Lexington, (Ky.) ? Florida?s Matt LaPorta launched a three-run home run as part of a four-run seventh inning to lead the Gators to an 8-4 win over Kentucky on Friday night at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The game was the first of a three-game Southeastern Conference series between the two schools. The Wildcats were unable to figure out Florida starting pitcher Justin Hoyman, who limited UK to four runs, two earned, on six hits over 8 2/3 innings.
After Jeff Corsaletti opened the scoring for Florida (22-5, 3-1 SEC) with a solo home run in the top of the first, the Wildcats loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning, but were unable to scratch out a run. Kentucky (14-8, 2-2 SEC) did get on the board in the bottom of the second, however, when Michael Bertram walked and later scored on a Casey Gilvin sacrifice fly to make it a 2-1 game.
?We?re trying to teach this team to compete every minute of every game and that can be a hard thing to learn,? UK head coach John Cohen said after the game. ?We are going to come back on Saturday and go right back to work. We will continue to push this group along, and we will get to where we want to go. We?re progressing slowly and this is not something that happens overnight, but we?re headed in the right direction.?
After the Gators had blown the game open with the big seventh inning, Kentucky narrowed the margin to 8-4 with a two-run home run from Casey Gilvin in the bottom of the ninth, his sixth homer of the season. Kentucky?s Caleb Stewart singled in the bottom of the first inning, extending his hitting streak to a career-best 20 games. Joe Naill finished the contest 2-for-4 with a run scored. UK starter Kalen Gibson (2-1) was saddled with his first loss of the season, giving up four earned runs in 4 2/3 innings of work.
The two teams will continue the series on Saturday with a 2 p.m. (ET) start from Cliff Hagan Stadium. UK will send senior right-hander Seth Stanley (5-0) to the hill, where he will be opposed by Bryan Ball (5-0). The game can be heard live on 96.1 FM in Lexington. Drew Deener calls the play-by-play. Live stats and live audio are both available at www.ukathletics.com.
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