MIAMI – After the Hurricanes scored the first run of the game in the third off of a ball that went through Bryson Smith’s legs for an error, he wanted to make up for it.
“I told him (Tommy Toledo) that was all on me and to keep pitching his game and to keep doing what he’s doing,” Smith said. “I’ll take care of it.”
In the fourth, Smith yanked a three-run homer over the left-field fence to not only get the run back, but to also give the Gators a lead. It was his second home run in as many games.
No. 5 Florida (7-2) never looked back and took the series with a 4-2 win over No. 16 Miami (7-3) on Sunday.
Sophomore Tommy Toledo turned in another solid performance in the win after a tough 24-pitch first inning. He settled down and only threw 49 pitches over the next four frames. He left after allowing only one earned run and striking out four in five innings of work.
“I came out a little wild, but I settled down,” Toledo said. “They are a good team and they are aggressive early in the count too. For the most part I was just trying to keep the ball down.”
After Toledo left the game, junior Kevin Chapman came in and shut down the Hurricanes. He picked up his second save of the season and only gave up one hit in four scoreless innings.
“My mentality is that I know that I’m the best and nobody can hit me if I’m going good,” Chapman said. “Once those first two innings went pretty well, he told me he wasn’t going to take me out and that he was going to ride me the whole game.”
He is closing in on the closer role with his 0.00 ERA this season in 7.2 innings pitched, UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.
Another Florida player who is cementing his role on the team is freshman shortstop Nolan Fontana.
He moved up from one of the two bottom hitters in the lineup to the sixth spot on Sunday. He picked up another three hits and scored two runs while swiping a couple of bags.
Fontana went 7 for 11 in the series and raised his season average to .400.
“I don’t want to disrupt the top four hitters because they have been doing a nice job, but I can see him finding himself in there somewhere if he keeps doing what he’s doing,” O’Sullivan said.
The Gators will begin a two-game midweek series against Illinois State on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
