It was a successful end to the opening weekend for the #5 Florida Gators (3-0). They took an early lead and never looked back as they won the rubber match against the University of Rhode Island (0-3). It has been four years since the Gators last swept their opening series, but they dominantly out played their opponent to stay undefeated.

Freshman Dalton Guthrie led the Gators, going 4-5 with an RBI and three runs scored. Junior Harrison Bader picked up two hits and two RBI to give him seven hits and 11 RBI total in the series. Junior Richie Martin had a solo home run in the third inning, his first of the season.

Giving up one run on six hits, sophomore A.J. Puk (1-0) picked up his first win of the season. He threw 4.2 innings recording four strikeouts. Aaron Rhodes, Bobby Poyner, and Taylor Lewis closed out the final 4.1 innings from the bullpen to hold URI scoreless the rest of the game.

Rhode Island starter Blaise Whitman (0-1) took the loss as he allowed three runs on five hits in 2.0 innings. He threw 56 pitches to just 12 Florida hitters.

Tim Caputo was 3-4 for Rhode Island, and Nick DeRegis had a solo home run in the fifth inning.

The Gators continued to show their youth by starting five freshmen. Guthrie, C/DH Mike Rivera, and C/DH JJ Schwarz each played in all three games. Guthrie is hitting .462, and Rivera is batting .375. Schwarz sits at .200 but tallied his first home run on Saturday.

Florida will take on the Florida A&M Rattlers on Tuesday night at 7 PM. FAMU (1-2) won their home opener against Marshall but lost the next two games of the series by a combined score of 34-11. The Gators lost their only game against FAMU last season 4-3.