NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt evened the three-game series with No. 19 Florida at 1-1 with a 4-3 victory Saturday afternoon in front of 3,700 fans at soldout Hawkins Field.
The Commodores (18-12, 4-7 SEC East) capitalized on three Florida errors and broke a 3-3 tie with an RBI fielder’s choice off the bat of sophomore Steve Liddle that scored Alex Hilliard, who had reached on an error to start the inning. Florida fell to 19-10 overall, 7-4 in the SEC East and saw its seven-game winning streak in the league end.
Sophomore right-hander Caleb Cotham (4-3) worked eight innings for the victory, allowing four hits and just one earned run, with six strikeouts and five walks. Freshman Sonny Gray retired junior Matt den Dekker on a fly ball to left field with sophomore Riley Cooper on second base as the potential tying run in the ninth to collect his fourth save.
The Gators drew first blood in the first inning when den Dekker drew a leadoff walk from Cotham, stole second base and took third on a one-out single by senior Avery Barnes (2-for-4). Cotham attempted to pick Barnes off first base but the throw went wide, enabling den Dekker to score.
Barnes swiped second and sophomore Josh Adams walked for two runners aboard, only to have Cotham rebound with consecutive strikeouts of freshman Preston Tucker and junior Buddy Munroe.
In the bottom of the inning, Vanderbilt answered with an unearned run of its own to even the game. Junior Brian Harris was hit by freshman Nick Maronde to open the frame and the left-hander got Liddle to hit a fly ball to center with one out. However, den Dekker lost the ball in the sun and dropped it for two runners on base. Sophomore Curt Casali walked on four pitches to load the bases and junior Andrew Giobbi lofted a sacrifice fly into center to score Harris with the tying run. Maronde caught redshirt freshman Aaron Westlake looking on strikes to end the stanza.
The Gators’ den Dekker took advantage of another Commodore error in the third to move Florida back in front. After a leadoff single through the right side and a stolen base by den Dekker, Barnes’ grounder to shortstop was misplayed by Harris, allowing den Dekker to score and give Florida a 2-1 lead.
Munroe clubbed his third homer with one down in the sixth for a 3-1 Florida lead. The ball cleared the 375-foot sign in left field and was Munroe’s first big fly since March 21 against Tennessee.
But Vanderbilt scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game again. Liddle started the inning with a single into right field and senior Brandon McArthur booted Casali’s grounder before Giobbi had a base-hit to load the bases with none out.
Westlake delivered an RBI grounder to narrow the gap to 3-2 and prompt a pitching change. Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan called on freshman Anthony DeSclafani to replace Maronde, who went 5.1 innings, allowing four hits and three runs but only one earned.
DeSciafani got freshman Jason Esposito to ground out to second, scoring Casali with the equalizer.
Another Gator error in the seventh paved the way to a 4-3 lead for Vanderbilt. Hilliard reached on a fielding miscue by Adams and was sacrificed to second by Harris. Reynolds had an infield hit for runners on the corners and one out and Liddle’s fielder’s choice to first base scored Hilliard to snap the tie and hand DeSciafani (2-1) the loss.
Vanderbilt out-hit the Gators by a 6-5 margin. The Gators stole a season-high six stolen bases but stranded seven baserunners.
The series ends Sunday with a 2 p.m. game that will be televised on FSN Florida and Cox Sports.