Dakota Hudson had allowed just five earned runs all season before facing Florida Friday night.
With seven swings of the bat, that changed quickly.
UF cranked out seven hits and five runs in the fifth inning alone against the Mississippi State ace and Southeastern Conference ERA leader, as the No. 1 Gators (29-3, 8-2 SEC) defeated the No. 5 Bulldogs 8-2 at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville.
The win extended Florida’s program-record home winning streak to 29 games, with a 22-0 record at home this year.
With the five-run fifth inning, the Gators snapped Hudson’s program-record 34.2 straight innings without allowing an earned run.
Freshman Jonathan India, who scored UF’s first run and drove in its second run, said he was unaware of Hudson’s streak.
“Well, I didn’t know that, but I could see that because he’s a great pitcher,” he said. “But it feels good.”
Florida starting pitcher Logan Shore battled through his outing, starting with the second inning.
Shore allowed two runs on an RBI groundout and an RBI single before throwing a wild pitch that advanced a MSU base runner to third.
After the pitch, UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan and a team trainer visited Shore on the mound. Shore, who trotted into the dugout and later came back after a short delay, said he was dealing with something in his eye.
“It was just tough to see,” Shore said.
However, O’Sullivan said the junior pitcher had a blister on one of his big toes that was hindering his push off the mound, which caused the wild pitch.
“I just knew that’s not him, I knew it was killing him” O’Sullivan said. “You could tell when he was covering first on a couple of plays he was hobbling a little bit.”
Shore, who finished allowing two earned runs through 5.2 innings, regrouped and received some run support following the second inning.
India scurried home on a wild pitch in the third inning to plate UF’s first run.
In the fifth, India executed a slash play flawlessly when he showed bunt then swung away and lined a double to right to score Jeremy Vasquez from second to tie the game at 2-2.
“I got the sign to do the slash and they crashed, so it worked out perfectly,” India said.
The Gators then scored four more in the inning on RBI singles from junior Buddy Reed and freshman Deacon Liput, and a two-run single from sophomore JJ Schwarz.
The Bulldogs (21-9-1, 6-4 SEC) threatened in the sixth before Kirby Snead came into the game.
In relief for Shore and with runners on the corners, Snead needed just one pitch to induce the inning-ending groundout.
“I was just focused on getting that guy out, and luckily he swung at the first pitch,” Snead said.
In the eighth, Florida tacked on two more runs to take an 8-2 lead when Dalton Guthrie’s laced an RBI single and Nelson Maldonado raced home on a wild pitch.
Mississippi State couldn’t muster any offense against Florida’s bullpen.
Snead held the Bulldogs scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings, before Nick Horvath and Frank Rubio combined to close MSU out in the ninth inning.
The Gators and Bulldogs will next square off Saturday at 7 p.m. Sophomore Alex Faedo will draw the start for Florida.
Contact Patrick Pinak at ppinak@alligator.org and you can follow him on Twitter @Pinakk12.
Freshman infielder Jonathan India hits a ball during Florida's 7-4 win over Texas A&M on April 1, 2016, at McKethan Stadium.
