With Tennessee threatening to fight its way back into a 7-2 game with the bases full in the seventh inning, Florida pitcher Dane Dunning induced a weak grounder back to him.
The junior flipped the ball home to catcher Mike Rivera, who fired down to first for the 1-2-3 double play, ending UT’s final shot to put a rally together in the No. 1 Gators 7-2 defeat of the Volunteers Friday night in Knoxville.
UF starting pitcher Logan Shore was quietly solid, allowing two runs (one earned) through six innings and extending his school record to 14-straight wins.
Florida (39-7, 15-6 Southeastern Conference) has now won 17-straight games that Shore has started.
“He pitched his heart out,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said in a release. “He made some really big pitches when he needed to.”
Two of UF’s leading hitters in SEC play jumpstarted the offense.
Junior Peter Alonso opened the scoring in the first inning with a two-run double off the right field wall. After his 2-for-4 effort, the Tampa native is hitting .321 through 21 conference games.
After struggling offensively in South Carolina, O’Sullivan said Alonso’s early double was just what his team needed.
“We jumped out and gave us a good feeling in the dugout and gave Logan the confidence moving forward,” he said.
After Tennessee cut the lead to 2-1 on an RBI infield single in the third inning, Jonathan India answered.
The freshman crushed a solo home run, his third of the season, to boost Florida’s lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning. In 21 SEC games, India leads the team with a .329 average and 19 RBIs.
A two-run lead was enough for Shore and UF’s bullpen.
Shore improved to 9-0 on the season, and the Coon Rapids, Minnesota, native hasn’t lost a game since March of 2015.
The Gators’ offense poured on more runs in the middle innings.
In the fifth inning, freshman Deacon Liput singled home a run to put Florida ahead 4-1. An inning later, Rivera blasted his seventh homer of the year to give UF a 5-1 advantage.
After Tennessee (24-22, 6-16 SEC) plated its final run in the sixth inning on an RBI double, Florida scored its final two runs on a wild pitch and an RBI single from Rivera.
Dunning was lights out in the final three innings, striking out four and surrendering just one hit.
The Gators and Volunteers square off for game two Saturday at 4 p.m., with junior left-hander A.J. Puk taking the mound for Florida.
Logan Shore pitches during Florida's 4-3 win over Missouri on March 18, 2016, at McKethan Stadium.
