TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A day after four of Florida’s fab freshmen showed the way in an opening 9-3 Southeastern Conference baseball victory over Alabama, two freshmen and two sophomores paved the way to No. 4 Florida’s 14-8 victory over the Crimson Tide Saturday afternoon that helped to move the Gators into a first-place tie with South Carolina in the SEC Eastern Division.
Freshman Brian Johnson (2-for-3), who will get the ball this afternoon from head coach Kevin O’Sullivan as the Gators go for a series sweep, hit his second grand slam home run in a week and sophomore Preston Tucker – last year’s freshman phenom – went 3-for-5 with a solo home run. Another freshman, catcher Mike Zunino (2-for-4) clubbed a 3-run homer to support ace sophomore left-hander Alex Panteliodis (8-2), who went six strong innings.
Additionally, Florida was 6-for-6 in steal attempts and is 11-for-11 this weekend. Florida outhit Alabama 15-13 as Tucker and Matt den Dekker had three hits each, and Johnson, Zunino and Tyler Thompson had two each.
It was Florida’s season-high seventh straight victory and also clinched the Gators’ sixth straight SEC series victory and first in Tuscaloosa since the 2004 season. More important, with Kentucky’s 2-1 victory over South Carolina Saturday night, the triumph left the Gators and Gamecocks dead even at the top of the East at 17-6. Florida (33-11) has seven league games remaining – Sunday’s game at Sewell-Thomas Stadium, three next weekend at home against Georgia and then its final three games of the regular season at South Carolina (36-10) May 20-22.
A five-run third inning and another five-run inning in the fifth gave Panteliodis plenty of breathing room. He threw 98 pitches, 66 of them for strikes, and had five strikeouts before departing after three batters in the bottom of the seventh. Panteliodis surrendered eight hits, four walks and four earned runs before departing in the seventh in favor of Matt Campbell, who allowed four hits and three earned runs in 1.2 innings. Jeff Barfield got the final four outs.
The loss went to Jimmy Nelson (5-2), who left after pitching to one batter in the fifth. He surrendered seven earned runs on seven hits, and the Gators roughed up the next two Alabama pitchers – David Head and Brett Whitaker – over the next 3.1 innings for six more earned runs on six hits.
Florida jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Matt den Dekker had a one-out single and went to third on Tucker’s single to center. Freshman Austin Maddox then hit a sacrifice fly to right that scored den Dekker. It was Maddox’s team-leading 53rd run batted in of the season.
Zunino led off the third inning with a single to left. Freshman Nolan Fontana walked. One out later, Tucker doubled to right center, scoring Zunino and sending Fontana to third. Maddox then loaded the bases for Johnson, who belted a 1-0 pitch over the fence in right for a grand slam that made it 6-0 Florida.
Alabama got one of the runs back in the bottom of the third when Clay Jones homered to left.
Then Florida erupted for five more runs in the fifth to take an 11-1 lead. Tucker started things with a leadoff home run that ended Nelson’s day. With two outs and Johnson and Adams on base with walks, Tyler Thompson singled to right to knock in Johnson. After another pitching change brought Whitaker in for Head, Zunino hit a 1-2 delivery over the wall in left for a 3-run homer.
Panteliodis gave up a solo homer to Cody Trotter in the bottom of the sixth but got himself in trouble in the seventh. Taylor Dugas and Josh Rutledge had back-to-back singles to start the inning, and after Jones walked to load the bases, O’Sullivan turned to Campbell, who surrendered a sacrifice fly to Jake Smith and a single to Andrew Miller that cut the Florida lead to 11-4.
But Florida responded with a three-run eighth inning to regain its 10-run lead. A double by den Dekker started the inning and Maddox walked one out later. After Florida executed a double steal, pinch-hitter Bryson Smith walked to load the bases. Daniel Pigott brought one of the runners home with a sacrifice fly and the Gators pulled off another double steal with pinch-runner Jerico Weitzel scoring after Alabama catcher Brock Bennett’s throw went into the left field. Adams then doubled home Smith for Florida’s third run and a 14-4 lead.
But the Crimson Tide scored four times in the bottom of the eighth, the big blow coming on Smith’s three-run homer that was surrendered by Barfield, who got the final out of the eighth and had a tiny hiccup in the ninth when he hit Jon Kelton with a pitch.
