Perhaps the Gators were too patient in waiting until their third conference road matchup to secure a series win, but that virtue proved useful in the batter's box Sunday.
After suffering through difficult losses at Arkansas and Vanderbilt, UF (23-12, 9-6 Southeastern Conference) patiently drew 11 walks in a 5-1 win against Auburn (23-12, 7-8 SEC) to take the weekend series 2-1.
"As you go deeper in the season, you never know which (loss) you are going to look back at and wish you had got it done," UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "Going on the road this weekend and beating a good Auburn team was big for us."
The Gators capitalized on the Tigers' wild pitching, scoring 3 runs by batters who reached base by walking.
The biggest benefactor of the free passes was Mike Mooney, who walked three times in four at-bats and scored two times.
As UF hitters walked around the bases, the team's pitchers forced Auburn's batters to put the ball in play to get on base. The Gators' two pitchers, Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Panteliodis, didn't give up any walks.
DeSclafani started for the first time in a weekend series and allowed just 1 run over 6 1/3 innings, giving up four hits while striking out six batters.
The two freshman hurlers limited Auburn - the SEC team leader in home runs - by mixing up their pitches and using the inside of the plate.
"They both did a really nice job of commanding the ball in," O'Sullivan said. "It's one thing to just pitch in, but you got to pitch in and locate it. Both guys were able to do it."
The Gators' weekend didn't get off to a good start, though.
They were up 5-1 on Friday night before the game was suspended because of a tornado warning. It appeared the Gators would cruise to victory when the game resumed Saturday, as they padded their lead to 7-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth. But Auburn bounced back quickly, plating 6 runs over its next four innings to send the game into extra innings. In the 11th, Auburn's Joseph Sanders hit his second homer of the game, ending the 8-7 contest in walk-off fashion.
UF must have been preserving its bats for the second game of the doubleheader. Led by Josh Adams, the Gators' offense exploded with a 24-2 victory to even the series at 1-1. Adams finished the night 5 for 6 with 4 runs, two homers and six RBIs.
The bats cooled off Sunday. Only four players got hits for the Gators, and Daniel Pigott was the only UF player to finish with a multi-hit game. Due to the 11 walks and two Tigers errors, every Gator except Avery Barnes reached base.
Pigott sent a 2-run homer over the left-field wall in the top of the eighth for his second hit of the game, giving the Gators a big cushion.
"I know the 2 runs in the eighth didn't make the difference in the ball game, but they certainly gave us some breathing room," O'Sullivan said. "It's good to see Daniel swinging the bat well."
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
