Brady Smith blasted a home run over the left field wall to put the Florida baseball team ahead 1-0 over Vanderbilt in the fourth inning Saturday afternoon. It was the first lead UF held over the Commodores up to that point in the series.
A few at-bats later, Jacob Young scored on a wild pitch to put the Gators ahead 2-0.
The Commodores responded by scoring 14 unanswered runs en route to a 14-4 victory to complete the sweep of the Gators in Nashville, Tennessee.
Vanderbilt (19-5, 4-2 SEC) struggled to score off Tyler Dyson early in the game. He tossed three hitless, scoreless innings before the ‘Dores finally figured him out.
Back-to-back hits and a walk to start the fourth inning loaded the bases for Vanderbilt’s Ethan Scott. He ended the shutout and gave his team the lead with one swing of the bat. Scott’s grand slam put the Commodores ahead, and they never relinquished that lead.
The home run ball once again punished UF in the sixth inning. Dyson hit a batter, walked the next and then gave up a three-run home run to Philip Clarke, which put Vanderbilt ahead 7-2.
Dyson allowed another hit to the next batter he faced and was then pulled in favor of Jordan Butler.
The bullpen behind Dyson did not fare much better against Vanderbilt’s hitters. Butler, Christian Scott and Hunter Ruth allowed six runs on seven hits in just four innings.
In the ninth inning, the Gators put two more runs on the board but didn’t overcome the 12-run deficit. Kendrick Calilao scored on a wild pitch, and Jud Fabian hit an RBI single.
UF (16-10, 1-5 SEC) had eight hits and 10 strikeouts. In each game of the series, the Gators struck out more than they hit (27-16).
Florida’s four runs on Saturday were its highest output in the series. Vanderbilt outhit UF 39-16 and outscored the Gators 34-6 over the course of the three games.
“It was a difficult lineup to navigate the whole weekend,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “They ran seven left-handed hitters out there and we have three right-handed starters.”
Of the six runs Florida scored in the series, the majority of them were a result of Vanderbilt’s mistakes, rather than UF’s successes. Two runs scored on Saturday came on passed balls, and both runs scored on Friday were the result of bases-loaded walks.
The Gators are off to their worst start in conference play in over 10 years. Florida did face two of the best teams in the SEC to begin their conference slate, but it won’t be easy making up ground in the standings against the likes of Vanderbilt and Mississippi State.
Follow Kyle Wood on Twitter @Kkylewood and contact him at kwood@alligator.org.
Tyler Dyson pitched five innings and gave up five hits, eight earned runs and walked three batters in Florida's 14-4 loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday.
