Buddy Reed put his body on the line in the series-deciding game between No. 2 Florida and Tennessee.
Two innings after hitting a three-RBI triple to give the Gators a 5-1 lead on Sunday, the sophomore outfielder dove to grab a ball in right-center field — and saved a potential RBI double from Tennessee’s A.J. Simcox — to end the top of the fifth inning.
The play highlighted UF’s 9-4 win over Tennessee to clinch the Gators’ first Southeastern Conference series of the year.
But it also ended Reed’s day.
The sophomore stayed motionless in center field for about two minutes following the play, hunched over on his knees, before walking back to the dugout under his own power with a trainer and coach Kevin O’Sullivan on either side of him.
"It was a big play in the game," O’Sullivan said. "… Buddy will be day-to-day. He got an X-ray. Everything will be fine."
Junior outfielder Harrison Bader, who missed three games heading into the series with a sprained ankle, opened scoring by cranking a fastball into the left-field bleachers for a solo home run, his team-leading seventh on the year.
"You always got to sit on a fastball," Bader said. "He kind of had a quick inning and I kind of had an idea that he was going to attack the zone to get out of the inning. I just jumped on it and got a good pitch to hit."
Bader ended the day going 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs and scoring three runs of his own. Through 18 games played, he now has 24 RBIs on the year, which ties his career-high from 2014.
Both the Gators (18-3, 2-1 SEC) and the Volunteers (8-8, 1-2 SEC) added a run in the second with Tennessee getting on the board with a solo home run from Nick Senzel and Florida seeing freshman JJ Schwarz cross home plate on a passed ball.
UF tacked on four runs in the third — three coming from Reed’s bases-clearing triple and the fourth coming when Schwarz crossed on a wild pitch.
Two of Florida’s final three runs came on RBI doubles from Schwarz and Bader. Bader then gave the Gators their last piece of insurance one at-bat after his double in the sixth, rounding third and coming home after a wild pitch.
"I was just hustling," Bader said. "You’ve got to keep your head up."
Pitcher Danny Young — who came on the mound in relief for starter Dane Dunning — earned his first win of the season after tossing five solid innings.
The junior lefty threw a career-high seven strikeouts while giving up just three hits, two runs (one earned) and one walk.
"I felt all right," Young said. "I haven’t thrown since the middle of the week anyway, so I was fresh and ready to throw as many innings as I could."
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Buddy Reed swings at a pitch during Florida's 9-4 win against Tennessee on March 15 at McKethan Stadium.
