Florida’s best chances at scoring came in the fourth inning.
First, a Harrison Bader would-be home run was barely snatched out of the air by Vanderbilt’s backpedaling centerfielder. Next, Buddy Reed tripled to deep right field but needed a hit from teammate Peter Alonso to reach home.
He didn’t get it.
Instead, Vanderbilt’s right-hander Carson Fulmer retired the side en-route to his sixth complete-game shutout this season, continuing his dominance of the Southeastern Conference dating back to Florida’s last meeting against Fulmer nearly one year ago. Vanderbilt’s ace pitched a complete game then, too.
“When you face guys like Fulmer, there’s only a time or two during the game that you get a crack in, and he made pitches when he needed to,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “That’s the bottom line.”
No. 10 Florida failed to score a run for just the second time this season, falling 2-0 to No. 6 Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday.
The Gators (36-14, 15-10 SEC) were unable to turn a strong pitching outing into any offensive production. Sophomore Logan Shore (6-5, 2.85 ERA) allowed only one run off of six hits and struck out five batters in seven innings. But UF combined for a .194 batting average and went 2-for-12 with runners on base.
“(Shore) made some big pitches… he pitched his heart out,” O’Sullivan said. “If you go seven innings on the road and give up one run, you give your team a chance to win. It’s just unfortunate that Carson Fulmer was a little bit better tonight.”
The Commodores (36-14, 18-7 SEC) went up 1-0 in the second inning after junior Tyler Campbell singled to left field, scoring Zander Weil form third.
The game remained scoreless until the eighth inning, when VU’s Will Toffey sent home Rhett Wiseman with a single to right field. Fulmer (10-1) sealed the game for Vanderbilt after Alonso grounded out in the ninth inning.
Florida struggled at the plate for a majority of the night, as eight of UF’s nine starters were struck out at least once. Ryan Larson was the only player to record more than one hit.
The Gators will face the Commodores at 7 p.m. on Friday for Game 2 of its three game series. Left-hander A.J. Puk (6-3, 5.08 ERA) will face VU’s Phillip Pfeifer (3-3, 3.88) in an important conference game for both sides.
“We’ll come back tomorrow with a good frame of mind and we’ll be ready to go,” O’Sullivan said. “We’ve got to swing the bats a little better. We’ve got to score to win, that’s the bottom line.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @icohenb
UF's Logan Shore pitches during Florida's 14-3 win against the South Carolina Gamecocks on April 10, 2015 at McKethan Stadium.
