University of Tennessee
Florida
Vols Drop Second Game of Florida Series, 8-3
March 14, 2015 | Baseball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- In the second game of Tennessee's SEC opening weekend at Florida, the Vols fell behind early to the Gators and struggled to gain the lead, dropping a 8-3 decision on Saturday at McKethan Stadium.
After producing a season-high four home runs in Friday night's SEC opener, Tennessee's bats fell quiet against Florida's left-handed starter A.J. Puk through the first four frames.
"Like my message was before the series started, in this league you can't get too excited about wins," Head Coach Dave Serrano said. "You enjoy them but it's a 30 game grind in this league. You have to have amnesia when you lose and you've got to let it go. When we get back to the hotel and take our uniforms off, we've got to let it go.
"Tomorrow is a new day. I credit Florida. I thought they did a good job of that. In their home opener in the SEC, we came in and played better baseball last night against their best pitcher. They let it go and they came out and played better baseball than us tonight. So, we've got to show up tomorrow with the right attitude and we can get on that bus to head back to as a very happy group if we get the opportunity to take this series."
The Gators took a 2-0 lead in the first, but the fifth inning ignited a comeback for Tennessee. First baseman Nathaniel Maggio was hit by a pitch to begin the inning, followed by designated hitter Andrew Plunkett reaching first base via walk, moving Maggio to second. Third baseman Jeff Moberg executed a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over before catcher David Houser busted a ball into the left-center gap, scoring two runs to make a tied ballgame at 2-2.
"I really tip my hat to David Houser," Serrrano said. "He had a good night. He took some good at-bats and [Florida starter A.J.] Puk had good stuff early. I thought David had two really good at-bats early that tied the game and then they got some opportunities. I think we gave away too much early with some sloppy errors that opened the door and they're a good baseball team. You can't give them free opportunities because they're going to make you pay for that."
Florida came back in the bottom of the fifth, pushing across two runs to regain the lead at 4-2. Right-handed pitcher Steven Kane entered in relief of starting pitcher Drake Owenby with bases loaded and one out but managed to limit the Gators' offense. Kane returned for the sixth but Florida was ready, producing a leadoff triple and a two-run homer to further their lead to 6-2.
Second baseman Nick Senzel narrowed Florida's lead in the eighth, battling back with an RBI-double to score left fielder Christin Stewart and make it a three-run difference, but the Gators put up another two runs in the eighth to extend their lead to 8-3.
In his fourth start of the year for the Volunteers, lefthander Owenby went 4.1 innings and allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits while recording four strikeouts.
Houser (2-for-3, 2 RBI) led Tennessee's offense against Florida, reaching base safely in three straight at-bats on Saturday night. Senzel also recorded multiple hits in the contest, going 2-for-4 with one RBI.
"I thought we had some good at-bats but we just didn't have enough tonight," Serrano said. "We'll regroup and we'll come out ready for action tomorrow."
Tennessee takes on Florida in the rubber match of the series on Sunday, March 15, with right-handed pitcher Kyle Serrano (1-1) scheduled to make the start for the Vols. For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee Baseball, visit www.UTSports.com/baseball and be sure to follow @Vol_Baseball on Twitter.
