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Final: Gators 9, Kentucky 2

Hunter Barco hurled a gem and the offense broke out as Florida claimed the series in Lexington to improve to 33-14 overall and 15-9 in SEC play.

How It Happened:

The Gators got on the board first as Jud Fabian recorded a sacrifice fly to score Nathan Hickey, who tripled in the previous at-bat.

Florida added to the lead in the second with a Jacob Young RBI single that plated Kendrick Calilao to make it a 2-0 lead.

Calilao made it a 3-0 game with an RBI single up the middle that scored Kris Armstrong in the top of the third.

A Young sacrifice fly in the fifth made it a 4-0 game as Calilao once again crossed home plate.

Barco, however, was in cruise control on the mound. The lefty went 6.2 innings in collecting his eighth win of the season. His ten strikeouts tied a career high.

Florida sees to their lead in the eighth as Armstrong sacrificed to score Young and make it a 5-0 ballgame.

Kentucky began to chip away with Christian Scott on the mound for Florida. Back to back homers by C_ Kessler and O_ Anu brought the Wildcats within three. Jack Leftwich came on and got the final out of the inning.

Florida responded with four runs in the ninth to put the game out of reach. Young and Hickey each recorded two-run base hits to complete the scoring.

Leftwich gave up a single in the ninth, but didn’t allow Kentucky to add to the line score.

Pitching Decision

• W: Hunter Barco (8-2)
• L: Zack Lee (4-5)
• S: Jack Leftwich (4)

Individual Stats:

• Young: 4-5, 2B, 4 RBI, 2 R
• Hickey: 2-6, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, R
• Calilao: 2-4, RBI, R, BB
• Rivera: 2-4, R, BB
• Barco: 6.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 10 K, BB

On Deck:

The Gators will take on Stetson in midweek action for the second straight week. This time they will travel to DeLand for a sold out road matchup.

This will be the fourth matchup between the two teams this season. Florida has won each contest. The Hatters are 23-20 on the season and have lost five straight entering Sunday’s game against UNF.