Florida claims Game 1 against No. 11 Tennessee

Brandon Sproat bounced back from an ugly start against Auburn with a strong outing against No. 11 Tennessee on Thursday.

A pair of back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning sealed the deal for Florida, as the Gators went into Knoxville and took game one of a three-game set with the Tennessee Volunteers on Thursday night, 6-1.

[autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] delivered a three-run blast to extend a one-run lead, and [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] followed that up with a solo shot to left field. Both of those homers came off right-hander Seth Halvorsen. Neither club scored over the remaining four innings of the game thanks to strong outings by both bullpens (excluding Halvorsen).

Florida’s two other runs came off a [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] RBI single in the second and a [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] home run in the fourth. Kurland finished 2 for 4 after starting off conference play with a sub .250 average. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] also had a two-hit day, but he didn’t drive in any runs.

Kevin O’Sullivan went with a different lineup than usual for this game. He had [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag], Caglianone, Rivera and Riopelle filling out the first four spots in the order, and [autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag] and [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] in the five and six holes.

Langford excelled in the leadoff spot last year, and he was able to draw a pair of walks on Thursday despite ending the night 0 for 3. Sully might be on to something with this new lineup theory. Chase Dollander cruised through the first inning of the game, but Florida was getting to him by the fourth with its best hitters seeing him for a second time earlier than usual.

[autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] got his typical Friday start and was much sharper than he was a week ago against Auburn. He struck out nine Vols through 5 2/3 innings, giving up just one run on four hits and four walks. The free bases aren’t ideal, but it’s hard to knock a guy who earned the win and was one out away from a quality start.

Tennessee’s lineup was incredibly strikeout prone all night, finishing the evening with 18 K’s. The Volunteers’ three and four hitters, Christian Moore and Jared Dickey, finished the night with a combined seven strikeouts.

[autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] continued his spectacular sophomore campaign with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, where he struck out six batters and allowed just three baserunners (two hits, one hit batter). Abner has become Florida’s best reliever and is virtually a lock to pitch a clean inning or two whenever he comes out.

[autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] closed out the ninth for Florida. He ran into a little trouble, walking two and allowing a base hit, but he ended up striking out the side.

Tennessee’s lone run of the night came on a Blake Burke homer in the second, which briefly tied the game.

Game 2 is set to begin at 7 p.m. EDT on Friday night.

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