After Friday night’s convincing 11-5 win in Gainesville, the Tiger bats went quiet Saturday afternoon.
Edouard Julien opened the scoring with a three-run home run in the first inning, but the top-ranked Florida Gators scored 12 unanswered runs to defeat No. 19 Auburn 12-3 and take the series.
“Once we opened the door for them, they did not let go of us,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “We got off to a very good, quick start, but then our heads started getting separated from our barrels and then it turned into fly ball and routine. We just didn’t finish well.
Friday night was a step in the right direction, but Thompson acknowledged that his team still has a long way to go.
“As good as last night was, our team has to understand we still have a ton of work to do,” Thompson
Florida starting pitcher Jack Leftwich regained his composure after giving up the homerun to Julien in the first inning, retiring 19 of the final 22 batters he faced. The freshman allowed three runs on four hits in 6.2 innings to improve to 4-1 on the season.
Florida took control of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning as the Gators batted around to chase both Andrew Mitchell and Davis Daniel from the game. The Gators scored six runs on five hits before in the inning Auburn’s Calvin Coker came in to stop the bleeding.
Coker could not hold the Gator offense for long however. The senior reliever walked three and allowed five runs on three hits in 3.2 innings. Coker also walked three as Auburn pitchers combined to walk nine batters in all.
Auburn starting pitcher Andrew Mitchell allowed four runs on four hits and was pulled in the fourth inning after loading the bases. Daniel replaced Mitchell but could only retire one batter in the inning while giving up two runs on three hits.
Auburn falls to 31-14 overall and 10-11 in SEC play, while Florida improves to 36-10 overall and 16-5. The Tigers will take the week off before returning to action Friday night to begin a three-game series with Vanderbilt in Plainsman Park.
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