The outcome between No. 2 Florida and No. 8 Vanderbilt on Sunday at McKethan Stadium had become nothing more than a sideshow. Even though it was still a ballgame — just 5-2 in Florida’s favor in the bottom of the fourth — everyone’s focus was solely on UF third baseman Jonathan India.
For a touch of background info, India came into Sunday’s series finale riding a 14-game hitting streak. He hit .565 in that span with 12 extra-base hits. Eleven of those 14 games were multi-hit performances.
In short, India has wielded a bat more destructive than Thor’s hammer.
So when he came up to hit in the bottom of the fourth not having recorded a base knock in his first two plate appearances, it was understandable that the tension among the crowd was fast rising. The anticipation crescendoed until a 2-1 pitch from Commodores left-hander Jackson Gillis made its way to the plate.
India clubbed the 92-mph fastball toward right-center field, over the heads of Vanderbilt’s outfielders and into the Commodores’ bullpen to extend both the lead and his streak. His bomb served as one of three homers for the Gators (25-5, 7-2 SEC) in an 8-2 win in Florida’s sweep of Vanderbilt. For the Commodores, it was the first time in 59 series they had been swept in conference play.
“I think that just goes to show you how well of a run they’ve been on and what kind of a great program they have,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We needed to play at a high level, obviously, to win all three games this weekend.”
India’s dinger — his 11th of the season — would’ve lifted him back into the team lead in home runs had outfielder Wil Dalton not secured his 11th an inning earlier.
“We have fun with it,” Dalton said of the budding friendly rivalry between the two home run leaders. “It’s kind of a competition. Every time he hits a home run, I’m like, ‘Well, I guess I gotta go hit another.’”
Florida pitcher Tyler Dyson made his seventh start of the season and came away with mixed results. He recorded four strikeouts before surrendering the first Commodores hit, a single into left field, in the top of the third. The next Vanderbilt batter crushed a two-run homer out to right field, dealing the only damage the Commodores could manage on the day.
Vanderbilt (17-11, 5-4 SEC) did, however, load up the bases on Dyson with no outs in the fifth off of a pair of singles and a hit batsman.
After a strikeout against the final batter he faced, Dyson was yanked by O’Sullivan in favor of freshman Jordan Butler. The left-hander combined with fellow freshman Jack Leftwich to shut down the Commodores over the next 4.2 innings, allowing just one hit while striking out four.
After career milestones from closer Michael Byrne — who broke UF’s program record for career saves on Friday — and cather JJ Schwarz — who tied UF’s program record in career RBIs on Saturday — O’Sullivan presented both players with lineup cards to commemorate the occasions. While he’s proud of the accomplishment of snapping Vanderbilt’s streak of 59 SEC series with at least one win, he laughed when a reporter suggested he give one to himself.
“No no no, I move on,” O’Sullivan said. “I’m already thinking of who’s going to start on Tuesday.”
Follow Morgan McMullen on Twitter @MorganMcMuffin, and contact him at mmcmullen@alligator.org.
Florida third baseman Jonathan India extended his hitting streak to 15 games during UF's 8-2 win over Vanderbilt on Sunday. The junior blasted a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
