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GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Melvin Gray tied his career high with three hits and drove in three runs as Auburn baseball knocked off No. 6 Florida 4-1 on Thursday at McKethan Stadium.
"This keeps us in the hunt as far as I am concerned," Auburn head coach Sunny Golloway said. "We've got two games left in the regular season and we need to win one of them. It's a tall task. Florida is ranked No. 6 for a reason. But I'm proud of our guys and how they played tonight."
The victory improved Auburn to 34-20 on the season and 13-15 in SEC play.
Gray plated two runs in the sixth to give Auburn a 2-1 lead as Florida outfielders Ryan Larson and Buddy Reed collided and the ball fell to the ground. Two Tigers scored as Austin Murphy came in from third and Kyler Deese scored from second base.
Gray had his ninth multi-hit game of the season. Seven other Auburn hitters registered a hit.
Cole Lipscomb (7-2) got the victory as he pitched into the seventh inning and finished with one run allowed on six hits, three strikeouts and three walks. It was his seventh quality start in eight SEC starts.
Justin Camp entered with two on and one out in the seventh, but allowed a walk to load the bases. The third baseman Deese then came up with a huge defensive play as he snared a liner off the bat of Dalton Guthrie and dove to tag third base for the inning-ending double play.
Camp got the final eight outs for his eighth save of the season. He didn't allow a hit and struck out a pair.
Logan Shore (L, 6-6) pitched seven innings with two runs allowed on two hits. He struck out six and walked two.
The Tigers some insurance and a 4-1 lead in the eighth on RBI singles by pinch hitter Jordan Ebert and Gray. Ebert's knock brought in pinch runner JJ Shaffer, who replaced successful pinch hitter Alex Polston. Gray's hit scored defensive hero Deese.
Florida (38-15, 17-11) scored the first run of the contest in the fifth on a RBI single by Guthrie.
Mike Rivera had two hits for the Gators.
The series continues in Gainesville on Friday at 6 p.m. CT.