The top ranked Florida baseball team finishes up a series sweep against Farfield with a 6-1 victory over the Stags Wednesday night. Florida is now 16-2 on the season while Fairfield remains winless at 0-5.
Florida got on the board early in this one tacking on two runs in the third. Freshman Logan Browning scored on an RBI double from Dalton Guthrie for the first run of the game and the next batter, Richie Martin, hit a double of his own to score Guthrie from second.
In the fourth inning the Gators added two more runs. Freshman JJ Schwarz singled and fellow frosh Mike Rivera laced a double to left-center to score Schwarz from first. Guthrie singled and after a rundown, Rivera scoring on a throwing error to put UF up 4-0.
Guthrie led the offensive charge for Florida with three hits; he now leads the team with 10 multi-hit games this season. He says the team had a good approach to the plate during the game.
“I think we had a good approach today against Howell (Fairfield starting pitcher). He was pretty good, but we tried to jump on him early. We got some knocks and strung some good innings together.”
On the mound the Gators saw some good production from starter Alex Faedo. The freshman made his first career start pitching three scoreless innings with a career-high five strikeouts. Gator coach Kevin O’Sullivan says he’s pleased with how Faedo pitched.
“I think that Faedo was a little nervous on his first start, and you could tell because he was missing arm side, but after he got through the first two innings, he struck out the side in the third inning and was really good. I am really pleased with him getting his first start, and I thought he threw the ball very well under the circumstances.”
Florida put the game away with two more runs in the eighth inning. Ryan Larson’s two run single accounted for the runs.
The Orange and Blue return to McKethan Stadium this weekend with their SEC opener against Tennessee. Game one of the three game series is Friday at 7 and you can tune into ESPN 850 WRUF at 6:55 for live coverage.
To hear audio from the game, click below.