GAINESVILLE – Sophomore right-hander Kyle Sweat tossed eight shutout innings as UCF (18-19) upended Florida (20-16), 6-2, on Tuesday night at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville. Sweat (3-2) retired the final 10 Gators he faced and did not surrender a hit after the fourth inning in matching the longest outing of his career. His teammates backed him with a 14-hit offensive attack, led by junior Dwayne Bailey (3-for-4). UF plated two runs in the ninth and had the potential tying run at the plate to close the contest.
Tyson Auer’s two-run single in the third inning kept UCF’s longest hitting streak of the season alive. Auer pushed it to 12 games by going 2-for-5 and also swiped his team-best 17th base vs. the Gators.
The Gators return to SEC action on Friday night when they face No. 9 Arkansas (25-10) in the opener of a weekend series at 8:05 p.m. in Fayetteville. Each team has an 8-4 mark in league play, with Florida leading the East and the Hogs on top in West. To celebrate the upcoming bye weekend in Conference USA play, UCF will host its annual UCF Baseball Golf Classic Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Shingle Creek Golf Club.
