ATHENS, Ga. – Florida overcame an 8-0 deficit at Georgia Friday night but neither team could overcome the weatherman Friday night in the battle for first place in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference.
With the game tied at 9-9 with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning at Foley Field, rain suspended the first of a three-game series between the No. 7 Bulldogs and the No. 20 Gators. The game will be completed at the conclusion of Saturday’s regularly scheduled game at 1 p.m. at Foley Field. Freshman right-hander Anthony DeSclafani (4-1, 3.02 ERA) will take the mound for the Gators against Georgia junior southpaw Alex McRee (4-0, 3.12 ERA).
Florida (31-14, 13-8 SEC East) was hoping to move into a first-place tie with Georgia (33-12, 14-7 SEC East) with a victory and sent senior Stephen Locke to the mound against the Bulldogs’ Trevor Holder. But the Bulldogs jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two innings, using a grand-slam home run by Bryce Massanari in the first inning and s 3-run homer by Joey Lewis in the second being the key hits.
Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan stayed with his senior left-hander and Locke did not disappoint, holding the Bulldogs scoreless over the next 3.2 innings while his teammates mounted their comeback. When Locke left with two outs in the sixth innings, he had allowed eight runs, only five earned, on 11 hits (only two after the second inning) with no walks and seven strikeouts.
Greg Larson relieved Locke and got the final run of the sixth but was tagged for a single run in the seventh before Tony Davis and Patrick Keating finished up. Keating was the pitcher of record when the game was called with Lyle Allen on first base after a one-out single and Robbie O’Bryan had an 0-1 count against him when the rains came at 10:43 p.m. EDT.
Florida used home runs by Preston Tucker (his 10th), Mike Mooney (1st), Avery Barnes (8th) and Jonathan Pigott (2nd) to get itself back in the game against Holder (5 innings, 6 earned runs, 10 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts) and four other relievers.
Both teams had 14 hits. Florida’s attack was led by Barnes (3-for-6) and Tucker (3-for-5). Josh Adams and Pigott each had two hits, with Pigott having a team-high three runs batted in.
Georgia had two hits each from Lewis, Matt Cerione, Rich Poythress, Lyle Allen and Levin Hyams.
The Bulldogs started quickly, scoring six times in the first inning and twice more in the second for an 8-0 lead that Florida gradually whittled away.
Cerione reached on an error by Locke, who dropped Tucker’s throw while covering first. Colby May then followed with a single to right and Poythress singled to left to load the bases for Massanari, who made it 4-0 with his grand slam to left.
Locke settled down and got the next two Georgia batters, but Peter Verdin had a two-out single and went to third on a single by Hyams. Verdin then scored on a bunt by Miles Starr and Cerione followed with a single to left for a 6-0 lead. Georgia finished with seven hits in the inning and all the runs were unearned.
Locke got the first two batters in the second but then hit Massanari with a pitch and Joey Lewis followed with a 2-run homer to left that made it 8-0.
Florida got a run back in the third inning when Tucker hit a two-out solo homer to right. It was his 10th home run of the season.
The Gators closed the score to 8-4 with three more runs in the fourth. With one out, Teddy Foster singled to left and Mooney followed with a homer to right, his first of the season. Barnes followed with another homer to right, his eighth of the year, and suddenly the Gators were back into the game.
Florida got a two-out, two-run homer from Pigott in the fifth to close the score to 8-6, chasing starter Trevor Holder. Reliever Will Harvil walked leadoff batter Mooney, who went to second on Barnes’ groundout to third and then went to third on a wild pitch. One out later, Tucker walked and then Adams singled to left to score Mooney to make it 8-7. Matt den Dekker then walked to load the bases, and Jeff Walters replaced Harvil and got McArthur to ground out to third base.
The Bulldogs broke back with a single run in the seventh but the Gators finally pulled even with a pair of runs in the eighth.
Tucker led off with an infield hit and went to second on a passed ball. Adams then walked and Georgia made a pitching change, Justin Earls coming in for Walters. Matt den Dekker bunted them over to third and second, and Georgia made another pitching change, bringing in Dean Weaver.
McArthur greeted him with a single to right that scored Tucker and Adams scored when Pigott grounded into a fielder’s choice, tying the game at 9-9.
A few minutes later, Mother Nature had seen enough for the evening.
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
EAST SEC Pct. GB All Pct.
Georgia 14-7 .667 — 33-12 .733
Florida 13-8 .619 1.0 31-14 .689
Vanderbilt 10-11.476 4.0 27-18 .600
South Carolina 10-12.454 4.5 28-18 .609
Kentucky 8-14 .363 6.5 23-22 .511
Tennessee 6-16 .272 8.5 20-26 .435
WEST SEC Pct. GB All Pct.
Louisiana State 14-7 .667 — 34-12 .739
Arkansas 13-7 .650 0.5 30-12 .714
Mississippi 14-8 .636 0.5 34-13 .723
Alabama 13-9 .591 1.5 31-15 .674
Auburn 8-14 .363 6.5 27-20 .574
Mississippi State 6-16 .273 8.5 21-25 .457
FRIDAY, MAY 1
Florida 9, Georgia 9 (suspended by rain in 9th; game will resume following Saturday’s regularly scheduled game)
Kentucky 6, Tennessee 4
South Carolina 8, Vanderbilt 5
Louisiana State at Arkansas, ppd., rain
Mississippi 9, Auburn 2
Alabama 10, Mississippi State 8
SATURDAY, MAY 2
Florida (Anthony DeScalfani 4-1, 3.02 ERA) at Georgia (Alex McRae 4-0, 3.07 ERA), 1 p.m. (CSS)
Florida at Georgia, completion of Friday game suspended by rain tied 9-9, 30 minutes after conclusion of first game
Louisiana State (Anthony Ranaudo 5-2, 2.89 ERA and Louis Coleman (8-2, 3.07 ERA) at Arkansas (Dallas Keuchel 6-1, 4.30 ERA and Brett Eibner 4-2, 3.23 ERA), 2, 1 p.m.
Tennessee (TBD) at Kentucky (Chris Rusin 5-3, 3.73 ERA), 4 p.m.
Vanderbilt (Drew Hayes 4-2, 4.22 ERA) at South Carolina (Nolan Belcher 2-3, 4.17 ERA), 7 p.m.
Mississippi (Phillip Irwin 5-3, 4.01 ERA) at Auburn (Grant Dayton 2-4, 5.06 ERA), 7 p.m.
Alabama (Del Howell 5-2, 4.79 ERA) at Mississippi State (Nick Routt 4-3, 3.41 ERA), 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, MAY 3
Florida at Georgia, 2 p.m.
Tennessee at Kentucky, 1 p.m.
Vanderbilt at South Carolina, 1:30 p.m.
Mississippi at Auburn, 2 p.m.
Louisiana State at Arkansas, 2 p.m.
Alabama at Mississippi State, 2:30 p.m.