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Thursday, March 28, 2024
<p>Brady McConnell's two solo home runs were responsible for the Gators' entire offensive output as it was swept in a doubleheader at Georgia on Sunday. </p>

Brady McConnell's two solo home runs were responsible for the Gators' entire offensive output as it was swept in a doubleheader at Georgia on Sunday. 

Georgia's pitching staff was elite during Sunday's doubleheader, and Florida simply couldn't keep up.

The Bulldogs shut down the Gators, who only managed two runs on five hits combined during 14 innings of play (two seven-inning games).

Its pitching staff made mistakes that UGA's didn't, resulting in two losses for UF in Athens, Georgia on Sunday.

No. 9 Georgia (37-12, 16-8 SEC) took command in Game 1, winning 9-1. It picked up where it left off and completed the sweep in Game 2, defeating its SEC rival 4-1.

UF (28-21, 9-15 SEC) was swept in an SEC road series for the third time this season and is now just 3-12 away from Alfred A. McKethan Stadium.

The first game was a quiet pitcher's duel until Georgia's bats came alive in the bottom of the third inning.

The Bulldogs punished UF starter Jack Leftwich for five runs on four hits in the inning, taking a commanding 5-0 lead.

Georgia’s offense in Game 1 was spearheaded by infielders Riley King and Cam Shepherd.

King went 2 for 3, knocking home a run on a double in the third and smacking his seventh home run of the year in the bottom of the fifth.

Shepherd had the most RBIs in the game with three. He went 2 for 3 as well, belting a two-run bomb to left field in the third.

Leftwich had strong command of the strike zone and pitched well in the first two innings, but quickly unraveled.

In total, the sophomore right-hander struck out nine UGA batters, but couldn’t recover from the disastrous third inning. He pitched five innings, giving up eight runs on seven hits to pick up his fifth loss of season.

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Florida's only bright spot from the plate came in the top of the fourth, when shortstop Brady McConnell blasted his 11th homer on the year to cut the lead to 5-1.

That ended up being the only run the Gators scored, as the team was left shell shocked by UGA starter Tim Elliott.

Elliott pitched five innings, giving up just one run on three hits on his way to his sixth win of the year.

"Credit their pitchers," coach Kevin O'Sullivan said in a release. "Their first pitcher was really good, we had to earn everything we got today. We hit a lot of balls hard in the first game, just didn't have much to show for it."

Game 2 was a similar story from the batter's box for the Gators.

One run on two hits was all the team could create offensively.

Georgia starter Cole Wilcox was brilliant, striking out seven and only walking a single batter in a complete game effort.

Florida once again got on the board courtesy of a McConnell long shot, this one coming in the sixth to cut UGA's lead to 3-1.

Florida's pitching held its own for most of the second meeting, limiting the Bulldogs to four runs on five hits, but the lack of run production from the offense proved to be the difference.

The Gators started Nolan Crisp in Game 2, and the freshman was pulled after giving up three runs on four hits in just 2.2 innings.

King was again the primary antagonist, going 2 for 2 with another home run and two runs scored.

The bullpen righted the ship for Florida after Crisp’s exit, but the three runs he surrendered proved to be all Georgia needed to defeat the Gators and complete the sweep.

Follow Evan Lepak on Twitter @evanmplepak. Contact him at elepak@alligator.org.

Brady McConnell's two solo home runs were responsible for the Gators' entire offensive output as it was swept in a doubleheader at Georgia on Sunday. 

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