GAME OVER
Locke surprisingly stays in for the ninth, and gets Massanari to pop out to second base right away. He's two outs away from a complete game.
Allen hits a single just to the right of the diving Figueroa, and Lewis comes up next. Lewis grounds into a double play, and UF takes the second game of the series from Georgia behind a complete game from Locke.
END EIGHTH
Foster and Pigott both gets hits to start off the eighth, but the Bulldogs make two diving catches on the next three fly outs to end the threat. UF goes into the top of the ninth with three outs to go until victory.
MID EIGHTH
Locke gets Peisel to fly out to deep right field, making that a career-high for him - 7.1 innings and counting.
Make that 7.2 innings - Avery Barnes catches a fly ball to deep left field on the run.
And on the next pitch, the nation's home run leader hits his 20th - Beckham goes deep to left-center field. That's three balls in this inning alone hit deep in the outfield, but Locke is staying in to finish this one off. Poythress grounds out to third base, and Locke walks off the mound. His day is probably done, but he certainly will be happy with this one.
END SEVENTH
Apparently, grounding out to second is the hot new thing to do. McArthur starts UF's seventh by doing just that. Den Dekker then hits a bouncing grounder to second as well, but the ball gets past Demperio's glove. Den Dekker reaches first safely.
Townsend takes four pitches while den Dekker steals second, his third stolen base of the day. He then goes to steal third, but Townsend hits a grounder to third. Den Dekker makes it to third without a problem, but Townsend is out by plenty of steps.
Barber then grounds out to second as well, ending the inning. UF still leads by seven, and it appears that Locke is going to break his career-high for innings pitched. He's coming out for the eighth. Clayton Pisani is taking over first-base duties for McArthur.
MID SEVENTH
Georgia grounds out with its first two batters, then Demperio grounds out to second as well. Locke has now gotten through seven innings with only six hits allowed. O'Sullivan and the rest of the team must be thrilled with this performance, tying a career-high for innings pitched.
END SIXTH
Earls comes out and in comes Nick Montgomery. His first act as pitcher is to give up a base hit to Teddy Foster, Foster's first hit.
Pigott pops out to the catcher when Foster tries to steal a base, and Foster struggles to get back to first base in time. The catcher's throw is terrible, however, and Foster turns back around and runs not only to second base, but also to third on the error. He essentially just ran for a triple.
Barnes lines out to third base, and Foster stays put on third. The fans are chanting "Steal home, Teddy!"
Montgomery pitches around Adams, and Adams takes first base on a full count. Figueroa is up next. He sacrificed last time he was up, and this time he grounds out to first base to end the inning. No runs scored, but a good effort from the Gators in the bottom of the sixth.
MID SIXTH
Locke is struggling again, just like in the fifth inning. Beckham starts things off with a single, but Poythress lines out right to Figueroa. Figueroa makes the catch and tries to throw to first base to catch Beckham off the bag. The umpire calls him safe, and UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan runs out to argue the call. TV replays show he is safe.
Beckham steals second, and Massanari grounds out right back to Locke. Beckham moves to third on the play, but the Gators will take it with two outs in the inning now.
Allen comes up and goes down right away, grounding out to second. UF maintains its 6-run lead.
END FIFTH
Georgia replaces Dodson with Justin Earls. That is the worst possible move they could have made, as the fans already call every opposing pitcher "Earl." Georgia is just playing into the fans' hands.
Earls goes down 3-0 to Barnes, and the fans chant, "Uh-oh! Uh-oh! Uh-oh! Earl's in trouble!" like they always do, but it makes a whole lot more sense today. Earls then throws a wild pitch, and Barnes makes it to second base. Earls' next pitch hits the dirt, and Georgia's coach comes out to talk to him.
Adams takes the next two pitches, walking on four. That's eight balls in a row from Earls. It's almost as if there's a giant magnet in the ball that is being repelled by the strike zone, which carries the same magnetic charge, of course.
Figueroa, after taking the ninth straight ball from Earls, bunts Barnes and Adams over. That's two on and two in scoring position. McArthur comes up next, ready to get a huge hit. McArthur hits a sac fly to deep center field, and Barnes scores. The Gators get their run back from the Bulldogs.
Den Dekker then hits a grounder that goes right under the second baseman's glove, but for some reason it counts as a hit. Adams scores from second and den Dekker gets to second when the second baseman goes into the outfield to go after the ball. The Bulldogs walk Townsend intentionally this time, bringing up Barber.
Barber grounds out to short, but the damage was done in this inning. Locke comes out, ready to roll in the sixth.
MID FIFTH
Allen starts off the fifth by getting a single right through the middle. It almost took off Locke's head. But the bases are emptied with the next batter, as Lewis grounds into a 6-4-3 double play. More and more this is looking like Locke's day, and he gets his second double play of the afternoon.
Cerione gets the second hit of the inning off Locke, another shot up the middle. Demperio then follows with a single of his own, a slow roller to third base that Townsend doesn't attempt to turn. There's no way he could have made the throw to first in time.
Peisel gets his first hit of the game, bringing home Cerione and putting Georgia on the board. But don't worry, folks. The Red Wings just scored again and are up 2-0 on Colorado.
The next batter, Olson, flies out to center, ending the inning.
END FOURTH
Josh Adams begins the fourth inning by getting a single through the left side. That makes two UF hits on the day to Georgia's one. Figueroa follows with an inside-out single over the third baseman's head. The Gators have runners on first and second with no outs. This is a fantastic opportunity to bring home a run.
