Florida succumbed to the right arm of Vanderbilt’s Drake Fellows on Thursday night.
Fellows pitched a complete game, striking out eight and giving up just five hits as the 14th-ranked UF baseball team was held scoreless, dropping the first game of the series to No. 8 Vanderbilt 5-0 at Hawkins Field.
The Gators (16-8) couldn’t get to the junior, spoiling a solid effort from UF starter Tommy Mace.
Mace threw 6.2 innings, compiling a career-high nine strikeouts.
“I thought Tommy was outstanding tonight,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said in a release. “He made some great pitches and did everything he possibly could to keep us in the ballgame.”
The seven hits and four earned runs he surrendered were enough to hand Vanderbilt (17-5) the first win of the series.
Junior right fielder JJ Bleday broke the scoreless tie in the bottom half of the first inning for Vanderbilt with an RBI ground-rule double that scored sophomore outfielder Cooper Davis.
The game stayed at 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth when the Commodores added another run.
Senior shortstop Ethan Paul earned an RBI after a groundout that brought home sophomore catcher Philip Clarke.
Vandy put the game out of reach in the seventh thanks to costly mistakes by the Florida bullpen.
Sophomore reliever Jordan Butler was wild in the bottom half of the inning, allowing runners to score on both a hit by pitch and a wild pitch.
The ‘Dores notched their fifth run after UF freshman reliever Ben Specht beaned junior infielder Harrison Ray, scoring Bleday from third.
Florida’s bats put five Gators in scoring position in the game, stranding freshmen infielders Kendrick Calilao and Cory Acton on second and third in the fourth, leaving senior designated hitter Nelson Maldonado at second in the sixth and deserting freshman infielder/RHP Kris Armstrong in the ninth.
Those squandered opportunities were the closest the Gators would get to putting some much-needed runs on the board.
“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and get going tomorrow,” O’Sullivan said. “Obviously we’ve got to do a little better job offensively.”
Sophomore shortstop Brady McConnell was the only UF batter who collected multiple hits, going 2 for 4 with two singles.
“The drag was there for us tonight,” O’Sullivan said. “If we could have just strung together a couple good at-bats when the game was within a couple runs who knows what could have happened.”
Follow Evan Lepak on Twitter @evanmplepak and contact him at elepak@alligator.org.
Florida pitcher Jordan Butler relieved Tommy Mace in the sixth inning, walking two batters and hitting another with a pitch before he was pulled.
