The Gators used a familiar formula Saturday.
The third and fourth hitters in No. 7 Florida’s (25-9, 10-4 Southeastern Conference) lineup, Preston Tucker and Austin Maddox, drove in four combined runs as it blew past Kentucky (21-14, 4-10 SEC) 6-3 to clinch the weekend series.
Maddox (41) and Tucker (27) are first and second on UF in RBIs, respectively. And they both hit home runs Saturday to lead the Gators to victory. Tucker’s long ball was his first since March 20.
Early on, small ball got Florida on the scoreboard, however.
Maddox led off the second inning with a double and advanced to third thanks to a sacrifice bunt by left fielder Jonathan Pigott. Senior center fielder Matt den Dekker later drove in the freshman with a single.
From there, the Gators relied on the long ball as freshman catcher Mike Zunino stung a ball in the third for a solo shot, just one of three UF homers Saturday.
Freshman pitch Hudson Randall, who had allowed just three runs in his last 13.2 innings before Saturday, struggled with his control. He lasted just three innings and gave up two runs while walking five Kentucky hitters, which forced him to throw 72 pitches in the short outing.
But the bullpen came in once again and pitched stellar in relief.
Relievers Greg Larson, Nick Maronde, Jeff Barfield and Kevin Chapman combined to allow just one run on three hits in six innings.
The Gators will go for the sweep as they close out the series against the Wildcats Sunday at 1 p.m.
