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Winning SEC baseball games is hard, so starting the conference schedule with a three-game sweep is something Florida will be proud of.

The Gators beat Texas A&M 8-4 on Saturday to cap off a 3-0 weekend.

"It feels really good. I'm really proud of the way the guys battled today and the way they bounced back from Tuesday night, that was obviously a really frustrating game all around but it's amazing when you're coaching young people how quickly the script can get flipped. Last Tuesday feels like three weeks ago."

After two impressive starts from Tommy Mace and Jack Leftwich, it was Hunter Barco's turn to take the mound. The second-year freshman did his best job to follow up and was sharp early on, striking out three with a hit batter in the first inning.

Florida's offense, which leads the SEC with 227 hits, added a run in the bottom of the first and then three more in the third when Kirby McMullen launched a three-run home run (his fifth of the season) over the wall in left field.

Barco continued cruising, retiring nine of the first 11 batters he faced, and had a shutout through five innings pitched. The Gators added to their lead in the home half of that inning. Jud Fabian singled and moved to third on Nathan Hickey's single to right field. Fabian scored when Jordan Butler hustled to beat out what would have been an inning-ending double play.

Barco gave up one in the sixth but Florida answered with a run of its own. In fact, every time the Aggies scored on Saturday the Gators rebounded with a run of their own.

Barco ran out of gas in the seventh inning but it provided an opportunity for Franco Alemán. The junior college transfer got off to a rough start this season but Kevin O'Sullivan has stuck by him. Alemán entered the seventh with a bases loaded, no out jam. Alemán struck out all three batter he's faced, only allowing a run (credited to Barco) on a passed ball. He closed out the game, throwing three innings, allowing one run on two hits and struck out five.

"I think we all, including myself, have gotten a glimpse of what this team is certainly capable of," O'Sullivan said. "I think we've been kind of fairly inconsistent up to this point but I think you could certainly see the intensity and the focus was just different this weekend."

Florida reliever Ben Specht hasn't pitched since February 23. Specht had an MRI done last week (March 11th) that revealed bo structural damage in his right throwing arm. Kevin O'Sullivan is hoping Specht will be available to throw out of the bullpen this weekend when the Gators travel to South Carolina.