Johnson (4-2, 2.90 ERA) will oppose junior right-hander Nathan Kilcrease (3-2, 1.75 ERA) in Sunday’s series finale that starts at 3:05 p.m.
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
Eastern Division Conference Overall
(Rank) Team W-L Pct. GB W-L Pct.
(6) South Carolina 17-6 .739 — 36-10 .783
(5) [B]Florida[/B] 17-6 .739 — 33-11 .750
(23) Vanderbilt 11-10 .524 5 34-13 .723
Tennessee 10-13 .435 7 26-21 .553
Kentucky 8-15 .348 9 25-21 .543
Georgia 3-18 .143 13 13-32 .289
Western Division Conference Overall
(Rank) Team W-L Pct. GB W-L Pct.
(12) Arkansas 15-8 .652 — 36-11 .766
(14) Mississippi 15-8 .652 — 34-14 .708
(23) Auburn 14-9 .609 1 32-15 .681
(20) Louisiana State 12-11 .522 3 34-14 .708
Alabama 9-14 .391 6 28-19 .596
Mississippi State 5-18 .217 10 20-27 .426
(Rank) Ranking in the GatorCountry.com Top 30
RESULTS
SATURDAY / May 8
Florida 14, Alabama 8
Kentucky 2, South Carolina 1
Tennessee 25, Georgia 5
Auburn 16, Mississippi State 14
Vanderbilt 6, Louisiana State 2
Mississippi 3, Arkansas 2
FRIDAY / May 7
Florida 9, Alabama 3
Arkansas 11, Mississippi 4
South Carolina 13, Kentucky 9
Louisiana State 16, Vanderbilt 15 (10 innings)
Auburn 9, Mississippi State 6
Tennessee 4, Georgia 1
SCHEDULE
SUNDAY / May 9
Florida (Fr. LHP Brian Johnson 4-2, 2.90 ERA) at Alabama (Jr. RHP Nathan Kilcrease 3-2, 1.75 ERA), 3:05 p.m.
South Carolina (Sr. RHP Jay Brown 2-0, 4.72 ERA) at Kentucky (So. RHP Alex Meyer 4-2, 7.30 ERA), 1 p.m.
Tennessee (Jr. LHP Bryan Morgado 2-6, 7.12 ERA) at Georgia (Sr. LHP Alex McRee 0-1, 6.33 ERA), 2 p.m. (CSS)
Vanderbilt (Jr. RHP Taylor Hill 4-3, 3.38 ERA) at Louisiana State (Jr. RHP Austin Ross 3-4, 5.63 ERA), 2 p.m.
Mississippi State (TBA) at Auburn (Jr. LHP Grant Dayton 5-2, 4.86 ERA), 2 p.m.
Arkansas (TBA) at Mississippi (TBA), 2:30 p.m.
TUESDAY / May 11
Kentucky at Indiana, 4 p.m.
Georgia State at Georgia, 6:30 p.m.
Auburn at South Alabama, 6:30 p.m.
Wofford at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Louisville at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m.
WEDNESDAY / May 12
Florida Atlantic at Florida, 6:30 p.m.
Lipscomb at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m.
Charleston Southern at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Middle Tennessee State at Tennessee, 7 p.m.
Alabama at Samford, 7:30 p.m.
Mississippi at Arkansas State, 7:30 p.m.
Northwestern State at Mississippi State, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY / May 14
Georgia at Florida, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
Louisiana State at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m.
Tennessee at Auburn, 7:30 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Mississippi State, 7:30 p.m.
South Carolina at Arkansas, 7:35 p.m.
Mississippi at Alabama, 7:35 p.m.
SATURDAY / May 15
Georgia at Florida, 1 p.m. (CSS)
Louisiana State at Kentucky, 3 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Mississippi State, 3 p.m.
South Carolina at Arkansas, 3:05 p.m.
Tennessee at Auburn, 4 p.m.
Mississippi at Alabama, 4:05 p.m.
SUNDAY / May 16
Georgia at Florida, 1 p.m.
Louisiana State at Kentucky, 1 p.m.
South Carolina at Arkansas, 2:05 p.m.
Tennessee at Auburn, 2 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Mississippi State, 2:30 p.m.
Mississippi at Alabama, 3:05 p.m.
