Florida baseball evens up weekend series with No. 3 Tennessee
The fans in Gainesville and watching along on SEC Network+ had to hold their breath until the very last out, but the Florida Gators held on Friday night against the No. 3 Tennessee Volunteers, 4-3, and forced a rubber match on Saturday.
Liam Peterson delivered his best start in weeks, hurling four scoreless innings while allowing just one hit (a triple) and two walks. He struck out seven of his 12 outs came via the strikeout and also hit two batters.
There are still some command issues to worry about with Peterson. Four free bases aren’t ideal, but the rest of Peterson’s night made up for those small blemishes. If the Gators can get this version of him every time out, they’ll make a much deeper run in the postseason than people expect.
Fisher Jameson took over in the fifth and almost immediately gave up the shutout, but he regrouped to strike out six of the next seven batters he faced. A home run in the eighth makes his line a bit uglier on paper than it was in real life.
Luke McNeillie came in for the save with the tying man at the plate and the heart of Tennessee’s lineup coming up. A pair of walks and a fielder’s choice made it a one-run game and put the winning run on first base, but Billy Amick fouled out to Luke Heyman at first to close out the game.
Most of Florida’s runs came early. Brody Donay and Colby Shelton homered in the third to give the Gators a three-run lead. Cade Kurland came through with two outs and a full count in the eighth, driving in what ended up being the deciding run.
The series will be decided Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Condron Family Ballpark.
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