Florida was nearly shut out for the second-consecutive game against Vanderbilt on Friday night.
The Gators avoided another scoreless nine innings thanks to two bases loaded walks in the top of the seventh.
Those two runs came off the Commodores’ reliever Jake Eder. Up until that point, UF trailed 11-0 and was limited to just one hit off starter Patrick Raby.
Vanderbilt overpowered Florida on the mound and at the plate in a 15-2 loss for UF.
The No. 14 Gators dropped their first series to No. 8 Vanderbilt since 2014 and have now lost their first two conference series for the first time since 2013.
Both teams were scoreless through two innings, and the game appeared to be a pitching duel.
Vanderbilt blitzed Jack Leftwich (4-2) in the third inning, and UF (16-9, 1-4 SEC) never recovered. The scoring began with back-to-back bases-loaded singles by Harrison Ray and Ethan Paul to put the Commodores ahead (18-5, 3-2 SEC), 2-0.
With the bases still loaded, Ty Duvall came in to pinch hit for Drake Fellows. That decision by Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin opened up the game.
Duvall cleared the bases with a double to right field to put Vandy ahead 5-0. The ‘Dores added another run in the inning on an RBI double by Cooper Davis to take a six-run lead.
Eight different Vanderbilt players recorded a hit, five of whom had multi-hit nights. The Commodores recorded a season-high 19 hits in the game.
Vandy’s shortstop Ethan Paul had a career night, hitting 5 for 6 with three runs scored and six RBIs. He was also a home run short of hitting for the cycle.
The Gators were out-hit by Paul alone. UF managed just three hits and struck out nine times.
Raby (4-0) followed up a complete-game shutout on Thursday night by Fellows with a strong start of his own. He went six scoreless innings, striking out seven.
The ‘Dores’ pitching staff allowed 10 walks on the night, however, and likely would have shut out UF if it weren’t for those few blemishes on an otherwise strong showing from the pitching staff.
Leftwich gave up eight runs (six earned) on 12 hits in 3.2 innings. The bullpen behind him made up of Nick Pogue, Justin Alintoff, Kirby McMullen and Austin Langworthy, surrendered seven more runs on seven hits.
The Commodores piled on four more runs after allowing the Gators to score in the seventh inning, and they didn’t face much resistance.
Noticeably absent from UF’s starting lineup were Wil Dalton and Austin Langworthy. The two upperclassmen have been among Florida’s worst hitters this season. Dalton was replaced by Kendrick Calilao in right field, and Jacob Young took Langworthy’s spot in left field. Blake Reese started at Young’s post at second base, and Kris Armstrong took over for Calilao at first base.
No matter who has been in the batting order or on the mound, the Gators have been simply outperformed by the Commodores in the series.
Follow Kyle Wood on Twitter @Kkylewood and contact him at kwood@alligator.org.
Jack Leftwich gave up eight runs (six earned) on 12 hits in 3.2 innings against Vanderbilt on Friday.
