University of Tennessee Athletics
Florida natives combine to beat Gators, 5-4
April 05, 2008 | Baseball
Box Score | Box Score (PDF) | Photos
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ??? Tennessee received key performances from three Florida natives Saturday as the Volunteers baseball team won the first game of their weekend series with Florida 5-4 at Robert M. Lindsay Field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Big Orange improved to 18-10 (6-4 SEC) on the year and ran their home record to 14-2.
Miami, Fla., native Nick Hernandez made his first career series-opening start in Southeastern Conference play, and the sophomore matched his career-high by pitching 7 1/3 innings in which he tallied a career-high 11 strikeouts while holding the Gators (20-9, 7-3 SEC) to two runs on seven hits.
Hernandez (1-1) picked up the win???his first of the season???after earning four straight no-decisions.
Fellow Sunshine State natives Danny Wiltz and Shawn Griffin also played key roles in the victory. Wiltz, a junior from Miami, Fla., pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief while logging his third save of the year. And senior Shawn Griffin, an outfielder from Hollywood, Fla., jumpstarted the Tennessee offense with a mammoth two-run homer in the sixth inning.
The Gators scored a pair of runs in the ninth and had the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base, but Wiltz held on to close things out and help UT improve to 8-2 in one-run games this year.
Gators leadoff man Avery Barnes led off the game with a single and stole second base before taking third on a balk. Following a pair of strikeouts, Barnes scored on an RBI double by second baseman Josh Adams to give Florida an early 1-0 lead.
After four scoreless innings, Florida used back-to-back doubles by shortstop Cole Figueroa and Adams to push its lead to 2-0. Adams??? second RBI double of the game marked the Gators??? sixth hit of the day. Tennessee, meanwhile, had managed just one hit to that point???a first-inning single by centerfielder Kentrail Davis.
Senior second baseman Andy Simunic gave the Vols their second hit of the game when he led off the bottom of the sixth with a basehit through the left side of the Gators infield. Simunic advanced to second on a groundout by Davis and then moved to third on a groundout by catcher Yan Gomes.
Griffin then crushed a 2-0 pitch into the light tower in the right field, driving in his roommate, Simunic, and tying the game at 2-2. It was Griffin???s third home run of the season and the ninth of his career.
Florida starting pitcher Billy Bullock gave way to Josh Edmondson for the bottom of the seventh, and Vols first baseman Jeff Lockwood greeted the Gators reliever with a single to centerfield. A sacrifice bunt by UT designated hitter P.J. Polk put Lockwood on second base, and a flyball to deep right-center pushed him to third.
Lockwood then scored on a passed ball as Edmondson???s first pitch to Vols shortstop Cody Grisham got by Gators catcher Buddy Munroe. The two-out, go-ahead run went down as earned, however, as Grisham eventually doubled down the left-field line.
Still later in the bottom of the seventh, Davis delivered a two-run double off the wall to push Tennessee???s lead to three runs, 5-2. Both teams??? hits total stood at six after Davis??? fourth double of the season.
Hernandez did not walk a batter until the top of the eighth, when UF third baseman Jon Townsend drew a base on balls to give the Gators a pair of no-out baserunners. Wiltz came on to pitch with one out and runners on the corners later in the inning, and he worked out the jam without allowing any runs to cross.
Barnes drove in a pair of runs in the top of the ninth with a double to right-center, but the Gators stranded runners on the corners. Edmondson took the loss to fall to 2-1 on the year. Florida batters struck out 13 times in the game, tying a season-high.
The series continues with the second game of the doubleheader Saturday at 4 p.m. Vols left-hander Bryan Morgado (3-2, 2.54 ERA) will start on the mound against Florida right-hander Tommy Toledo (4-1, 2.70 ERA). The game will be televised regionally on Fox Sports Net South.
