Florida (3-0) baseball brought out its brooms on Sunday, sweeping Marshall 15-8 on Sunday.
The Gators were led by their veteran hitters but the mound provided some scary moments.
Sophomore Nick Pogue struggled in his start allowing the Thundering Herd to put up two runs in the first. Florida did answer quickly, however, when Jud Fabian singled to third base for the first hit of the game for the home side. Fabian would run to second on a wild pitch before Austin Langworthy launched a ball over right field for a two-run home run to tie the game at two.
But Pogue continued to struggle in the second and with two men on base, Marshall's Geordon Blanton hit his own home run putting the visitors up by three, 5-2. Unlike in the first tinning, Florida only managed one run in the bottom of the inning and entered the third inning trailing by two.
Kevin O'Sullivan made a pitching change prior to the start of the third inning. The Florida skipper deciding to bring on sophomore Christian Scott in place for the struggling Pogue, who finished the afternoon: 2.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 K, 0 BB. Scott would give up two singles in the inning, however, Florida would come out of the half inning unscathed.
Florida would tie things up in third when Kirby McMullen doubled to left field, sending Langworthy home, while Jacob Young earned a sacrifice fly to center, scoring McMullen.
After a quick 1-2-3 on the mound by Scott, the Gators would take advantage. Brady Smith would start the bottom of the inning with his first home run of the season. The Gators would add three more runs after the Smith homer in the inning by a walk and wild pitch. Florida would take a 9-5 lead into the fifth.
In the top of the fifth, Scott was replaced by sophomore David Luethje on the mound to keep Marshall scoreless in the inning, allowing the Gators to grow their lead in the bottom of the inning. Langworthy started the scoring with a single to left, sending Fabian home, while McMullen's single to left would send home Langworthy home. The Gatos now had a 11-5 advantage heading into the sixth inning.
The Thundering Herd's bats came alive, however, bringing the game within three. This inning also saw the introduction of Jordan Butler to the mound after Luethje started the inning with a walk, two outs, and a single. Butler, however, gave up a single that loaded the bases, which ultimately led to two runners to score. Junior Justin Alintoff was sent in to close the inning by O'Sullivan.
The momentum was short lived for the visitors though, as the Gators quickly added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth - capped by a Smith home run.
Florida would add one more run before the afternoon was done, finishing with 15 hits, which included four doubles and four home runs. The pitchers struck out just five times and walked seven times on Sunday.
The Gators will now turn their attention Jacksonville University on Tuesday at 6 pm.
