KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 7 Florida fell in its SEC Opener against No. 2 Tennessee by a final score of 5-3 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday night.
 
The Gators (16-3) and Volunteers (18-0) traded zeros in the first inning, with starting pitchers Liam Peterson and Liam Doyle going head-to-head in a highly-anticipated pitching matchup. Tennessee struck for the game’s first run in the second, as Manny Marin hit a one-out double and scored on a two-out, RBI single to center from Jay Abernathy.
 
In the top half of the third, Florida broke into the hits column thanks to a base knock to center from Luke Heyman. Justin Nadeau worked a two-out walk to give the Gators multiple baserunners, but Doyle utilized a strikeout to leave both men stranded.
 
After fanning his fourth batter to limit the damage the previous inning, Peterson rebounded for a clean frame in the third while registering his fifth and sixth strikeouts. Florida took advantage of the quick inning, resetting the score in the top of the fourth at 1-1. With one out, Blake Cyr smashed a 1-0 offering over the bleachers in left field to tie the contest.
 
Peterson chucked a second-straight zero in the fourth, navigating around a one-out walk and notching his eighth strikeout for the frame’s last out.
 
Already at 83 pitches entering the fifth, Doyle was lifted at 105 pitches after issuing a two-out walk to Nadeau. Peterson’s night ended shortly thereafter, as he was replaced by righty Luke McNeillie after giving up a go-ahead, two-run double to Hunter Ensley in the home half of the fifth. McNeillie recorded back-to-back strikeouts, but a two-out wild pitch allowed Gavin Kilen to cross home for a 4-1 Tennessee lead.
 
Florida responded quickly to Tennessee’s outburst, receiving three-straight singles to lead off the top of the sixth from Colby Shelton, Cyr and Brendan Lawson. With the bases loaded and no outs, Brody Donay delivered a two-run single up the middle to bring the Gators within one run.
 
Tennessee had other plans, extending its lead to 5-3 in the bottom half of the sixth. Dean Curley tripled to right field and scored on a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of Kilen.
 
McNeillie fired a scoreless inning in the seventh, then worked around a one-out walk in in the eighth to produce another zero. The Gators brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth after Nadeau reached on an infield single, but Vols reliever Nate Snead fanned Bobby Boser to record his second save of the year.
 
Franklin (1-0) was awarded the victory despite throwing just one-third of an inning. He gave up two earned runs on four hits.
 
Peterson (4-1) suffered his first loss of the campaign. He surrendered four earned runs in four-plus frames on six hits, three walks and eight strikeouts.
 
Tennessee starter Liam Doyle did not qualify for the decision, pitching 4 2/3 innings with one run allowed on three hits and two walks. He fanned six.
 
Shelton (2-for-4), Cyr (2-for-4) and Donay (2-for-4) finished with multiple hits in the effort.

NOTABLES

• Cyr swatted his third homer of the season to tie the game in the fourth.
• Peterson now has a 42-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio through five starts.
• Donay drove in two runs to increase his total to 18 RBI, which ranks second on the Gators behind Boser (25).
• McNeillie pitched four innings of one-run relief for the Gators.
• Cyr and Shelton have reached base safely in all 19 games this season.
• Florida pitchers have produced a 224-to-55 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 19 games.
• Florida is now 157-98 all-time vs. Tennessee, including 69-50 in Knoxville.

  • The Gators are 27-24 overall and 14-11 on the road in the series under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan.

• Friday night’s official attendance was 6,298.

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On his thoughts on the game…
“I thought we played really well. We did exactly what we asked them to do. We tried to get Doyle’s pitch count up through five and we got him to 105, I believe, through 4 2/3. They had to go to Franklin and Snead, had to use Snead for 3 2/3. So, certainly that helps us moving forward for the next couple games. I thought our at bats were outstanding tonight and really battled. And I thought Liam was really good, until the top of the fifth, he walked the nine-hole on four straight and kind of opened up the doors. Couple mistakes there. Thought Luke McNeillie came in and did a heck of a job with second and third, nobody out, and got two strikeouts. Unfortunately, we didn’t keep the ball in front of us. And then, obviously, the slide at second cost us two runs, and that was the difference in the ballgame.”

On being able to battle back and fight through the middle innings…

“Like I said, we had some really, really good at bats. The energy was really good. Offensively, like I said, they did exactly what we asked them to do when we had our meeting with the hitters today. And I thought they did really good, and they had to use their main guys out of the pen, Franklin and Snead. So, now we’re going to have to hopefully get a good start from Aidan [King] tomorrow, but that certainly bodes well for us that they had to go to Snead there in the sixth or so.”

UP NEXT

Florida and Tennessee meet again in game two on Saturday, which has been moved up to a 3:30 p.m. start on SEC Network+. The game will pick up on SEC Network at approximately 4 p.m.