Florida Baseball Takes Rubber Match From Georgia, 6-3

Florida was locked in its third consecutive close game with Georgia on Sunday. And then Daniel Pigott stepped up.

Pigott swatted a three-run homer, his second of the series and fifth of the season, to give Florida a 6-3 lead it would hold for a rubber match win against the Bulldogs.

Pigott went 3-for-3 on the day, and matched a career high with four RBI. Florida's other two runs came on Mike Zunino's 11th home run of the year and a Preston Tucker RBI double, and the No. 2 through No. 6 spots in Florida's lineup accounted for all eight Gators hits on the day.

Karsten Whitson, working in relief and continuing his rehab from arm trouble, got the win for getting the last out of the sixth inning and the first of the seventh, but other Florida pitchers figured more heavily in the outcome.

Hudson Randall, making his first start since late March, allowed one run on three hits in three innings, but also issued a rare walk and hit a batter; Daniel Gibson allowed Randall's run and one of his own to score by giving up two doubles; Greg Larson gave Georgia catcher Brandon Stephens — Friday's goat, and the victim of a foul tip to the, er, foul tip on Sunday who got rewarded with "YOU LOOK COMFORTABLE!" from the stands as he doubled over in pain — his highlight of the weekend, conceding an RBI single; Steven Rodriguez and Austin Maddox combined for 2.2 perfect innings of relief and four strikeouts, with Maddox earning his 11th save of the season.

Florida will next take the field Tuesday against USF at 7 p.m.