After a night in which it lost by three and failed to record a hit until the ninth inning, Florida was the aggressor on Saturday.
With the game scoreless early in the first inning, Josh Tobias rounded second, ran past the stop sign from his third base coach and beat the throw at home.
“I was going. I had my mind set,” Tobias said. “I was like, ‘well if I stop I’m gonna fall, so I’m gonna take my chances here.”
The No. 2 Gators (17-3, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) didn’t pass up many chances Saturday night when they defeated Tennessee (8-7, 1-1 SEC) 8-3 for their first conference win.
Florida received strong play from its pitching staff, as left-hander A.J. Puk (4-1) allowed two runs and two hits in five innings and set a career high with eight strikeouts.
“I felt really good,” Puk said. “I just wanted to come out and give my team a chance to win. I was just ready to pitch today.”
UF put up two runs in the first inning when Richie Martin scored off of Harrison Bader’s sacrifice fly, and Tobias ran home after JJ Schwarz singled.
Tennessee scored two in the top of the fifth, but Florida answered in the bottom half after an RBI single from Martin and a sacrifice fly from Tobias.
Freshman Mike Rivera belted a two-run homer in the sixth to increase UF’s lead to six.
“I just wanted to do the job and drive him in,” said Rivera, whose home run on Saturday was the first of his career. “We just (needed) a win. That’s the best feeling, just the win.”
UF sealed the game in the eighth after Guthrie sent home two runs with a single to right field.
“I thought tonight we were much better. I thought we were more aggressive,” said coach Kevin O’Sullivan, whose team posted a .343 batting average. “It was important for us to get our first SEC win.”
Florida only needed two pitchers on Saturday. Puk was relieved in the sixth by Bobby Poyner, who allowed four hits and threw two strikeouts in four innings.
The Gators will close out their three game series against Tennessee on Sunday at 1 p.m.
“Tonight showed a lot to us,” Tobias said. “We got beat last night, but it showed a lot to us to forget that and come out tonight on fire.”
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @ICohenB
A.J. Puk pitches during Florida's 7-2 loss to Miami on Feb. 21 at McKethan Stadium.
