Very rarely can you win three games against an opponent. But Gator Baseball and Softball pulled off the sweep against Tennessee Baseball and Softball.
Gator Baseball (14-7, 3-3) did it in a more dramatic fashion, using late inning heroics to stop the Vols in Game 1 and 3. On Sunday, the Gators gave up four runs in the first three innings, before tying it 4-4 in the 5th. Avery Barnes' triple in the 7th broke the tie and Barnes provided the winning run on a single by Preston Tucker. Greg Larson provided 1.1 innings of relief for the win (1-0), but fellow freshman Alex Panteliodis' 4 innings of scoreless ball allowed UF to come back and take the sweep. This game followed Saturday's 10-2 win in which the Gators had 16 hits.
Friday night was Tennessee's best chance for a victory, holding a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 8th with two outs. But Matt den Dekker hit a two-run homer to win it for Florida. Billy Bullock got the save and leads the team with four after closing Sunday's win as well. Florida has won five consecutive games. They have a home-and-home with UNF this week before Alabama on the weekend in Gainesville.
On the corner of Hull and Museum Roads, the outcomes were much less in doubt. No.1 Gator Softball (32-2, 11-0) relaxed a bit Sunday. After dominating Saturday with a pair of 7-0 wins, UF mearly defeated No. 6 Tennessee 4-1. Pitchers Stacey Nelson and Stephanie Brombacher allowed only 10 hits all weekend, with Brombacher's two-hit performance bookended by Nelson's wins. By the way, Florida is outscoring their opponents 234-24. The Best Dressed Women in Gainesville also get No. 2 Bama at home next weekend.