Moss Grabs First Career Win in Gators 7-2 Win Over Jacksonville

Freshman lefty Scott Moss gets his first career win as a Gator as the Florida baseball team extends its home winning streak to 28 straight games with a 7-2 win over Jacksonville University on Tuesday night in Gainesville.  The Gators are now on a five game winning streak and stand 28-3 on the season.

Moss says he’s been working hard for this result after an injury but couldn’t have done it without good defense behind him in the game.

Moss would start the game and pitch three innings with four strike outs.  He got early offensive help in the second inning. Deacon Liput would tie the team lead with a double (9th) to start the inning. Mike Rivera would follow with a double to score Liput. After Rivera advanced to third and Nelson Maldonado was walked, Jonathan India’s sacrifice fly scored Rivera with the second run. 

Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan believes the important aspect of the game for his team is the ability to score early.

Michael Byrne would relieve Moss in the fourth and he pitched two scoreless innings with one strike out.  Meanwhile, the offense would get it going again in the fourth inning as Liput walked and Jeremy Vasquez singled.  Maldanado and India would bring home the runs with a single and a double, respectively.

Kirby Snead pitched a scoreless sixth for Florida but reliever Jackson Kowar would run into trouble in the seventh inning.  He gave up an unearned run and reliever Dane Dunning came in with the bases loaded and got the final out of the inning to avoid further damage.

The Gators made the score 5-1 in the seventh on an RBI hit by JJ Schwarz and after the Dolphins scored a run in the eighth, Florida scored two in its half of the inning on a two run homer by Maldanado, who had two hits and three RBI on the night.  Maldonado says he’s put in work to recover from a bad hitting spell last weekend and was able to get his bat back in motion.

Shaun Anderson would pitch a scoreless ninth for Florida as the Gators improve to 28-3 on the year with the win. Florida will next host Mississippi State in a three game SEC series starting on Friday; you can hear live coverage on ESPN Gainesville 95.3 FM starting at 5:25 p.m.