FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Matt den Dekker (Courtesy of Florida Media Relations)
Junior Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) blasted a pair of home runs and sophomore Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) chipped in with four hits as the Gator baseball team completed its fall practice on Sunday afternoon with the finale of the Orange and Blue World Series at McKethan Stadium. Florida will begin its second campaign under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan against Louisville on Feb. 20, 2009.
Junior Hampton Tignor (Sarasota, Fla.) led off the game by being hit by a pitch from redshirt freshman right-hander Justin Poovey (Granite Falls, N.C.) and junior Buddy Munroe (Miami, Fla.) followed with a walk. Freshman Daniel Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) advanced his teammates into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt and Tignor came across on a wild pitch. Soon after, den Dekker cranked a two-run shot over the right-field fence above the Gator head.
Senior Stephen Locke (Tampa, Fla.) worked three scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk. Despite yielding back-to-back base-knocks to den Dekker and Adams in the fourth, the southpaw induced a flyout to center field by freshman Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) and a fielder’s choice by junior Clayton Pisani (Naples, Fla.) that left runners on the corners. With two down, Locke had junior Jandy Rosabal (Miami, Fla.) pop out to left to keep the clean slate.
Junior Jonathan Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) belted a solo homer into the bleachers overlooking left field off freshman Nick Maronde (Lexington, Ky.) (3.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 K) to begin the home part of the fifth and den Dekker launched another four-bagger with two down the following inning off the left-hander.
With freshman Will Jolin (Guilford, Conn.) on the hill in the eighth, Adams singled up the middle and stole second base with one down. Pisani later delivered a two-out double to bring across his teammate with the final run of the afternoon. Jolin faced a total of 16 batters and surrendered just a pair of hits.
Junior RHP Kyle Mullaney (Jacksonville, Fla.) notched four strikeouts in three innings, while freshman LHP Alex Panteliodis (Tampa, Fla.) yielded only one hit and tallied three K over three innings. Adams finished the day 4-for-7, den Dekker was 3-for-7 with three RBI and senior Avery Barnes (High Springs , Fla.) capped a solid weekend with a 2-for-4 outing. The All-SEC performer was 6-for-11 (.545) in the Orange and Blue World Series.
