It started with Evan White.
After falling down in the count 0-2 to UF starter A.J. Puk, Kentucky’s first baseman battled back and walked on 11 pitches to lead off the fourth inning.
After another walk, Dorian Hairston lined a three-run home run to center to cap a three-run rally and give Kentucky a 4-1 lead.
White finished 3-for-3 with a home run, as the No. 1 Gators (23-2, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) fell to Kentucky 7-4 at Cliff Hagan Stadium on Saturday.
The loss snapped UF’s 17-game win streak, one short of tying the program record set in 2012.
UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said Puk’s walks in the fourth, especially the leadoff free pass to White, were critical.
“It was an 0-2 count and we end up getting back to a 3-2 count,” he said. “We just threw too many pitches that inning. We gotta do a better job of starting innings.”
White put Florida in a hole early.
The first baseman cranked a solo home run to left off of Puk to take a 1-0 lead in the first, just the second homer allowed by Puk this season.
But Florida’s lefty found his rhythm following White’s homer, retiring the next eight batters before the Gators evened the score.
With two outs in the fourth inning, freshman Deacon Liput lifted a ball to right off UK starter Dustin Beggs that sailed out for a solo home run. The homer was Liput’s second of the season and tied the game at 1-1.
Puk, who cruised through the second and third innings, ran into trouble in the fourth.
The 6-foot-7 left-hander walked a pair of batters before serving up the three-run blast to Hairston to give Kentucky a 4-1 advantage.
Puk had allowed just one homer all season before surrendering two to Kentucky on Saturday. Through 4.1 innings, the junior allowed six earned runs — one more than he allowed in 24 innings this season before Saturday’s loss.
The Wildcats (16-6, 3-2 SEC) scored three more runs in the fifth inning.
Puk allowed a pair of one-out singles before Frank Rubio came in to relieve him. UK’s JaVon Shelby then flared an RBI single between Rubio and second base to give Kentucky a 5-1 lead. A batter later, Gunnar McNeill doubled in two runs to pull the Wildcats ahead 7-1.
But the Gators didn’t go down without a fight.
In the sixth inning, sophomore Mike Rivera crushed a two-run triple to left before scoring on a Jeremy Vasquez RBI single.
Down 7-4, Florida’s rally was cut short two hits later when UK right fielder Zach Reks threw out Vasquez at home on Jonathan India’s single.
O’Sullivan said he liked Florida’s approach at the plate while facing a large deficit.
“We battled back,” he said. “We got a couple big two-out hits and put ourselves right in position. In a ballpark like this, you’re never out of it.”
Florida held Kentucky scoreless for the final four innings, but right-hander Justin Lewis shut down UF’s offense for the last three innings. The 6-foot-6 freshman allowed two hits through 3.1 scoreless innings in relief, earning the save.
Despite the loss, UF’s freshmen hitters have impressed as of late. Liput, India and Nelson Maldonado were a combined 6-for-12 Saturday and 11-for-25 in their last two games.
“Our young guys have been having really good at-bats considering this is their first SEC road series,” O’Sullivan said.
Both teams will square off in the rubber match Sunday at 1 p.m. Sophomore Alex Faedo (5-0) will take the mound for Florida.
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Contact Patrick Pinak ppinak@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @Pinakk12
A.J. Puk pitches during Florida's 7-2 loss to Miami on Feb. 21, 2015, at McKethan Stadium.
