Florida baseball managed to narrowly avoid a sweep at the hands of the Vanderbilt Commodores with a 10-inning win on Sunday, and the Gators have one more game against Stetson on Tuesday to prepare for No. 1 Tennessee over the coming weekend.
Last time out against the Hatters, Florida cruised to an 8-1 victory. That game came after an opening series loss to Liberty and led to an early seven-game winning streak for UF. The Gators could use another momentum boost after getting off to a rocky start against SEC opponents.
[autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] led the offense with three RBIs on three hits, including a solo home run, and redshirt freshman [autotag]Tucker Talbot[/autotag]t had a four-hit night in one of his few appearances of the year. [autotag]Timmy Manning[/autotag] got a short one-inning start to regain some confidence after a weekend loss. Tuesday’s starter,[autotag] Karl Hartman[/autotag], was the first arm out of the bullpen followed by [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag], who ended up taking home the win after 60 pitches and 4 2/3 innings. [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] and [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] finished things off.
Kevin O’Sullivan probably won’t be playing his backups too much in this one as the Gators find themselves in need of a pick me up during the toughest part of their schedule. Each weekend seems to end in heartbreak only to have some hope restored by a solid midweek win. There’s no game between the Tennessee and Kentucky series, so this is Florida’s last dress rehearsal for that stretch.
A win here is expected, but it’s a crucial game for the Gators.