Florida Gators take series in grand fashion

It was déjà vu all over again on Saturday afternoon.

The Gators loaded the bases with nobody out on Friday night but couldn’t push a run across the plate. Trailing 5-3 on Saturday afternoon the Gators loaded the bases with no outs again. Florida had managed just one run, on a ground ball double play, with bases loaded and no outs in the second inning on Saturday as well.

JJ Schwarz walked up to the plate. The Gators were hitting just 2-21 (.095) and one RBI with runners in scoring position. Schwarz was just 2-8 on the weekend himself.

“We’ve been struggling with the bases loaded all year,” Schwarz said. “I don’t know what it is, no matter who is up there it really hasn’t gone our way.”

Schwarz was just looking for a pitch to hit. He was 0-1 with two walks on Saturday. He was hitting just .238 on the season and just looking for something, anything to lift his spirits and the team.

A fastball would do.

JJ watched the first pitch, a ball. Colie Bowers, who took over for Josh Reagan on the mound promptly walked Nelson Maldonado on four-straight pitches and then started Schwarz off with another ball.

“I knew he had thrown five (balls) in a row so he was trying to grove one,” Schwarz said.

Schwarz waited back on a fastball, dropped his hands inside of the baseball, flicked the barrel of his bat at just the right moment and made solid contact. The ball carried an Carlos Cortes gave chase but the left field wall ended his pursuit and gave the Gators a 7-5 lead that they would hold on to for the win.

“That’s exactly what I was looking for. I got the pitch I wanted,” Schwarz said. “It’s rough, it’s been a tough season for myself. My attitude hasn’t always been great. I just had a lot of support staff around me, my friends and the coaches, keeping my spirits up and not let me beat myself up. I’m really thankful for that.”

Saturday’s series finale didn’t look like it would be a happy ending for the Gators (27-13, 10-8 SEC). Jackson Kowar gave up two runs in just his first eight pitches. TJ Hopkins led the game off with a single and scored on a LT Tolbert double. Tolbert advanced to third on a balk and scored when Cortes grounded out to second.

The Gators cut the deficit in half in the second inning when the loaded the bases with no outs. Ryan Larson, who singled to start the inning, scored when Christen Hicks grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Larson dove Deacon Liput in to tie the game in the third inning but Kowar couldn’t hold on to the lead.

Hopkins singled to start the fifth inning off before Kowar induced a fly ball out. Cortes laced a ball towards Schwarz at first. JJ snagged the liner and turned to step on first to double off Hopkins but home plate umpire Scott Cline called Kowar for a balk.

“I do a little bit of a waggle with my front foot,” Kowar explained. “I was just trying to vary my looks. I held the ball the previous couple of pitches and I thought I was just going to have a quicker cadence there to make sure he wasn’t picking up on anything. I thought for sure I came set but the umpire thought differently. I needed to come back and make a good pitch to Cortes after that but I didn’t so that’s on me.”

Cortes lined the very next pitch, after what would have been an inning-ending double play save for the balk call, into right field for a RBI double, giving the Gamecocks (24-15, 9-9) a 3-2 lead.

Nelson Maldonado tied the game up with a solo home run to right field in the sixth inning.

Kowar lasted into the seventh inning. But gave up a single to Cortes. O’Sullivan left the sophomore in the game as he was nearing 100 pitches to face Chris Cullen, the Gamecock cleanup hitter who was just 1-13 (.077) on the weekend before the at bat. Cullen jumped on the first pitch he saw, launching a two-run home run into the bleachers in left field.

“I was pretty confident I was going to sink one and get a double play ball to get out of the seventh there but I just left it up and it’s a four-hole hitter. That’s what happens when you make mistakes to those type of batters,” Kowar said. “He put a really good swing on it. It was frustrating because I wanted to get one pitch, sink a ball and get out of there.”

After Schwarz’s grand slam gave Florida the lead they turned to Michael Byrne in the ninth. Byrne gave up a leadoff single but erased it with a 4-6-3 double play. Byrne got Cullen to fly out, ending the game and earning himself save number eight on the season.

“Today was a grinder, it was a grinding win,” said O’Sullivan. “It was hot. It was a quick turnaround after last night. It was an important series, an eastern division opponent. I’m going to give the guys off tomorrow.”

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC