Matt den Dekker pulled a game-changing home run a few feet foul. So, naturally, he hit another one.
Four pitches after his first blast, Den Dekker broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run homer over the right-field fence.
The shot proved to be the difference as No. 8 Florida (19-6, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) held on to beat No. 17 Vanderbilt 3-2 Friday, giving the Gators the first game of the series between the two SEC powers.
Den Dekker’s home run was one of just six hits for UF.
“On Friday nights, that’s how it’s going to be,” the center fielder said. “You got to stay up, stay focused. And when you get your chances, you got to capitalize on them.”
The game was billed as a pitcher’s duel, with the Commodores (23-5, 4-3 SEC) sending preseason All-American Sunny Gray to the mound and the Gators matching him with their ace, Alex Panteliodis.
Both pitchers entered the contest with sub-2.00 ERAs, and both hurlers lived up to the hype. Panteliodis narrowly outdid Gray, allowing one run in 6.1 innings. The Vanderbilt starter gave up two runs in the same amount of innings.
“I was a little concerned about this game, to be honest with you, because of Sunny Gray and how good he is,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I thought (Panteliodis) did a really nice job.”
The Gators starter got into a jam early when the Commodores loaded the bases with one out in the second inning. Panteliodis buckled down, though, and escaped only allowing one run after a sacrifice fly and a fielder’s choice.
Panteliodis struggled with his control, leading to seven Vanderbilt hits and two walks while he was on the mound.
“Adrenaline was going,” he said. “I just got out of my game.”
But Panteliodis settled down and the Commodores did not score any more runs after the second inning.
Gray was just as effective, holding UF to four hits and striking out seven. Florida had chances to touch-up the Vanderbilt ace early, but the Gators were 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position through the first four innings.
Florida had two runners on with one out in the fourth, but Gray overpowered freshman Kamm Washington and sophomore Tyler Thompson for strikeouts.
“The thing that separates (Gray) is he dials it up when he needs to,” O’Sullivan said. “He struck out Kamm and Tyler when he got into trouble, and his stuff was just a little bit better than it had been all night. That’s who he is.”
Florida finally scored in the fifth when third baseman Austin Maddox singled up the middle to score den Dekker and tie the game.
O’Sullivan shook up his lineup by putting shortstop Nolan Fontana at the top. Den Dekker, who hit leadoff in UF’s first 24 games, was dropped to the No. 2 spot.
O’Sullivan said last week he wanted to move Fontana higher in the order, but with sophomore Preston Tucker hitting third, he was worried about putting three left-handed hitters in the top three spots.
But with the right-handed Gray likely pitching at least until the sixth inning Friday, O’Sullivan made an exception before the game.
“We went into the game thinking, ‘If we’re going to have a chance to win the game, we’re going to have to beat Sunny Gray,’” O’Sullivan said. “He was going to pitch deep into the game. We weren’t going to knock him out in the second – at least that’s what history says.”
