Illinois State took the bat out of Preston Tucker’s hands Wednesday, but Austin Maddox was waiting with his.
With two outs and runners on second and third in the sixth inning, Redbirds reliever Matt Werderitch intentionally walked Tucker to load the bases. Then Maddox saw a hanging curveball on a 1-2 count and pulled it past the left-field bleachers.
“Austin had a great night tonight, and that’s exactly what he needs to do if they’re going to pitch around Preston,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “He should have opportunities to drive runners in and that’s exactly what he did.”
The grand slam was Maddox’s second homer in as many games against Illinois State, and he finished the night 4 for 5 with 6 RBIs. The cleanup hitters’ clutch hits, coupled with a good outing by UF starter Anthony Desclafani, helped the No. 6 Gators (9-3) down the Redbirds 8-0.
Illinois State (4-7) chose not to pitch Tucker in both games, and the sophomore reached base in eight of ten plate appearances. Tucker only had two hits during the series, but the Redbirds intentionally walked him four times to get to Maddox.
“My job all year is to protect Preston because he had such a big year last year,” Maddox said of Tucker’s 85-RBI season in 2009.
Through 11 games, Maddox has been a more productive power hitter than Tucker. Tucker has only two extra-base hits this season, in part because teams refuse to throw him strikes. The sophomore leads Florida with 12 walks drawn.
UF’s pitching staff only needed one of Maddox’s RBIs Wednesday, as four hurlers combined to give Florida its first shutout since Feb. 24, 2009.
Desclafani made his first start since giving up five runs while recording no outs against Florida State on March 2. Desclafani said he thought about the FSU game every night for the last week.
“I was really shocked about the last performance,” he said. “It wasn’t really good, so I was anxious to get back out here and get back on the mound again.”
Desclafani bounced back Wednesday, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out six in 5 1/3 innigns.
Illinois State managed to get runners on second and third in the first inning, and Desclafani needed 28 pitches to get out of the jam. But he kept his pitches low in the strike zone and held the Redbirds hitless after that, retiring 11 straight batters at one point.
The Gators bullpen was just as efficient as Desclafani. Steven Rodriguez, Michael Heller and Justin Poovey allowed a combined one hit in 3 2/3 innings. Poovey overpowered the Redbirds in the ninth, hitting 91 mph on the radar.
O’Sullivan mixed the order during the midweek series. Freshman Nolan Fontana moved from the bottom of the order to the No. 2 spot. And Josh Adams, normally the Gators second batter, hit fifth.
Adams also moved from second base to third to make room for freshman Cody Dent, who drove in a run in his first start.
“We’re just experimenting,” O’Sullivan said. “I don’t know how it’s all going to shake out, but we’ve tried a lot of different things and played a lot of different people, and hopefully by the time this weekend’s over we’ll have a better idea of what’s best for this lineup.”
Florida’s next game will be at home Friday night at 6:30 against Charleston Southern (4-8). Sophomore Alex Panteliodis will take the mound for the Gators.
