- Gator Baseball righted the ship this weekend against Vanderbilt, winning 2 of 3 games. Florida (20-7, 6-3, No. 8) lost Sunday 7-0 as Vandy (24-6, 5-4, No. 17) held the Gators to five hits.
Saturday, UF won 7-3 as freshman pitcher Brian Johnson did his best Carlos Zambrano impression; 1 ER, 5.1 IP, 3-3 at the plate. Johnson (3-1, 3.09) had not batted this season and going to the plate did not impact his pitching. Johnson scattered 7 hits, but walked only one. LF Daniel Pigott hit his first homer of the season and had 3 RBI. 1B Preston Tucker drew three walks and had a RBI double. Tucker leads UF with a .476 OBP. The game was marred by Vandy pitcher Corey Williams having his knee cap broken in half by an Austin Maddox liner.
The Gators won 3-2 Friday night, with the winning runs coming on Matt den Dekker's 2-run homer in the 7th. Sophomore Alex Panteliodis (5-1, 1.93) again pitched well but got a no-decision in 6.1 innings, allowing 7 hits and a run. Jeff Barfield picked up his first win of the season in relief and Kevin Chapman got his fifth save.
The Gators face Jacksonville on Tuesday and go to Tennessee for three games starting Friday.
- On the other side of campus, UF Softball swept LSU. Florida (27-4, 9-2, No. 6) won Sunday 7-2 with pitchers Stephanie Brombacher and Ensley Gammel splitting the duties and Gammel getting her 7th win. 2B Aja Paculba hit in her 11th consecutive game, going 2-3 with 2 RBI and a run.
Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader was won on 3B Corrie Brooks' walk off homer in the 7th. It was Brooks' first hit of the game and fifth homer of the season. Gammel went the distance, limiting LSU (29-7, 8-3, No. 12) to 1 run on 2 hits. Brombacher moved to 19-4 with a 4-1 win in Game 1. Senior Francesca Enea led UF with a double and 2 RBI.
Enea is a candidate for the softball Lowe's Senior Class award. We have always been fans of UF Softball and Enea (because she is dating an old WRUF colleague), so be sure to vote early and often.
UF Softball plays a 3-game series at Arkansas this weekend.