)

Kentucky (So. RHP Alex Meyer 4-2, 6.15 ERA) at Arkansas (Jr. RHP Brett Eibner 2-2, 2.28 ERA), 2:05 p.m.

Auburn (TBA) at Alabama (TBA), 3 p.m.

TUESDAY / April 6

Jacksonville at Florida, 6:30 p.m.

Clemson at Georgia, 6:30 p.m.

Louisville at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m.

Belmont at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m.

UAB at Alabama, 7:30 p.m.

Georgia State at Auburn, 7:30 p.m.

Alcorn State at Louisiana State, 7:30 p.m.

Jackson State at Mississippi State, 7:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY / April 7

Georgia at Clemson, 6:30 p.m.

Alabama at Jacksonville State, 6:30 p.m.

College of Charleston at South Carolina, 7 p.m.

Western Carolina at Tennessee, 7 p.m.

Saint Louis at Arkansas, 7:30 p.m.

South Alabama at Auburn, 7:30 p.m.

Arkansas-Little Rock at Mississippi, 7:30 p.m.

Southern Mississippi vs. Louisiana State at Zephyr Field, New Orleans, 8 p.m.

FRIDAY / April 9

Alabama at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m.

Florida at Tennessee, 7 p.m.

South Carolina at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m.

Arkansas at Mississippi State, 7:30 p.m.

Louisiana State at Auburn, 7:30 p.m.

Mississippi at Georgia, 8 p.m.

SATURDAY / April 10

Arkansas at Mississippi State, 3 p.m.

Mississippi at Georgia, 3 p.m.

South Carolina at Vanderbilt, 3 p.m.

Florida at Tennessee, 4 p.m.

Louisiana State at Auburn, 4 p.m.

Alabama at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m.

SUNDAY / April 11

Florida at Tennessee, 12:30 p.m.

Alabama at Kentucky, 1 p.m.

Louisiana State at Auburn, 2 p.m.

Mississippi at Georgia, 2 p.m.

South Carolina at Vanderbilt, 2 p.m.

Arkansas at Mississippi State, 2:30 p.m.

POLLS

As of March 29


BASEBALL AMERICA

1. Virginia (20-4); 2. Arizona State (23-0); Georgia Tech (21-2); 4. Florida State (19-4); 5. Louisiana State (20-3); 6. UCLA (20-0); 7. Texas (18-6); 8. Florida (18-5); 9. Louisville (20-3); 10. Arkansas (18-5); 11. Mississippi (19-6); 12. South Carolina (19-5); 13. Texas Christian (17-5); 14. Coastal Carolina (19-5); 15. Miami, Fla. (16-7); 16. Clemson (18-6); 17. Oklahoma (20-3); 18. Western Kentucky (20-5); 19. Stanford (12-6); 20. Vanderbilt (21-4); 21. Oregon State (16-5); 22. Arizona (20-5); 23. Texas A&M (17-6); 24. UC Irvine (14-8); 25. Alabama (16-6).

COLLEGIATE BASEBALL

1. Arizona State (23-0); 2. UCLA (20-0); 3. Virginia (20-4); 4. Louisiana State (20-3); 5. Georgia Tech (21-2); 6. Florida State (19-4); 7. Texas (18-6); 8. Louisville (20-3); 9. Oklahoma (20-3); 10. Oregon State (16-5); 11. Mississippi (19-6); 12. Florida (18-5); 13. Clemson (18-6); 14. South Carolina (19-5); 15. Coastal Carolina (19-5); 16. Texas Christian (17-5); 17. Miami, Fla. (16-7); 18. Arizona (20-5); 19. Arkansas (18-5); 20. Kansas State (19-3); 21. Western Kentucky (20-5); 22. Southeast Louisiana (22-3); 23. Vanderbilt (21-4); 24. Pittsburgh (18-4); 25. The Citadel (18-6); 26. UC Irvine (14-8); 27. Texas A&M (17-6); 28. Stanford (12-6); 29. Virginia Military Institute (20-4); 30. Wichita State (14-7).

USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES

1. Arizona State (23-0); 2 Georgia Tech (21-2); 3. Virginia (20-4); 4. Louisiana State (20-3); 5. UCLA (20-0); 6. Florida State (19-4); 7. Texas (18-6); 8. Louisville (20-3); 9. Oklahoma (20-3); 10. Clemson (18-6); 11. Florida (18-5); 12. Texas Christian (17-5); 13. Arkansas (18-5); 14. Mississippi (19-6); 15. Coastal Carolina (19-5); 16. Miami, Fla. (16-7); 17. Vanderbilt (21-4); 18. Oregon State (16-5); 19. South Carolina (19-5); 20. Arizona (20-5); 21. Kansas State (19-3); 22. Texas A&M (17-6); 23. (tie) Southeast Louisiana (22-3) and Alabama (16-6); 25. Western Kentucky (20-5).

NATIONAL COLLEGE BASEBALL WRITERS ASSOCIATION

1. Arizona State (23-0); 2. Virginia (20-4); 3. Georgia Tech (21-2); 4. Louisiana State (20-3); 5. Florida State (19-4); 6. UCLA (20-0); 7. Texas (18-6); 8. Louisville (20-3); 9. Florida (18-5); 10. Arkansas (18-5); 11. Texas Christian (17-5); 12. Clemson (18-6); 13. Oklahoma (20-3); 14. Mississippi (19-6); 15. Miami, Fla. (16-7); 16. Oregon State (16-5); 17. Coastal Carolina (19-5); 18. Vanderbilt (21-4); 19. South Carolina (19-5); 20. Arizona (20-5); 21. Southeastern Louisiana (22-3); 22. North Carolina (16-9); 23. East Carolina (16-8); 24. UC Irvine (14-8); 25. Western Kentucky (20-5); 26. Stanford (12-6); 27. Texas A&M (17-6); 28. Kansas State (19-3); 29. Alabama (16-6); 30. Kentucky (16-8).