Offense lifts Florida to another SEC weekend sweep
The Florida offense continued to roll on Sunday with a 10-5 win over Alabama to finish off a third straight weekend sweep in Southeastern Conference play.
Florida (38-14, 19-8 SEC) fell behind 1-0 in the first inning in Tuscaloosa, Ala., b u t s c o r e d s e v e n u n a n - swered runs to over t ake Alabama (19-31, 5-21).
The Gators have won nine league games in a row and 13 of the last 15 in conference play.
Florida returns home to finish out the regular season with a huge three-game series against No. 8 Kentucky at McKethan Stadium. The Gators hold a one-game lead over the Wildcats in the SEC East standings.
With 12 hits Sunday, Florida has had 10-plus hits in five of the past seven games with a .320 average over that span.
Vi r g i n i a 7, Mi a mi 4 : Miami fought back to tie the game in the eighth inning, but fell to No. 10 Virginia in the series rubber match in Charlottesville, Va.
Trailing 3-2 in the eighth, Miami (25-26, 13-13 ACC) tied i t on a g round bal l f ro m senior Joe Gomez that was mishandled by third baseman Nate Eikhoff, allowing junior Hunter Tackett to score from third.
But the Cavaliers (38-12, 16-11) struck for four in the home half of the inning on an RBI single from Andy Weber, a two-run error on a fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly to capture the win.
Miami got a run back in the ninth on an RBI double from junior Michael Burns, but reliever Tommy Doyle (2-1) pitched the final t wo innings to seal the win.
Wake Forest 10, Flori d a S t a t e 9 : S e mi n o l e s senior Quincy Nieporte had a career-high five hits, but the Demon Deacons (35-16, 17-10 ACC) walked away with the win and a series victory over the Seminoles (33-20, 12-14) in Tallahassee.
Florida State scored three runs in the second, fourth, and seventh innings, but FSU never led after the third.
Nieporte’s five hits were all singles, and he is the first Seminole since Josh Delph went 5-for-7 at Miami in 2015 (in 17 innings) to have five hits. Nieporte’s previous high this season was t wo hits, done 13 times, while he had four hits in a game in 2015 and 2016.
Western Kentucky 7, Florida Atlantic 6: The Owls dropped the final game of the three-game series despite loading the bases in each of the first four innings in Bowling Green, Ky.
FAU (30-18-1, 16-11 C-USA) had 15 hits but stranded 17 runners against the Hilltoppers (16-36, 6-21). After the Owls tied the score in the top of the eighth, reliever Drew Peden (4-1) gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the inning to take the loss.