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Florida Completes Sweep of Siena
Story URL: http://florida.scout.com/2/731781.html
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FightinGators.com Staff
FightinGators.com | Feb 24, 2008 |
Freshman Josh Adams drove in
five runs with a grand slam and a solo homer as Florida (3-0) completed
a weekend sweep of Siena (0-3) with a 13-6 triumph on Sunday afternoon
at McKethan Stadium.
Freshman right-hander Tommy Toledo
worked five innings in his collegiate debut, totaling five strikeouts
and allowing five hits and two runs, to notch the victory. It was UF’s
first three-game sweep since defeating Georgia in Athens over March
30-April 1 of last season. Sophomore Clayton Pisani went
3-for-3 with a pair of sacrifice flies and the Gators banged out 11
hits, stole six bases and turned three double plays.
“Any time you walk away with three wins you certainly feel good about
it,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Siena has a good club and I
wouldn’t be surprised to see them in an NCAA Regional. Some of the
things that we have been trying to implement, such as being aggressive
on the base paths and putting the ball in play, showed this weekend.”
“Fortunately, today was a good one for me,” Adams said. “It was great to
come out and start swinging a little bit better and I’m glad that I
could help the team this afternoon.”
Florida opened the scoring in its first at bat for the second-straight
day, plating two runs on two hits off sophomore Craig Marcellus (0-1,
3.0 IP, 4 H, 6 R). Pisani singled to left with one down, advanced to
second on a balk and scored on sophomore Cole Figueroa’s base-hit up the middle. After Figueroa stole second and advanced
to third on a wild pitch, senior Brandon McArthur walked
on four pitches. A fielder’s choice by senior Jon Townsend
resulted in a 2-0 lead for the Gators.
Adams picked an opportune time for his first career homer, as he belted
a grand slam on a 3-2 pitch with two down in third to give Florida a 6-0
cushion. Pisani doubled to left center and Figueroa followed with a walk
before UF executed a double steal for a pair of runners in scoring
position. After McArthur earned a free pass to fill the sacks with one
down, Townsend’s grounder to Marcellus forced Pisani at home for the
second out. Adams stepped to the plate and sent a ball out of the yard
that cleared the wall in left center.
Siena narrowed the gap to 6-2 in the fourth on a two-run shot by junior
Eric Mruczek. Senior Rick Seltzer led off with a double down the
right-field line and took third on a flyout by sophomore Gary
DerHagopian. Mrcuzek tagged Toledo’s next pitch over the fence in left
field to end a 13-inning scoreless streak by the Saints dating back to a
ninth-inning homer on Friday night.
The Gators answered in the bottom of the frame on a sacrifice fly by
Pisani to build a 7-2 advantage. Back-to-back singles by sophomore
Hampton Tignor and junior Avery Barnes set up the Orange and Blue’s second successful double steal of the
game. Soon after, Pisani collected his first RBI with his squad’s first
sac fly of the year.
Toledo departed after five full innings and was replaced by classmate
Cody Barnes. Senior Jacob Willis started things off
for Siena by reaching on a throwing error by Figueroa, UF’s first
defensive miscue of the year. Following a walk to Seltzer, DerHagopian
stroked an RBI single to left center for an 8-3 margin. Barnes retired
the next two batters before plunking junior Jason DeFilippo to load the
sacks. The right-hander then uncorked consecutive wild pitches to allow
both Seltzer and DerHagopian to score. After issuing a walk to senior
Michael Ambury, another errant pitch from Barnes brought DeFilippo
across resulted in an 8-6 score. A base on balls to freshman Kevin
Quaranto and another wild pitch promp Edmondson had senior Moises Rivera fly out to center on
his first pitch to strand the runners and keep UF in front.
The hosts rebounded with three runs in the bottom of the frame for an
11-6 lead. Tignor had drawn a one-out walk from freshman reliever Kyle
Sumple and moved to third on a double into left center by Avery Barnes.
Pisani’s second sac fly scored Tignor and a free pass to Figueroa gave
the Gators two runners aboard before McArthur poked an RBI single on a
hit-and-run play to plate Barnes. Sumple later let loose a wild pitch,
enabling Figueroa to score. Pigott extended UF’s lead to 12-6 in the
seventh with a run-scoring single that scored freshman Evan Chambers. An RBI grounder by McArthur in the eighth that brought
in Pisani finalized the 13-6 count.
For UF, the trio of Pisani, Adams (2-for-5) and Avery Barnes (2-for-5)
turned in multiple-hit outings while eight different Siena players had
one hit. Edmondson (2.0 IP), sophomore Tony Davis (Cooper City, Fla.)
(0.1 IP) and freshman Travis Lawler (1.0 IP)
provided scoreless relief to close the contest.
The Gators will host Eastern Michigan (0-3) on Tuesday and Wednesday at
McKethan Stadium. Both games will begin at 6:30 p.m. The Eagles dropped
three games at New Mexico over the weekend by scores of 16-7, 9-8 and
13-3.
Courtesy UF Sports Information
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