Locke goes distance as UF baseball evens series

Special to The Sun

Published: Saturday, May 10, 2008 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 12:02 a.m.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Junior Stephen Locke threw his second career complete game to help No. 22 Florida defeat Alabama, 6-2, on Saturday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The left-hander scattered seven hits and gave up one earned run as the Gators evened the weekend series. He surrendered six singles and one double and went the distance on 96 pitches.

Jason Harless/The Tuscaloosa News

Florida's Jon Townsend slides in safely on a stolen base attempt as the throw get past Alabama second baseman Ross Wilson in the ninth inning in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday.

The victory moved Florida into fourth in the race for the SEC Tournament, just ahead of the Crimson Tide (29-23, 13-13 SEC), Kentucky, Ole Miss and South Carolina, who are all 13-13. Senior Brandon McArthur and sophomore Matt den Dekker were each 3-for-5 as head coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s club exceeded its win total from last season.

The Gators (30-19 ,14-12 SEC) jumped on junior Austin Hyatt for two runs and four hits in the opening frame. McArthur ripped his ninth double and freshman Josh Adams poked a two-out single to open the scoring.

Helped by a defensive lapse, the Tide cut the deficit in half during the third. Junior Alex Kubal had his team’s first hit of the afternoon off Locke and was caught off base with two down in the inning. However, Townsend dropped the relay throw to keep the inning alive. Freshman Ross Wilson singled through the right side and advanced to second on the relay, giving UA two runners in scoring position. Locke uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Kubal to score but had sophomore Brandon May ground out to keep UF ahead.

Junior Teddy Foster cranked his second homer of the season with one down in the fourth for a 3-1 lead.

A couple of errors on the same play with two down in the eighth allowed Florida to take a 5-2 lead. With Barnes at third and McArthur on first, Figueroa hit a ground ball to first that senior Matt Bentley misplayed, enabling Barnes to score. Wilson also had a throwing miscue on the play that kept the inning alive. Rutledge later established an Alabama freshman record with a two-out single in the home part of the frame that raised his hitting streak to 28 games.

Cooper ended the scoring with a two-out RBI single in the ninth that plated Townsend. Florida held a 12-7 edge in hits, as eight of its nine starters had at least one. Junior RHP Patrick Keating will start tomorrow’s finale against Alabama right-hander Robert Phares.