GAINESVILLE, Fla. ? Seventh-ranked Florida broke open a close game with 11 runs in the fifth inning en route to a 20-11 victory over Kentucky on Saturday afternoon at McKethan Stadium.
The loss dropped Kentucky to 14-11 on the year and 0-7 in the Southeastern Conference. Meanwhile, the Gators improved to 22-7 overall and 5-3 in the league. The final game of the three-game set is slated for Sunday at Noon and can be heard in the Lexington area on WLXO 96.1-FM. Kentucky will send junior Kalen Gibson (4-1, 3.10) to the mound to square off with junior Alan Horne (1-2, 5.67) of Florida.
The Wildcats got on the board first as Antone DeJesus continued his hot streak with a leadoff double for his third extra-base hit of the weekend. He later scored on John Shelby?s sacrifice fly.
Florida answered in the bottom half of the inning on Matt LaPorta?s two run homer to left off starter Andrew Albers. It was LaPorta?s second home run of the day and he added a triple to finish with two hits and three RBI.
The shot was the beginning of a short outing for Albers, who made through just three innings. The Gators tagged him for a four-run second and got a seventh run in the third on Jared Kubin?s solo shot. The ball was a high fly to left, but the gusting winds got a hold of it and pushed it over the wall in left.
Despite trailing 7-1, Kentucky would not go away and mounted a one-out rally in the fourth. Shaun Lehmann got it started with a double before J.P. Lowen drew a walk. Justin Scutchfield then emptied the bases by launching his second home run of the year.
After allowing a run in the bottom of the fourth, the Wildcats rallied for two more in the fifth to cut the lead to 8-6. J.B. Schmidt and Michael Bertram singled to lead off and Lowen belted a two-out, two-run double to plate them.
It was one of two doubles for Lowen, who finished with a career high four RBI. His other double came in the seventh, and also plated two.
With its lead cut to two, Florida registered the biggest inning against Kentucky this year by sending 15 batters to the plate and scoring 11 times. The big blows in the inning were a grand slam by Adam Davis and a three-run double by Jeff Corsaletti that capped the scoring and made it 19-6.
Kentucky scored two in the seventh and three in the ninth while the Gators added a run in the seventh for the final margin.
Mike Pete earned the win to improve to 3-1, after coming on in relief for starter Tommy Boss, who the Wildcats chased with six runs in four innings. Albers took the loss, his second straight after starting the season 3-0.
