Florida Baseball Thumps Tennessee On Sunday, Wins First Series Since Mid-March

Florida baseball provided a bright spot on a somber Sunday for Gators fans with an 8-1 win over Tennessee in Knoxville. The win was Florida's first on a Sunday since March 18, when the Gators beat Vanderbilt to finish up a sweep; the series victory over Tennessee, likewise, is the first by Florida since that Vanderbilt series.

Clearly, Florida should play teams from Tennessee more often.

Gators starter Brian Johnson threw six strong scoreless innings, scattering six hits and striking out four, and of the five relievers to follow him, only Keenan Kish, who gave up an RBI single to Will Maddox with two outs in the ninth, allowed a run.

Johnson gave himself all the backing he would need with one out in the top of the first, smacking a bases-clearing double down the right field line. Johnson would later score on a sacrifice fly, and Florida would add runs in the second, third, and fourth innings, but Tennessee's hole was too big to climb out of before the Vols went to bat.

Vickash Ramjit went 2-for-4 and hit his fourth homer of the season in the second inning, and Nolan Fontana and Preston Tucker were also members of the 2-for-4 club on the day, but Florida also got a run on an RBI single by light-hitting Cody Dent. This was just one of those days for the Gators — but in a good way.

Florida improved to 28-8 on the season and 9-6 in SEC play with the win. The Gators are two games back of Kentucky and LSU in the SEC, with a series at Lexington to come, but getting a series under their belts for the first time in nearly a month has to feel good. Florida next takes the field on Tuesday night against Georgia Southern at 7 p.m.