Dane Dunning needed just one pitch.
After Florida freshman pitcher Jackson Kowar loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh inning with a 4-1 lead over Jacksonville, UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan turned to Dunning to record a much-needed out.
On his first pitch, Dunning induced JU’s Parker Perez to ground into a fielder’s choice to shortstop Dalton Guthrie, who slid to his left and flipped the ball to second baseman Deacon Liput for the force out.
"He’s feeling confident right now," O’Sullivan said of Dunning. "And you can tell."
Behind him and five other pitchers, No. 1 Florida (28-3) defeated Jacksonville 7-2 Tuesday night at McKethan Stadium.
The win extended the Gators' program-record home winning streak to 28 games and improved them to a perfect 21-0 on their home turf this season.
And while Dunning induced perhaps the game's most crucial out, Florida starter Scott Moss was the main pitching attraction.
After not seeing any action in his first two years at UF because of elbow injuries, the redshirt sophomore earned his first career win against the Dolphins.
Moss tossed three scoreless innings, allowing no hits or walks while striking out four.
"Honestly I didn’t even know it was my first career win," he said. "It means a lot to me. I’ve worked to get this far."
The Gators pounced on JU starter Kyle Arjona, scoring two runs in the second inning.
Freshman Deacon Liput roped a double into the right-center field gap before coming around to score on Mike Rivera’s double down the left field line. Rivera trotted home a few batters later on Jonathan India’s sacrifice fly to take a 2-0 lead.
In the fourth, Liput set the table as Florida plated another pair of runs, this time off of relief pitcher Chris Gau.
Following Liput’s leadoff walk and a Jeremy Vasquez single, freshman Nelson Maldonado chopped an RBI single to left to score Liput from third.
Then, on a 2-2 pitch, India lined an RBI double down the left-field line to score Vasquez. Maldonado raced around third but was cut down at home on Jacksonville shortstop JJ Gould’s relay throw.
The Dolphins (17-11) waited until the seventh inning to score and threatened for more runs.
Jacksonville’s first two hitters reached base on a single and shortstop Dalton Guthrie’s error. Then JU catcher Franco Guardascione cut UF’s lead to 4-1 on an RBI groundout to shortstop.
When Jacksonville loaded the bases on a hit-by-pitch and walk with two outs, UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan pulled Kowar in favor of Dunning.
Dunning shut down the Dolphins’ rally on his one pitch, killing any hopes Jacksonville had of tying the game.
In the eighth inning, Dunning surrendered a run after Seth DeWitt singled home an RBI to bring JU within three.
But in the bottom half, Maldonado extended Florida’s lead to 7-2 with a two-run home run to left field.The Tampa native finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and now has five homers, which ranks third on the team.
Maldonado said he felt confident after a sluggish weekend.
"My weekend didn’t go as well as I wanted it to," he said. "I stuck back to the cages and got my timing back and my swing back."
With a five-run cushion, junior Shaun Anderson closed the door in the ninth inning, tossing a scoreless frame.
Florida will continue its homestand with a three-game series against Mississippi State, starting at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
Contact Patrick Pinak at ppinak@alligator.org and you can follow him on Twitter @Pinakk12.
Scott Moss pitches during Florida's 12-3 win against Florida Gulf Coast on Feb. 21, 2016 at McKethan Stadium.
