For the second straight game, Vanderbilt jumped on Florida early to take a 1-0 lead.
But unlike Thursday’s series opener — where the No. 6 Commodores rode starter Carson Fulmer for a complete-game shutout — the Gators answered back.
Behind 10 hits, seven walks and a pair of home runs from Harrison Bader and JJ Schwarz, No. 10 Florida toppled Vanderbilt 7-3 on Friday in Nashville, Tennessee, to knot the series at 1-1.
UF (37-14, 16-10 Southeastern Conference) are now two games behind Vandy (36-15, 18-8 SEC) for the conference lead and there are just four regular-season conference games remaining, including Saturday’s series finale.
After Vanderbilt center fielder Bryan Reynolds ripped an RBI single up the middle to give the Commodores the 1-0 advantage, Florida scored three unanswered runs on a two-run homer to left field in the second inning and a solo shot to left-center field by Harrison Bader in the third.
“We got shut out yesterday. We didn’t score any runs,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We were going to try to do everything we could to get on the board early. … We bounced back with JJ’s two-run homer. I think that kind of eased us up a little bit.”
The two now have a combined 26 home runs (Schwarz 14, Bader 12) this season, equaling the total from the entire 2014 UF squad.
Vanderbilt cut Florida’s lead to 3-2 on a Will Toffey RBI double, but Florida shut the Commodores down over the next four innings, thanks in large part to A.J. Puk’s stellar performance on the mound.
The sophomore left-handed pitcher followed up an 11-strikeout performance against Georgia last weekend by fanning a career-high 12 batters in seven innings of work. After giving up the two runs in the first three innings, Puk retired 12 of his final 13 batters — seven via strikeout — and only gave up a walk in the process.
“That’s two in a row for him, so I’m awfully happy for him,” O’Sullivan said.
The Gators added two runs in each of the fifth and the eighth innings to bring their total to seven for the game.
Vandy tacked on one more run in the eighth on a two-out solo home run off of UF lefty Bobby Poyner, but it was too little, too late for the Commodores.
The rubber game in the series is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. and will be televised on the SEC Network.
Freshman Alex Faedo (4-1, 3.27 ERA) draws the start for the Gators.
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
Outfielder Harrison Bader rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the first inning of Florida's 14-3 win against South Carolina on April 10 at McKethan Stadium.
