Florida returns to action at home on Tuesday night against Florida State.
Knoxville, Tenn. – No. 3 Florida fell in game three at No. 11 Tennessee as the Vols used a 14-2 victory to take the series finale in eight innings at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Despite the loss, the Gators (27-6, 9-3 SEC) picked up their eighth-straight series win to open the season including its fourth-consecutive in SEC play. Overall, Florida is 20-4 in weekend series this year.
The Volunteers (22-10, 5-7 SEC) took advantage of the rainy conditions in game three, working four-straight walks to find the scoring column in the first. Griffin Merritt then came home on a wild pitch while Zane Denton drove in Blake Burke with an RBI groundout to shortstop, making it 3-0.
Tennessee pushed across three unanswered runs in the third, with Kavares Tears scoring courtesy of a Gators fielding error at second base. One pitch later, Cal Stark popped a two-run homer to left to extend the Vol lead. In the fourth, Merritt connected on a two-run shot to left of his own as Tennessee moved the score to 8-0.
In the sixth, Tennessee loaded up the bases but was limited to a lone run on a bases-loaded walk by Dylan Dreiling to plate Denton. Florida responded in the top of the seventh to cut it to 9-2, as Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/15522> put an end to shutout bid with a two-run home run to left field – his fifth big fly of the year.
Two more runs came across for the Vols in the bottom of the seventh. Hunter Ensley singled in Christian Moore followed by a bases-loaded walk by Christian Scott to push the UT lead to 11-2.
Tennessee ended the game via the run rule in the eighth, as Merritt launched a three-run homer to left field to bring the score to its final tally of 14-2.
Florida starting pitcher Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489> (3-1) was handed his first loss of the campaign after allowing three earned runs on six walks in two-thirds of an inning. He struck out one.
Tennessee starting pitcher Drew Beam (4-1) picked up the victory, holding Florida to two earned runs across seven frames on four hits and one walk. The right-hander struck out 10.
NOTABLES
* Despite the loss, Florida won its eighth-straight series to open the season including its fourth-consecutive in SEC play.
* The Gators have won 12-straight series including eight-consecutive SEC series dating back to 2022.
* Florida is 9-3 to open SEC play and is now 22-8 across the last 30 games against SEC opponents dating back to 2022.
* Florida dropped its first road game of the season, falling to 8-1.
* Heyman launched his first home run of the campaign, a two-run shot to end the shutout bid in the seventh.
* Caglianone’s 10-game hitting streak was snapped.
* Florida has struck out 367 batters in 284 1/3 innings – translating to 11.6 per nine innings.
* The Gators struck out 38 Vols across the series.
* Through 33 games, Florida has a run differential of plus-144.
* The Gators have 364 hits through 33 games (11.0 hits/game).
* Florida improved to 156-95 all-time against Tennessee including 26-21 under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551>.
* The Gators are 69-49 in the series on the road (14-10 under O’Sullivan).
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the finale…
“Yeah, it’s just disappointing. We played so well the first two nights, and starting pitching was outstanding, relief pitching, swung the bats well. We just got off to a rough start today on the mound and everybody we turned to after that had a tough time finding the strike zone. Obviously, we gave up 14 runs on seven hits. I think we had 17 walks. There’s no excuse for that, but I don’t want today to reflect on what we were able to do this weekend. We had a great weekend, but at the same time, we’re going to have to figure out this third starter situation and figure out a couple more guys that are going to help us. We got to look at our 27-man on the weekend and make some adjustments, and give some other guys some opportunities.”
On the weather’s impact…
“I’m not going to blame our defense. At the end of the day, both teams got to play with the same elements. Whether it’s cold, it’s hot, whether it’s drizzle – it doesn’t matter. Both teams got to deal with the same type of weather, so for me, that’s not an excuse.”
On where the team is at…
“To be honest with you, winning two out of three on the road at Tennessee is a really good weekend when you look at it that way. But at the same time, I’m looking at the big picture here. We need to figure out this third starter situation. I thought we were off to a good start. Both Brandon and Hurston gave us good starts the first two games. But at the same time, this is a long season and the goal is to win the last game of the year. And in order to do that, you have to have three starters. You have to have a guy at the end that you trust. And you have to have some guys in the middle that can bridge the gap…”
UP NEXT
Florida hosts Florida State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+ before Georgia comes to town for a three-game weekend series.
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