TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Gators beat Miami in regionals

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: May 30, 2009

GAINESVILLE - Stephen Locke pitched 7 1-3 stellar innings, Jonathan Pigott drove in two runs and Florida beat Miami 8-2 in NCAA regional play Saturday night.

The Gators (41-20) defeated the Hurricanes (37-21) for just the fourth time in 16 postseason meetings, and this one might have been the biggest of all. After all, Florida is 0 for 10 when grouped in the same region as the four-time national champions.

Now, Miami will play Jacksonville in an elimination game Sunday, with the winner needing to beat the No. 8 national seed Gators twice to advance to the super regional.

Locke (5-2) deserved most of the credit. The senior left-hander scattered six hits and didn't allow an earned run. He struck out three and walked one, leading Florida to its first postseason win against the Hurricanes since 2003.

Nick Maronde and closer Billy Bullock did the rest. Maronde struck out two with runners on first and second to end the eighth, and Bullock pitched a perfect ninth.

But the night belonged to Locke.

Although Locke had just one win in his last four starts coming into the game, the Gators felt good about him taking the mound at home. He improved to 8-0 in 12 starts at home the last two years. His latest outing was what the Gators expected — but didn't get — all season.

He injured his right knee following fall practice and wasn't ready when the season began. Things got worse when he was charged with driving under the influence in January and immediately kicked off the team. He was reinstated two months later, but only because prosecutors dropped the charges.

Still, he had fallen behind in his rehabilitation.

He got back on track with three straight wins in mid-April, and his return gives Florida an experienced starter in postseason play.

It helps when he gets the kind of run support he got against the Hurricanes.

Florida scored four runs in the third — with just one ball leaving the infield.

Teddy Foster and Mike Mooney drew consecutive walks to start the inning, then Avery Barnes loaded the bases with a sacrifice bunt. Left-hander Chris Hernandez field the ball and failed to get Foster at third.

Pigott followed with an infield single, and Preston Tucker added an RBI single to right. Miami minimized the damage with a run-scoring double play, but Matt den Dekker capped the inning with a bunt single that scored Pigott.

The Gators added two runs in the sixth and another in the seventh on Pigott's solo homer. Brandon McArthur had an RBI double in the sixth, and Teddy Foster — the hero of Friday night's come-from-behind victory against Bethune-Cookman — added an RBI single.

Barnes made it 8-2 with an RBI single in the eighth.

Miami's Chris Hernandez (7-5) allowed six runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Locke was much better.

Miami's lone runs were unearned, the result of a rare error by Tucker. He dropped a perfect throw to first on Nathan Melendres' sacrifice bunt. Both runners advanced on Scott Lawson's sacrifice, then Ted Blackman scored on a fly ball to center. Jason Hagerty followed with an infield single, scoring Melendres.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT