Sophomore
Josh Tobias (Greensboro, N.C.) snapped a 3-3 tie with a sacrifice fly in
the ninth inning to drive in freshman Harrison Bader (Bronxville, N.Y.) with
the decisive run as Florida (16-18) edged No. 7 Florida State (27-6), 4-3, in
front of a crowd of 6,719 fans on Tuesday night at Dick Howser Stadium, the fifth-largest
crowd in school history. It marked the second year in a row that the Gators had
emerged victorious in Tallahassee.
Bader
(2-for-4, three runs) had reached on a leadoff throwing error by sophomore
third baseman Jose Brizuela, taken second on the play and gone to third on a
failed pickoff attempt by junior Robby Coles (2-1). Tobias’ second sac fly of
the year moved the Gators in front and junior Daniel Gibson (Lutz, Fla.)
(1-0) retired the Seminoles in order in the ninth to collect his first win of
the season and help UF take the finale of the teams’ regular-season meetings
after coming up short in the first two outings.
Florida
State had seized a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a two-out RBI double by
junior Marcus Davis. Making his first start since March 13, 2012, also against the
Seminoles, sophomore left-hander Bobby Poyner (Wellington, Fla.) started
the frame with a strikeout of redshirt junior Brett Knief for his first K of
the season. Freshman DJ Stewart (3-for-4, two runs) followed with a base-hit up
the middle and Poyner caught redshirt junior Stephen McGee looking on the
strikes for the second out. Davis roped his team-leading 13th double of the
campaign into right center field to open the scoring.
The
Gators knotted the score at 1-1 on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by freshman Richie
Martin (Brandon, Fla.) in the third inning. Seminoles junior righty Peter
Miller retired the first seven Gators of the contest before Bader and senior Cody
Dent (Boynton Beach, Fla.) had back-to-back singles with one down.
Sophomore Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) worked a walk on a full
count to load the bases and Martin’s first collegiate sac fly into right field
brought home Bader with the tying run. Dent was thrown out at third base as
part of an attempted double steal to end the inning.
Although
Stewart led off the home part of the third with a double to left field, Poyner
stranded him there on a pair of grounders by McGee and Davis and a lineout by sophomore
John Nogowski to redshirt sophomore third baseman Zack Powers (Seffner,
Fla.).
Martin
provided the Gators with a 2-1 lead in the fifth on a two-out double into right
field. Miller had recorded the first two outs of the frame before issuing a
free pass to Dent. Turgeon poked a single into right field and Martin’s second
two-bagger of the year into right field scored Dent and moved Turgeon to third.
Miller worked out of further trouble by having sophomore Taylor Gushue
(Boca Raton, Fla.) ground out to first base.
Poyner
matched his career-long stint of four innings, scattering four hits, yielding
one run and totaling three strikeouts, before sophomore Justin Shafer
(Lake Wales, Fla.) took over on the mound. Shafer struck out Knief but then
Stewart connected on a game-tying homer over the fence in right field to even
the game at 2-2 on his fourth big fly of the season. Bader ended the stanza
with a leaping grab at the left-field wall to rob Davis of a round-tripper.
Redshirt
junior Gage Smith replaced Miller (5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R) prior to the sixth and
plunked Powers with one down before having senior Vickash Ramjit (Miami,
Fla.) hit into a 5-4-3 double play. Junior Casey Smit had a pinch-hit single
through the right side of the infield to open FSU’s sixth and moved to second
on a grounder by sophomore Giovanny Alfonzo that was the second out of the
inning. Sophomore Ryan Harris (Jupiter, Fla.) was summoned from
the bullpen for Shafer (1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R) and uncorked a wild pitch that pushed
Smit to third base. Freshman Jameis Winston (2-for-3) put the hosts on top,
3-2, with a double into right center but was thrown out at third base to
complete the inning.
The
Gators answered with the tying run in the seventh on a two-out passed ball that
scored Bader. Bader had collected his second hit of the night with a single
into right field and sophomore Billy Strode came in for Smith (1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R)
and had pinch hitter Tobias line out to center field. Bader moved into
scoring position with his team-leading sixth stolen base and took third on a
throwing error by McGee. The rookie scampered home on a passed ball to square
the affair at 3-3.
Winston
replaced Strode (0.2 IP) on the mound to begin the eighth and mishandled Martin’s
bunt for a fielding error to start the frame. After Gushue flew out to right
field, Shafer singled into left field to move Martin to third base and went to
second on the relay throw. The Seminoles elected to walk Powers intentionally
to load the bases with one out and Coles kept the game tied by having Ramjit
pop up to second base and sophomore Connor Mitchell (Tampa, Fla.) ground
out to first base.
In
the bottom of the frame, McGee led off with a base-hit to center field,
prompting a pitching change. Gibson came in for Harris (1.1 IP, 2 H) and had
Davis fly out to left center. After issuing a walk to Smit, Gibson uncorked a
wild pitch that advanced McGee to third base. With runners on the corners and
one down, Gibson induced an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play by Brizuela.
Bader
reached on a throwing error by Brizuela to begin the ninth and wound up on
second base. A failed pickoff attempt by Coles enabled Bader to take third with
none out and Tobias delivered a sacrifice fly into right field to give the
Gators a 4-3 advantage. Florida State held an 8-7 advantage in hits but
committed four errors, compared to zero for the Gators.
The
Share A Little Sunshine Showdown, Florida vs. Florida State Game was presented
by Visit Florida. Share a Little Sunshine is Visit Florida’s campaign to
encourage all Floridians to invite their friends and families to Florida to
boost tourism and help our state’s economy.
The
Gators return to SEC play on Thursday night with the opener of a three-game series
with Eastern Division rival No. 8 South Carolina (27-7/8-4 SEC). The game will
begin at 7:30 p.m. and be carried live on ESPNU with Dave Neal and Kyle
Peterson, Channel 251 and 1251 HD in Gainesvile. It can be heard on the
Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Mick Hubert,
live audio and stats will be available on GatorZone.com and fans can also follow updates of each
game on @GatorZoneBB, the official Twitter account of the Gator baseball
program.
