Florida baseball: Gators jump to No. 2 in national rankings
It was a good opening weekend for the Florida baseball team. So good, in fact, the Gators moved up in the national rankings.
Yes, there is a lot of baseball left to play, but the Florida baseball team has started the season off on the right foot.
The Gators jumped all over Marshall at McKethan Stadium over the weekend and pollsters rewarded Florida baseball in kind.
Florida jumped two spots to No. 2 in the D1 Baseball Top 25 rankings after their demolition of the Thundering Herd.
Cross-state rival Miami moved into the top spot after a weekend sweep of Rutgers while former No. 1 Louisville suffered a series loss to No. 25 Ole Miss.
Former No. 2 Vanderbilt dropped two of three to Cal-Poly while Georgia moved up to complete the top five.
Texas Tech, Arkansas, Auburn, Michigan and Mississippi State rounded out the top 10.
Florida baseball outscored Marshall 34-10 in the three-game sweep — including a 10-0 route in the second game of the series Saturday.
Jack Leftwich, Christian Scott and Tommy Mace each picked up wins for the Gators in the series.
Mace pitched six strong innings in the first game, giving up just two earned runs while striking out six. In the second game, Leftwich gave up just three hits in six innings of work, striking out eight of the 22 batters he faced.
In the third game, Scott came in the third inning and threw 2 2/3 innings, striking out three batters while giving up just two hits.
Scott was helped with home runs from Austin Langworthy, Cory Acton and Brady Smith. It was the second home run of the season for Smith — who dinged his first during Friday’s 9-2 win.
Jud Fabian notched a home run in the second game — a three-run shot in the seventh as part of a five-run inning for Florida baseball.
In the first game, Kris Armstrong smacked a three-run home run to right field in the seventh. Josh Rivera had a homer to left in the sixth.
Next. Gators to win the SEC East, columnist says. dark
Florida baseball will have a home-and-home with Jacksonville Tuesday and Wednesday before traveling to Miami to take on the No. 1 Hurricanes in Coral Gables this weekend.