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College  | Story  | 4/3/2016

Gators rally big, late to sweep

Andrew Krause     
Photo: Tim Casey




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No. 1 Florida 10, No. 2 Texas A&M 7

In the first two games of the series between the two top-rated Division I teams in the country, it was the Texas A&M starting pitchers that failed to get out of the first inning. However, on Sunday afternoon, that distinction fell to the Florida Gators, as junior lefty A.J. Puk lasted just 10 pitches.

However, Puk was not removed for a lack of effectiveness—the 6-foot-7, 230 pound southpaw was actually throwing the ball as well as he had all year, working his fastball in the 95-97 mph range and flashing a sharp 85-86 mph slider. Instead, one of the top prospects in the 2016 draft appeared to tweak a muscle in his back or oblique area, and he was lifted as a precaution.
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The Gators, who had jumped out to an early 2-0 lead by scoring a pair in the bottom half of the first, would be given their toughest test of the weekend as the Aggie bats came alive and pounced on the talented freshmen duo of Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar.

However, Florida displayed why they are the top team in the country, twice rallying from behind to secure a series sweep and move to 27-3 overall and 7-2 within conference play.




Jace Vines toed the rubber for Texas A&M on Sunday. He missed his usual Friday start due to an illness, and there was some thought that he wouldn’t even pitch this weekend, but the 6-foot-3, 215 pound draft eligible sophomore did indeed throw. Vines entered Sunday’s game with a perfect 4-0 record, a 3.38 ERA and 33 strikeouts in his 32 innings pitched, and he has been a key part of the Aggie rotation since arriving this year after a season at Tyler Junior College.

Vines has strength throughout his large frame and the build to withstand a heavy workload, but as they did throughout the series, the Gator offense was able to get to the opposing starting pitcher and make him pay for his mistakes. Vines has some deception in his mechanics, as he lands slightly closed and there is some funk on the backside of the arm swing, but he has solid body control and he was able to repeat relatively well considering some of the moving parts. Armed with an 89-92 mph fastball on Sunday, Vines had to be precise with fastball command in order to get outs. The heater had decent life and sink, but flattened considerably when up in the zone, and the Gators were able to jump on the board early with a series of hits from Buddy Reed, JJ Schwarz, Peter Alonso, and Mike Rivera resulting in a pair of runs.


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