RANKINGS
GATOR COUNTRY.com TOP 30
How the Top 30 teams in the Gator Country.com college baseball rankings fared Saturday. The Gator Country.com Top 30 ranking is determined by combining four polls of USA Today / ESPN Coaches, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association:
Rk School Rcd Pts Prv Saturday/Next game
1. Texas (3) (40-8) 119 1 W, 17-2 at No. 25 Kansas State; Sunday at No. 25 Kansas State, 2 p.m.
2. Virginia (1) (40-9) 115 3 Did not play; 5/14 vs. North Carolina
3. Arizona State (39-5) 114 2 Did not play; Monday vs. Brigham Young
4. Coastal Carolina (40-6) 103 5 W, 20-3 Winthrop; Sunday vs. Winthrop, 2 p.m.
5. Florida (33-11) 102 10 W, 14-8 at Alabama; Sunday at Alabama, 3 p.m.
6. South Carolina (36-10) 96 8 L, 2-1 at Kentucky; Sunday at Kentucky, 1 p.m.
7. Florida State (34-12) 94 9 Saturday at Boston College, ppd.; Sunday at Boston College (2), 11 a.m.
8. Texas Christian (35-10) 93 11 L, 3-2 at New Mexico; Sunday at New Mexico, 7:30 p.m.
9. Georgia Tech (38-9) 86 4 W, 11-5 vs. Illinois State; Sunday vs. Illinois-Chicago, 1 p.m.
10. Louisville (39-8) 85 12 L, 2-1 at Georgetown; Sunday at Georgetown, 1 p.m.
11. Miami, Fla. (36-11) 79 14 W, 11-1 vs. Barry; 5/14-16 at Georgia Tech
12. Arkansas (36-11) 76 7 L, 3-2 at No. 14 Mississippi; Sunday at No. 14 Mississippi, 2:30 p.m.
13. UCLA (33-10) 72 6 W, 14-6 at Washington; Sunday at Washington, 4 p.m.
14. Mississippi (34-14) 71 16 W, 3-2 vs. No. 12 Arkansas; Sunday vs. No. 12 Arkansas, 2:30 p.m.
15. Cal State Fullerton (28-14) 70 15 Saturday vs. UC Riverside, late; Sunday vs. UC Riverside, 4 p.m.
16. Oklahoma (34-13) 58 17 L, 4-3 vs. Oklahoma State; Sunday vs. Oklahoma State, 5 p.m.
17. Oregon (30-17) 50 22 L, 4-3 at Oregon State; Sunday at Oregon State, 4 p.m.
18. Virginia Tech (33-15) 46 23 W, 12-0 vs. Savannah State; Sunday vs. Savannah State, 1 p.m.
19. Connecticut (37-9) 44 18 W, 14-2 and 14-0 vs. Cincinnati; Sunday vs. Cincinnati, 12 p.m.
20. Louisiana State (34-14) 37 13 L, 6-2 vs. No. 23 Vanderbilt; Sunday vs. No. 23 Vanderbilt, 2 p.m.
21. Arizona (29-15) 33 19 Saturday vs. Cal State Bakersfield, late; Sunday vs. Cal State Bakersfield, 3 p.m.
22. California (27-15) 30 25 Saturday at Washington State, late; Sunday at Washington State, 3 p.m.
23. Vanderbilt (34-13) 25 21 W, 6-2 at No. 20 Louisiana State; Sunday at No. 20 Louisiana State, 2 p.m.
23. Auburn (32-15) 25 NR W, 16-14 at Mississippi State; Sunday at Mississippi State, 2 p.m.
25. Kansas State (32-14) 20 24 L, 17-2 No. 1 Texas; Sunday vs. No. 1 Texas, 2 p.m.
26. Rice (29-17) 19 27 L, 3-2 at Marshall; Sunday at Marshall, 10:30 a.m.
26. San Diego (29-16) 19 28 W, 5-1 at Portland; Sunday at Portland
28. Clemson (30-17) 16 26 W, 12-8 at Maryland; Sunday at Maryland, 1 p.m.
29. UC Irvine (28-15) 11 NR Saturday at Cal Poly, late; Sunday at Cal Poly, 5 p.m.
29. Pittsburgh (34-12) 11 29 W, 14-2 and L, 9-7 at Seton Hall; 5/11 vs. Ohio