AUSTIN, Texas – Florida was unable to hold on to an early, two-run lead as No. 1 Texas claimed a 5-2 decision to even the series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Saturday afternoon.
 

Despite the loss, the Gators (34-18, 12-14 SEC) have an opportunity to claim their fifth-straight SEC series victory in the rubber match on Sunday afternoon. The Orange & Blue enters the finale as winners of 14 of its last 18 games including 11 of 14 in SEC play.
 
Florida starter Liam Peterson blanked the Longhorns (40-9, 20-6 SEC) by standing one in the first inning, opening the door for the Gators to begin the scoring in the second. Blake Cyr led off with a single up the middle and advanced to second as Brody Donay reached on a fielding error at second base. From there, Ashton Wilson singled home Cyr to put UF on the board and Landon Stripling delivered an RBI double down the left-field line to give Florida a 2-0 lead.
 
Peterson retired the side in order in the bottom of the second, then worked around a two-out walk in the third while fanning a pair to raise his strikeout total to three. The Gators ace allowed a lone single en route to a scoreless fourth inning.
 
Following a leadoff walk in the home half of the fifth, play was halted due to a nearby lightning strike. Action resumed after a delay of two hours and six minutes, with UF reliever Christian Rodriguez assuming pitching duties. Rodriguez recorded three-straight outs to strand the lone Texas baserunner, concluding the frame with back-to-back strikeouts.
 
In the home half of the sixth, the Texas offense broke through. Rylan Galvan and Jalin Flores popped back-to-back home runs to center and left-center field, respectively, to tie the game at two runs apiece. With two outs and the bases loaded, Jonah Williams cleared the bags with a three-run double to give the Longhorns their first lead of the series at 5-2 through six frames.
 
Florida rookie righty Blaine Rowland tossed a scoreless seventh inning to hold the three-run deficit. Rowland produced a second zero in the eighth, but it was not enough as the Gators went down in order in the ninth.
 
Longhorns reliever Thomas Burns (1-2) earned his first win of the year behind 1 2/3 scoreless frames. The right-hander did not allow a hit, walked one and fanned three batters.
 
Freshman left-hander Dylan Volantis logged his 12th save of the campaign for Texas.
 
Florida relief pitcher Matthew Jenkins (0-2) was handed the loss, as he was charged with two earned runs on one hit and one walk in one-third of an inning. He struck out one.
 
Peterson’s start was cut short for the second-straight week, as he threw four-plus shutout innings before lightning halted play. The Florida righty gave up two hits and two walks while striking out three.
 
Texas starting hurler Luke Harrison did not factor into the decision either, surrendering two runs (one earned) on five hits across five innings. The southpaw fanned eight and did not issue a free pass.

NOTABLES

• On Sunday, Florida will go for its first series victory against the nation’s No. 1-ranked team since sweeping No. 1 Texas A&M from April 1-3, 2016.

  • The last win of that series on April 3, 2016 also marked the Gators’ last victory over the No. 1 team in the country prior to Friday night’s win over No. 1 Texas.
  • Florida has taken down the nation’s No. 1 team nine times since 2012 alone.

• Of the 17 half-innings in game two, only two were scored in.
• The Gators have won 14 of their last 18 games including 11 of 14 in SEC play.
• Play was halted at 2:24 p.m. CT in the bottom of the fifth due to a nearby lightning strike and did not resume until 4:30 p.m., resulting in a delay of two hours and six minutes.
• Peterson fired four-plus shutout innings on two hits, two walks and three strikeouts before a lightning strike ended his outing in the fifth inning.

  • Saturday marks the second-straight start in which Peterson’s outing has concluded prematurely due to weather.

• Florida is now 3-3 all-time against Texas including 1-1 in Austin.

  • The Gators are 3-1 overall and 1-1 on the road in the series under O’Sullivan.

• Saturday’s official attendance was 7,073.

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On Peterson’s start getting cut short and the subsequent five-run sixth inning…
“Yeah, Liam gave us a really good start. Obviously, Christian came in and got us out of that one inning in the fifth. Unfortunately, the guys that followed behind him weren’t able to throw strikes. It seemed like every pitch we threw was either off the plate or was down the heart of the plate. We kept working from behind. We couldn’t throw our secondary pitches for strikes. And offensively, we struck out 16 times tonight and only had two walks. Obviously, you’ve got to give credit to their pitchers.”
 
On the two-out walk to the eight-hole that set up the three-run double…
“Those are two key moments in that inning. We walked Farmer, like you said, he’s hitting eighth, and then we’re trying to throw a fastball in, and we missed out over the plate. If you miss, if you’re trying to go in, you got to go inside with conviction and you’ve got to locate the ball on the inner half. You can’t leave it out over the plate. Obviously, we did and it cost us.”

UP NEXT

The Gators and Longhorns meet in the series finale on Sunday, scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.