Florida (7-6) won its first home-away-from-home game 4-2 against Southern Mississippi (6-7) at Bayfront Stadium in Pensacola on Tuesday night.
In his first start of the season, Gators left-hander Danny Young tossed five innings while surrendering two runs — one of which was earned. The sophomore struck out four of the 21 batters he faced while walking one, throwing 70 pitches against the Golden Eagles.
Reliever Aaron Rhodes followed up his four-inning save against Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday with a solid relief appearance against Southern Miss on Tuesday.
The sophomore right-hander pitched 3.2 innings, surrendering only one hit and no runs while striking out four. Ryan Harris relieved Rhodes to get the last out of the game.
But while Rhodes was continuing a positive trend, the offense furthered a negative one, as Florida stranded 10 runners on base for the second straight game.
The Gators got solid offensive output from right fielder Braden Mattson, who knocked three hits, and shortstop Richie Martin, who hit two.
But the rest of the lineup struggled against the Golden Eagles staff, going 3 for 24 on Tuesday.
Mattson drove in two of Florida’s runs on singles, freshman A.J. Puk scored a runner on an error by Southern Mississippi shortstop Michael Sterling and third baseman Josh Tobias notched an RBI — his first of the season — on a single.
Richie Martin hits during Florida’s 9-7 loss against Maryland on Feb. 15 at McKethan Stadium. Martin went 3-for-3 at the plate and scored three runs in UF's 8-2 win against USF on Tuesday.
