The Gators enjoyed a little bit of a role reversal on Sunday.
After being crushed by 12 runs on Saturday, No. 2 Florida (18-5, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) bounced back just one day later, routing No. 17 Ole Miss 13-1 and avoiding a series sweep.
“I know everybody was disappointed about the game we had on Saturday, but we had to put it behind us,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “You don’t play well on a certain day, but the good thing about a good team is that they put it behind them, and that’s what we did.”
The Gators stranded 22 runners on base in the first two games of the series against the Rebels (19-6, 4-2 SEC), but that wasn’t a problem Sunday. UF only left five on the basepaths in the final game of the series and exploded for 15 hits after only managing a combined 14 in the two contests before that.
The one constant for Florida throughout the weekend was third baseman Austin Maddox, who went 6 for 14 in the series and knocked in six runs.
He continued his success Sunday with a solo homer in the second inning to give the Gators an early lead and drove in another two with a single in a three-run third inning to bump it up to a 4-0 advantage for UF.
That was all Florida pitcher Brian Johnson would need. The freshman gave up just one run in 5.1 innings of work and only allowed one hit after the second inning. He has limited opponents to one earned run in his last 11.2 innings pitched.
“We just got to control the count, and if you control the count, you generally control the inning,” O’Sullivan said. “He (Johnson) gave us a really good start and gave us a chance to get the bats going.”
UF continued the onslaught due to some unlikely sources.
Left fielder Daniel Pigott smashed a two-run single to left field in the fifth to finish with three RBIs on the day, while right fielder Kamm Washington drove in a run in the seventh inning.
It didn’t stop there.
With the game already out of hand in the ninth, sophomore Jerico Weitzel came in to pinch hit and yanked a ball to right field for a two-run shot — his first home run as a Gator.
“We got contributions from a lot of people in the lineup,” O’Sullivan said. “It was a great day by a lot of different guys.”
Marred in a 4-for-20 slump entering Sunday’s game, center fielder Matt den Dekker broke out of it with a 2-for-4 day to go along with two RBIs. He also sent a pitch over the right-center field wall in the eighth for his fourth homer of the season.
Florida lost its first series of the season at the hands of the Rebels, despite the victory on Sunday.
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
