Record night for Schwarz as Gators pummel Stetson

Freshman JJ Schwarz put up numbers reserved for a men’s Sunday softball league — which may be appropriate seeing as his sister plays softball for the Florida Gators.

The freshman hit four home runs, becoming the first player in 101 years of baseball at the University of Florida to accomplish the feat, as the Gators (25-9) pummeled Stetson (18-16) 22-2 on Tuesday night.

“Obviously, this was a special night for JJ,” Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I don’t know if I have ever seen a guy hit four homers in one game. The most impressive thing is that he drove a ball to right center on his last at-bat. Sometimes home runs can be the best thing that happens to a hitter to get them going.”

Schwarz’s record night wasn’t limited to the long ball. He launched home runs in the second, third and fourth innings before flying out. Schwarz broke the school record in the seventh inning with his fourth — a solo home run — and added a two-RBI double in the eighth inning to bring his RBI total to 10.

“I’ve never hit two [home runs in a game] before,” Schwarz said. “After my second one, I was really excited, and then after the third I was like, ‘Holy crap, what is going on?’”

Schwarz wasn’t the only one in on the act. Freshman Dalton Guthrie led off the game with a home run — his first career long ball. Guthrie launched another in the fifth inning and Harrison Bader followed suit.

“I don’t have many games where I hit one [home run] to be honest,” Guthrie said. “I haven’t done this before.”

The Gators score at least one run in every single inning they stepped up to the dish including a five-spot in the second inning and six more in the bottom of the eighth.

“This game will drive you crazy,” said O’Sullivan. “We got nine hits the last two games in Missouri. If you look on the board tonight, we have 22 hits.”

Florida will get a few days off before the South Carolina Gamecocks come in to town for a three-game set in Gainesville.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC