GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 13 Florida dropped game two to No. 4 Georgia by a score of 17-2 at Condron Family Ballpark on Saturday.
 
The Bulldogs (23-2, 4-1 SEC) busted out to an early, 2-0 lead against the Gators (18-7, 0-5 SEC) in game two. After a leadoff double by Henry Hunter to right-center, Robbie Burnett connected for a two-run homer to right field. Georgia made it 4-0 in the top of the second on a second two-run blast, this time from Brennan Hudson down the right-field line.
 
Georgia increased its advantage to 5-0 in the third. With two outs and a runner on first, Christian Adams produced an RBI double into the right-center field gap. Following a leadoff homer by Kolby Branch in the fourth, the Gators turned to southpaw McCall Biemiller on the hill. The true freshman retired three-straight Bulldogs, sandwiching a lineout between a pair of swinging strikeouts.
 
In the top of the fifth, Georgia hit its fourth and fifth home runs of the contest to push the score to 9-0. Adams swatted a two-run shot to right-center while Devin Obee smacked a solo homer to left.
 
Florida broke up the shutout in the sixth. Brendan Lawson singled to right field to plate Bobby Boser, who reached via a leadoff single to right of his own.
 
Georgia got the run back and then some in the seventh, using a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and walk to move the score to 11-1.
 
The Gators did not go quietly, fighting in the home half to keep the game going. Hayden Yost worked a 10-pitch at bat, then drilled his first-career home run with a drive over the right-field berm.
 
With the score at 11-2, Florida and Georgia exchanged zeros in the eighth inning before the Bulldogs returned to the scoring column in the ninth. Ryland Zaborowski and Tre Phelps both hit two-run doubles to plate four Bulldog runs. Obee then uncorked a two-run home run to center field to cap off the day’s scoring, giving Georgia an eventual 17-2 victory.
 
UF starter Billy Barlow dropped to 1-2, allowing six earned runs across three-plus innings. He finished with seven hits allowed, two walks and five strikeouts.
 
Georgia starting pitcher Brian Curley (2-0) earned the victory behind five shutout innings. The junior right-hander gave up two hits and two walks while striking out five.
 
NOTABLES

• Florida dropped to 15-3 at home this season.
• Barlow made his first weekend start as a Gator.
• Biemiller logged the longest outing of his young career, throwing two innings of relief with a career-high four strikeouts.
• Carson Montsdeoca made his collegiate pitching debut in the sixth inning.
• Felix Ong made his collegiate pitching debut in the seventh inning.
• Lawson drove in Florida’s first run to take the team lead over Boser with 27 RBI.
• Yost launched his first-career home run in the bottom of the seventh.
• Shelton has reached base safely in all 25 games this season.
• Florida is now 195-118-2 all-time against Georgia, including 102-47-1 at home.

  • The Gators are 32-20 overall and 18-8 at home in the series under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan.

• Saturday’s official attendance was 8,160.

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the outcome of the game…
“We talked about it, got to get deeper in the game with our starters. I know we got a couple starters out, but that’s no excuse. We just didn’t have anything on the ball. They attacked us from the very first pitch of the ballgame and before you can blink, we were down two. Nobody we brought in after that was able to slow them down. Obviously, Curley controlled the tempo of the game. We didn’t have any answers for him. Disappointing, you know – really disappointing.”
 
On the message to the team for game three…
“There’s no message. I think if they don’t know what’s at stake and they don’t know the importance of tomorrow’s game… They’re all important, and obviously we’ve got a lot of things to straighten out.”

UP NEXT

The Gators and Bulldogs meet in the series finale on Sunday, scheduled for 1 p.m. on SEC Network+.