Patience proved to be a virtue for the Gators Sunday.
In a seven-run sixth inning, No. 4 Florida’s (37-12, 20-7 Southeastern Conference) plate discipline led to six straight walks offered up by three different Georgia relief pitchers to break the game open in a 9-3 victory over the Bulldogs (14-36, 3-22 SEC) to earn the series sweep.
Florida will look to carry the momentum from last weekend into tonight’s game against North Florida (29-22) in McKethan Stadium at 6:30.
“They just didn’t have command and we were patient at the plate and made things happen,” shortstop Nolan Fontana said. “They just were scattering balls everywhere.”
The win allowed UF to keep pace with South Carolina, which swept Arkansas during the weekend, for first place in the conference.
Before Sunday’s big frame, the Gators’ bats were struggling against the Bulldogs.
They scored just eight earned runs in the first two games combined of the series and only managed two through five innings Sunday before Georgia’s meltdown in the sixth.
Four of the Bulldogs’ six walks came with the bases loaded, and at one point Georgia’s relief pitchers threw 15 consecutive balls.
“I don’t even want to talk about it, because I don’t want to jinx it,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “That’s an awful feeling. It’s tough to even watch the other team go through that. Nobody is out there trying to throw balls.”
Junior Bryson Smith, who grew up just 20 minutes away from Georgia’s campus, then capped the frame off with a two-run single to right field to give UF a 9-1 lead in the sixth.
“It was really special. I was a (Georgia) fan up until last year when I committed,” Smith said. “My family is down here and it was kind of tough for them to pull against Georgia, so it was cool to be a part of.”
UF pitcher Brian Johnson labored on the mound, despite limiting Georgia to just one run in 5.2 innings. He allowed a runner to get into scoring position in four of the six innings he threw in, but Johnson escaped most of the jams.
After being penciled into the batting order during his last three starts on the mound, Johnson was limited to just pitching as O’Sullivan did not want him doing too much in the 90-degree heat.
“It’s really not too tough doing both, but I felt like I could cool off and get my breath in between innings because it was kind of hot out there (Sunday),” Johnson said.
The bullpen continued its impressive series. Relievers Jeff Barfield and Anthony DeSclafani shut down the Bulldogs. The bullpen did not allow an earned run in 10.2 innings during the weekend series after giving up six last weekend on the road against Alabama.
“We’ve got three of those guys going out of the bullpen,” O’Sullivan said. “You’ve got (Greg) Larson who has been pitching well as of late, Barfield who has been good as of late and now we got DeSclafani going too. If we can bridge that gap to (Kevin) Chapman, I like how the staff is shaping up.”
Zunino Out Tonight
After dislocating his left thumb in Saturday’s game, Zunino was not in the lineup Sunday. That won’t change tonight.
The freshman catcher will sit out for the second-straight game due to the injury.
“He’s fine. We got a splint for that thing. I think it’s just day to day,” O’Sullivan said. “I don’t think it’s anything terribly serious, but we just have to be careful with it for sure.”
Ben McMahan, who will likely fill in for Zunino in today’s game, leads the team with a .396 batting average in 48 at-bats.
He went 2 for 4 in place of the injured catcher on Sunday.
