JJ Schwarz hadn’t homered in 21 games — the longest drought of his career.
But in the eighth inning against Florida State on Tuesday night, the sophomore launched a solo shot to left field off of FSU relief pitcher Jim Voyles, giving Florida a 5-2 lead.
Behind Schwarz’s breakout 3-for-4 performance, the No. 3 Gators (30-5) defeated the No. 6 Seminoles 8-2 at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee.
Florida swept the three-game season series against FSU and has won five-straight matchups with the Seminoles dating back to 2015, tying a school record.
Schwarz, who was 3-for-15 last weekend against Mississippi State, slid down to the cleanup spot before Tuesday’s game. The Palm Beach Gardens native drove in three runs in the win.
"When JJ’s swinging the bat like he did tonight … it’s pretty impressive," UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.
But even more impressive to O’Sullivan was Florida’s pitching, which surrendered just four runs in 27 innings against the Seminoles this season.
"That’s very, very hard to do," he said. "Especially after they just came off a weekend in which they won two out of three against a really good Louisville team."
Sophomore Dalton Guthrie kicked off the Gators’ scoring in the first inning.
The Sarasota native laced a leadoff single and swiped second to get into scoring position. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Guthrie scored on a Buddy Reed groundout.
An inning later, Guthrie wreaked more havoc.
With two outs, the shortstop roped a double down the left field line to score sophomore Jeremy Vasquez.
Vasquez scored from second base after reaching on a single and taking second on a balk.
Up 2-0, Florida wasn’t done dealing damage.
Guthrie flared an RBI single to right field with two outs in the fourth inning to score freshman Nelson Maldonado from second. Guthrie was thrown out while trying to take second, but the run counted, giving UF a 3-0 lead.
Florida State (22-9) didn’t score until the bottom of the fourth.
On a full count, Jackson Lueck cranked a home run off UF starting pitcher Jackson Kowar to right field to lead off the inning, cutting UF’s lead to 4-1.
The homer was Kowar’s fourth allowed this season, which leads the team.
But Kowar, who struck out seven through four innings, settled down and limited the damage to just one run.
Schwarz helped plate the Gators’ next three runs.
In the fifth, he singled up the middle to drive in freshman Deacon Liput. In the eighth, he smashed a solo home run off the scoreboard in left — his fourth of the year and first since UF’s 8-6 win over Dartmouth on March 6.
And with two outs in the ninth, Florida tacked on three runs after Schwarz’s RBI single and bases-loaded walks to freshman Jonathan India and junior Ryan Larson.
Despite allowing a run in the seventh on John Sansone’s RBI fielder’s choice, UF’s bullpen stifled the Seminoles’ offense. Nick Horvath, Frank Rubio, Kirby Snead and Brady Singer combined for five innings, allowing just one run to seal the win.
O’Sullivan said each pitcher made quality pitches when they needed to.
"To come up here on a Tuesday with a couple freshmen and some guys that may have not thrown as much and hold them to two runs," he said, "it says a lot about our team."
Next, the Gators will travel to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas for a three-game series starting Thursday at 9 p.m.
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Contact Patrick Pinak at ppinak@alligator.org and you can follow him on Twitter @Pinakk12.
JJ Schwarz follows through on a swing during Florida's 2-1 loss to Mississippi State on April 10, 2016 at McKethan Stadium.
