Carter Young swung through a 95 MPH fastball and Jack Leftwich let out a primal roar in celebration as the Florida Gators finished off a 5-3 victory and a series win over No. 2 Vanderbilt.
Leftwich has had a rocky season, from losing his starting role, and several shaky relief innings, the draft-eligible fourth-year junior was called on in a huge spot Sunday. Leftwich entered a 5-3 game with one out, runners on second a third, and Vandy three-hole hitter Dominic Keegan in the box.
"It doesn't get much more difficult than the one he came into today," Kevin O'Sullivan said.
Leftwich navigated that storm getting Keegan to pop out to second and fielded a harmless grounder to finish the frame. Leftwich would throw 2.2 scoreless innings to earn his second save of the year.
Sunday's in Gainesville mean Hunter Barco on the bump and the second-yeat freshman rose to the occasion, tossing the best game of his young career. The Gators' offense was quick to give him run support, scoring two in the bottom of the first. Jacob Young led the game off with an infield single but Chris McElvain got Nathan Hickey and Jud Fabian out. Kris Armstrong, who had already belted two home runs on the weekend, doubled home Young and scored on Kirby McMullen's single.
Barco allowed a solo home run which halved the lead in the top of the second but he wouldn't allow much more the rest of the day on the way to his seventh win of the year.
The Gators scratched out two more runs in the fifth inning thanks to a trio of walks and Sterlin Thompson's two-RBI single up the middle. Florida added its final run in the fourth on a walk, double, and fielder's choice.
"I think we've all been kind of waiting for this team to have a weekend like this," O'Sullivan said. "Now hopefully they know what it feels like and what it's supposed to look like when you're playing these types of teams. It was just a really good weekend.
The win moves the Gators to 30-13 on the season and their 13-8 league record put them just a game behind SEC East-leading Vanderbilt. Florida will host Stetson on Tuesday night at Florida Ballpark before a three-game set in Lexington against Kentucky this weekend.