McArthur then moves the runners along with a bunt, and UF has two in scoring position. Georgia walks den Dekker intentionally to bring up Townsend.
Townsend makes them pay for that intentionall walk, lacing a double to right-center field and bringing home Adams and Figueroa. Den Dekker stays at third base, and the Gators again have two in scoring position with one out. Townsend has all three UF RBIs.
Bryson Barber watches as Georgia' catcher allows a ball to get past. Den Dekker sprints home, getting UF's fourth run of the game. Townsend moves to third. Barber then makes it two UF doubles in a row, bringing home Townsend and making Dodson fall way behind in the Battle of the Stephens.
Foster flies out to deep right-center field, but Barber advances to third on the play. Any base hit now scores Barber. Pigott can't do anything, however, as he strikes out.
MID FOURTH
Olson sees Locke for the second time, and grounds out again, this time to second base. Adams makes the easy underhanded flip to McArthur.
Beckham, up next, walks to first base. That's the first walk allowed the entire game. Poythress gets a good piece of Locke in the next at-bat, but Pigott is able to run the ball down out in right field.
Massanari grounds out to Adams to end the inning. This has been quite a good performance from both pitchers so far. We'll see who breaks first.
END THIRD
Teddy "Please Don't Stop the Music" Foster comes up to the plate to start the Gators' half of the third inning. The fans love him. Foster doesn't give any love back to the fans however, popping up to the first baseman.
The bottom of UF's order, Jonathan Pigott, steps into the box for the first time today. He takes after Foster, popping up to the shortstop. Two quick outs for Dodson, but he's still losing the battle of the Stephens.
Up next is Avery Barnes, and he grounds out harmlessly to Beckham. It's been three innings and we have two total hits.
MID THIRD
Matt Cerione starts the third inning for Georgia with a ground out to second base. Nothing fancy, but Adams makes the routine play. Locke then strikes out Michael Demperio after the second baseman fouled off about four pitches. The fans are gleeful with this 1-0 lead, and Locke seems to be having a good day.
Right after that, Peisel goes 0 for 2 by grounding out to Figueroa. Three innings in the books for Locke, and only one hit against him.
END SECOND
McArthur, who doubled yesterday before being replaced by a pinch runner, hits a slow grounder right at third base. Peisel makes a great stop, then throws across the diamond where Poythress makes an equally impressive catch to get McArthur out.
Den Dekker is next, and he hits a ball just out of Dodson's reach. The pitcher knocks it down, but Beckham was running toward second base and couldn't get to where Dodson redirected the ball in time. Den Dekker is on base, and Dodson's no-hiter is over. On the first pitch to Townsend, den Dekker steals his 12th base in as many attempts this year, then steals third base uncontested.
Townsend brings den Dekker home with a slow grounder to the shortstop. Beckham has no play but to throw to first, and UF takes the early lead. Bryson Barber then ends in the inning with a groundout to Beckham.
MID SECOND
Rich Poythress hits a hard grounder to Adams at second, who can't quite handle it. The ball pops off his glove and goes skyward and toward first base. Adams stays with it, however, picking the ball out of midair with his bare hand, and throwing to McArthur for the close out. The fans whistle their approval. It was a very nice play.
Bryce Massanari is up next, and he hits a hard grounder up the middle for the first hit of the game. Locke then follows that by hitting Lyle Allen. Luckily for him, Joey Lews hits into a 5-4-3 double play, the second double play of the game. The threat is canceled by good defense, and a relieved Locke heads back to the dugout.
END FIRST
Left fielder Avery Barnes gets things going by hitting a grounder to Beckham at short. Beckham bobbles the ball, drops it, gets off a throw but can't beat Barnes to the bag. Beckham is charged with an error and the Gators have their leadoff batter on base.
And just like that, the threat is averted. Josh Adams grounds into a 6-4-3 double play. The Bulldogs barely have to move to turn it, and Adams appears frustrated as he jogs back to the dugout.
Figueroa is the third and final batter of UF's inning, tapping a soft grounder to the catcher. The throw to first is routine, and the Gators take the field.
MID FIRST
And we're off. Locke gets a quick out on the second pitch to Ryan Peisel, a grounder to Figueroa at shortstop. It was a high-bouncing ball, and Figueroa had to hurry to make the throw, but wound up beating Peisel by about 3 steps.
Matt Olson is next, and he takes an awkward swing at a pitch well outside the strike zone. He gets the very tip of his bat on it, and the ball travels weakly on the ground to Locke. Locke throws to McArthur at first, retiring Olson.
Georgia's top slugger, Gordon Beckham, then goes down on four pitches from Locke, swinging. The Gators fans have to like this start better than yesterday's disastrous first inning.
PRE-GAME
I'm not sitting in my usual seat and I can't watch Red Wings-Avalanche (Game 2, 3 p.m., NBC) on the TVs in here because the Gators are being televised on Sun Sports or something. Very lame.
At any rate, the Gators take on the Bulldogs today, starting Stephen Locke (2-2, 3.45 ERA) against Stephen Dodson (5-1, 3.46 ERA). It's the battle of the Stephens, with the winner taking the name once and for all, and the loser relegated to being called "Steve"' for the rest of his life. There's a lot more on the line here than just a baseball game for the Stephens.
Georgia took Game 1, 7-4, yesterday. Changes in UF's lineup include moving Josh Adams to the No. 2 spot in the batting order, putting Brandon McArthur back where he started the year as the cleanup hitter, sliding Matt den Dekker to the fifth position and using Teddy Foster behind the plate to catch Locke.
The game is set to start in five minutes, and I'll get back to you after the first inning.
