University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Florida
Volunteers Fall in Finale vs. #1 Gators, 9-3
May 08, 2016 | Baseball
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Volunteers fought to contain No. 1-ranked Florida but fell short in their Sunday series finale, as the Gators took a 9-3 series-clinching win over Tennessee at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
With the loss, Tennessee is now 25-23 on the season and 7-17 within the Southeastern Conference, while Florida moves to 40-8 (16-7 SEC) on the year.
Tennessee's bats were led by six starters including sophomores Brodie Leftridge (2-for-5 RBI) and Benito Santiago (2-for-3 RBI) as well as seniors Chris Hall (2-for-4 RBI) and Derek Lance (2-for-4 RBI), each contributing two hits. Juniors Nick Senzel (1-for-5 RBI) and Jordan Rodgers (1-for-4 RBI) also supplied one hit each to put the Vols at ten hits against No. 1-ranked Florida's nine hits on the day.
Florida's offense struck in the second inning as Peter Alonso singled to center field and advanced to second on a UT error. With another single up the middle, Mike Rivera sent Alonso home putting a 1-0 lead over the Vols.
Leftridge stepped in to bat and set the momentum for a Tennessee comeback in the third, as he hit his second triple of the year into center field. Scoring on a wild pitch, Leftridge then evened the score with UF at 1-1.
Rivera began the fourth frame for Florida grounding out to second base and scoring outfielder Nelson Maldonado before UF shortstop Dalton Guthrie doubled down the left line, securing an opening for two Gators to score and extend their lead over the Volunteers to 4-1.
The lead increased by two (6-1) during the sixth inning as Rivera homered to left field.
At the top of the eighth, Florida furthered their lead to 9-1 over the Vols' with a three-run Nick Horvath homer to right field.
Fighting to trim the deficit vs. the Gators, Leftridge hit a double to left and moved Lance to third base in the bottom of the eighth. Hall then grounded out to second base, earning the first RBI of the night for the Vols as Lance dashed home to make it 9-2 against Florida.
In the next at-bat, Senzel doubled to left-center and created a window for Leftridge to score, moving the Vols to 9-3 against UF.
Tennessee finished the eighth frame with bases loaded but fell short as Santiago was retired on a fielder's choice up the middle, leaving UF with their 9-3 lead.
Junior Hunter Martin started on the mound for Tennessee and threw 3.2 innings, allowing four runs (one earned) on four hits in the loss.
Lefthander Alex Harper-Cook stepped in for 1.2 innings of relief with two strikeouts, granting one hit and two earned runs before senior Steven Kane (2.1) took the mound in the sixth against Florida pitcher Alex Faedo.
Freeman closed the game for UT, throwing 1.1 scoreless innings to hold the Gators at a 9-3 advantage.
Vol Baseball Quick Hits
- Center fielder Brodie Leftridge hit his second triple of the season on Sunday against No. 1-ranked Florida.
- Sunday's attendance at Lindsey Nelson Stadium: 2,458
- On Deck for the Vols: Tennessee faces off against the Belmont Bruins in midweek action on Tuesday, May 10, beginning at 6 p.m. ET at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee baseball, visit UTSports.com/Baseball and follow @Vol_Baseball on Twitter.
