The No. 1 Florida Gators (12-1) finished off a three-game sweep of Dartmouth (0-6) on Sunday with a come from behind 8-6 victory.
The Big Green came out swinging after a walk-off loss in extra innings on Saturday. Joe Purritano worked a walk after getting down in a 0-2 hole. Sunday starter Alex Faedo worked back, earning an innocent fly ball to shortstop before a Kyle Holbrook single gave the Big Green runners on the corners. Michael Ketchmark followed that up with a single of his own, scoring Purritano and moving Holbrook to third. Steffen Torgersen extended the lead with a RBI single to extend the lead to two. Faedo worked out of the inning but surrendered a third run in the top of the fourth on a Holbrook solo homerun to right field.
“First of all I’d like to compliment Dartmouth, they played great today. You can go out and hang your head after a tough loss last night but they went and jumped out on a really good pitcher,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It’s amazing to me how guys can come out of a gym and put good swings on fastballs that are 91-94.”
The Gators managed just two hits through the first three innings and Dartmouth starter Clay Chatham got Buddy Reed to ground out to start the bottom half of the fourth inning. JJ Schwarz came to the plate in a game that appeared to be getting away from Florida and jumped on a first pitch fastball, parking it in the left field bleachers for his third homerun of the season.
“JJ’s homer I think kind of got us going offensively,” O’Sullivan said. “I think if you’re watching the game you can see the swings get slower and slower and bigger and bigger and guys were pressing a little bit. I think that one swing kind of took the pressure off a little bit.”
Faedo threw a donut on the board in the top of the fifth and Florida seized momentum with a big inning offensively. Jonathan India was hit by a pitch with one out and Dalton Guthrie advanced him to second with a single. Buddy Reed, the Saturday night hero, laced a ball down the right field line to bring home India and Guthrie, finding his own way to third base with a stand up triple. JJ Schwarz reached base on a fielding error, allowing Reed to score and the damage was done; Florida had taken its first lead of the game 4-3.
“They had a great pitching staff, they attacked all the hitters. They came in on me, I was looking for a fastball in and lucky enough I got the head out and yanked it for a triple.
Florida added insurance runs in the sixth, thanks to a solo home run to lead things off by Mike Rivera, and a sacrifice fly by Guthrie. JJ Schwarz scored from third as Ryan Larson was caught stealing in the seventh as Florida’s lead grew 7-3.
Kirby Snead replaced Faedo in the sixth inning and worked a clean frame before finding trouble in the Snead compounded a lead off single by walking the next batter. After a fielder’s choice to third, Frank Rubio relieved Snead and worked out of the jam unscathed.
Rubio retired three in a row before giving up two runs in the top of the eighth. Florida and Dartmouth exchanged runs in the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth, with the Big Green getting the tying run to the plate before sophomore Nick Horvath earned the save.
“I see this as something we can build off of. You can’t take anything for granted. This was a great Dartmouth team. They had great coaching, pitching and hitting.” We’re obviously going to take this into UNF on Tuesday, give our bodies a break on Monday but come back Tuesday and for the rest of the year with a chip on our shoulder knowing that everyone is going to give us their best effort because we’re the No. 1 team in the country. We’re going to have to reciprocate and do the same.”
Florida will travel to Jacksonville to play UNF at 6 pm on Tuesday before the Ospreys return the favor with a trip to Gainesville on Wednesday. Florida will start junior Dane Dunning on Tuesday and freshman Jackson Kowar on Wednesday.
Pitcher of the weekend
Logan Shore – 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
Hitter of the weekend
JJ Schwarz – 4-8 (.500), 5 RBI, 2 R, 3 BB, 1 HR