GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 5 Florida used a complete-game, one-hit shutout from starter Brandon Sproat to win its SEC opener against No. 24 Alabama by a score of 3-0 at Condron Family Ballpark on Thursday night.
Throwing his first-career complete game, Sproat allowed a lone single to Ed Johnson in the second inning. The right-hander gave up just two walks and struck out a career-high 11 batters.
The Gators (17-3, 1-0 SEC) and Crimson Tide (16-3, 0-1 SEC) exchanged zeros throughout the early going. Sproat allowed just one hit and one walk in his first turn through the order, striking out three in the process.
The pitchers’ duel continued into the middle-third of the matchup, with Sproat firing three more scoreless frames to take a shutout into the seventh. Alabama starter Hagan Banks ceded duties to Hunter Furtado in the fourth, with the latter holding the score until the bottom of the sixth inning.
At that point, Michael Robertson gave UF life with two outs by working a walk. One batter later, freshman Cade Kurland broke the game open with a go-ahead, two-run homer to left field.
With a 2-0 lead in hand, Sproat went back to work in the seventh, churning out a clean frame while tying his career high with nine strikeouts. That allowed the Gators to extend their advantage to 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI groundout by Ty…
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