UF Baseball: #1 Florida Sweeps Harvard

The #1 Florida Gators (17-1) defeated the Harvard Crimson (2-5) in today's doubleheader by a score of 9-2 in Game 2 and a 3-1 in Game 3 to earn their third weekend sweep of the year.

Game 2

Searching for his first win of the year, A.J. Puk (0-1) started the day game of the doubleheader and turned in his best performance of the year as he threw 5.1 strong innings of one-hit baseball. He allowed just one run, walked four, and struck out three.

Puk did leave the game with a 2-1 lead and was in line to get the win with freshman Brady Singer coming on in relief. However, a questionable call at the plate allowed Harvard to tie the game and disqualified Puk from earning the win. It would be his second straight no-decision.

Singer instead would pick up his second victory of the year as Florida exploded for eight runs during his time on the bump. Singer kept Harvard at bay in his 2.2 innings of work as he gave up one run on four hits, walked two, and struck out four.

Coming in to seal the deal in his second collegiate appearance was freshman Michael Byrne. He worked a perfect ninth as he struck out two and secured the series win for the Gators.

The Gator offense was idle for the first five innings until putting up a four-spot in the sixth and a three-spot in the seventh. For the second consecutive game, eight of Florida's nine starters had at least one hit as the Gators banged out 13 hits on the day.

The middle of the lineup tore it up for Florida today. JJ Schwarz had a multi-hit game as he went 2-4 with a double and run scored. Cleanup man Peter Alonso led the way for all Gator hitters as he went 3-4 with a home run, three RBI's, and a run scored. Behind him, Jeremy Vasquez also had a multi-hit game as he went 2-3 with a double, one RBI, and one run scored.

At the bottom of the lineup, freshman Nelson Maldonado helped put a 2-1 game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth when he belted a three-run bomb over left field for his first collegiate home run. This would be Maldonado's only hit of the contest.

Final Takeaway:

Before getting into my recap of the series finale, here are my final tidbits for Game 2:

• Filling in for an injured Buddy Reed at center field, Nick Horvath provided a spark from the nine-hole as he went 2-3.
• Dalton Guthrie stole his fourth bag of the year in today's game.
• Peter Alonso's homer was his second of the year and accounted for all of his RBI's in the game. It was an absolute shot to left field that went completely out of McKethan Stadium.
• Deacon Liput was the only Gator starter not to record a hit in the game.
• The Gator pitching staff combined for nine Crimson strikeouts.
• Freshman Danny Reyes was the only pinch hitter to record a hit and score today.

Game 3

The nightcap saw a dramatic decrease in attendance, but that did not stop Alex Faedo (4-0) from coming out and throwing one of the best games I've seen all season. Faedo mowed down Harvard's lineup for 8.1 innings as he struck out a career-high 13 batters, allowed just two hits, and gave up one earned run in the ninth inning.

After Faedo yielded just the second hit of the game in the ninth inning, many Gator fans were disgruntled to see Coach Kevin O'Sullivan head out and pull him in favor of Kirby Snead with his starter just two outs away from the shutout. To a degree I was slightly upset, but Faedo had already thrown such an amazing game up to this point. All I could do was give him a standing ovation and just take in what I had witnessed.

Snead made it interesting as Harvard cut a 3-0 lead to 3-1 and got the tying run to the plate, but he was able to keep it together and close out the game for his first save of the season.

For six innings, Florida could not figure out Crimson starter Nick Gruener as he was matching Alex Faedo pitch for pitch. The breakthrough finally came through in the bottom of the seventh when Peter Alonso and Jeremy Vasquez both singled with no outs. After Mike Rivera moved them over with a well placed bunt, the stage was set for freshman Nelson Maldonado.

On a 1-1 count, Maldonado belted a double in the gap to give the Gators a 2-0 lead and would end up scoring on a beautiful safety squeeze from Nick Horvath. This would be all the run production the Gator pitching staff would need as Faedo nearly went the distance and Snead shut the door.

Final Takeaway:

The #1 Florida Gators are now on a 10-game winning streak heading into a highly touted home contest with the #15 Florida State Seminoles on Tuesday. Before previewing this game, here are my final tidbits for the series finale vs Harvard:

• Harvard did not get their first hit until there was one out in the top of the seventh inning.
• In the top of the seventh with Crimson runners on first and second, Nick Horvath made a spectacular diving catch in center field to save a run. Not only that, he got up and threw a strike to second base to double up Josh Ellis and get Florida out of the inning unscathed.
• Dalton Guthrie made a spectacular play in the top of the fourth inning as he dove to his left, spun around, and threw a bullet to first base for the out.
• Rounding out spectacular defensive plays, left fielder Nelson Maldonado showcased his speed and made a clutch running catch in the top of the ninth inning for the first out. At the time, this kept Faedo's shutout bid alive.
• Peter Alonso was the team's leading hitter in this game as well as he went 3-4 with a double and a run scored.
• Florida struck out nine times tonight in this game with JJ Schwarz drawing the only walk.
• Alex Faedo actually had one less day of rest since he start was pushed up from Sunday to Saturday, which makes his performance even that much greater.

Riding some serious momentum right now, #1 Florida (17-1) will prepare to do battle with in-state rival Florida State (12-3) in the first of three separate games this season. I anticipate that Dane Dunning will get the start on the mound and I don't have the faintest idea who Florida State will throw. 

It's gonna be packed, loud, and an electric atmosphere. No matter what sport, whenever Florida and Florida State hook up, school pride is always on the line. Game time is 7 p.m. on March 15th. The game can be seen on the SEC Network.

As for Harvard (2-5), they will head to Clearwater, Florida for two games against Massachusetts (0-4) and four games against Army (4-8). The first game against Massachusetts is on March 15th at 10 a.m.

*All stats accredited to FloridaGators.com