Clinging to a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the eighth JJ Schwarz walked up to the plate, the owner of three strikeouts already, with two outs.
“I just knew my first few at-bats of the game weren’t my best at bats,” Schwarz said. “But I stepped in the box and had a lot of confidence in myself. “I knew I was going to put that behind me, and I was trying to come up big for my teammates.”
Did he ever.
Schwarz worked himself into a 3-1 count and clobbered a three-run home run (his 10th of the season) over the bleachers in left field, all but slamming the door shut on a sloppy 10-6 win over four-seed Marist.
A huge rainstorm made the field conditions soggy and the play on Friday mirrored the weather.
Marist came out of the gates swinging. The Red Foxes led the game off with back-to-back singled but were retired in order after that. They picked things back up in the second inning, opening the scoring with three consecutive one out singles to take a 1-0 lead.
Florida came back with a flurry of hits, and runs, in the bottom of the second inning. The first two batters reached when Nelson Maldonado walked and Austin Langworthy reached on a fielding error. Christian Hicks was sent into the box to execute a sacrifice bunt but placed it perfectly to load the bases with no outs. Mike Rivera singled up the middle to score both Maldonado and Langworthy, while Hicks advanced to second. Deacon Liput moved both runners up 90-feet with a bunt of his own. Nick Horvath drove home Hicks with a single to left and Rivera scored when Jonathan India lofted a sacrifice fly deep to left field giving Florida a 4-1 advantage.
Following a shutout top of the third from Kowar, the Gators tacked on an insurance run in the third inning. Kowar, who struggled with command the entire night, ran into trouble in the fourth inning.
Kowar retired the first batter he faced before Anthony Lazar singled through the left side. Tyler Kirkpatrick dribbled a ball down the third base line but India’s throw sailed over Hicks’ head at first base. Pagano, who singled earlier, scored on the throwing error while the other runners stayed at first and second. Kowar proceeded to shoot himself in the foot, moving both runners into scoring position with a wild pitch and allowed Lazar to score when Kowar’s throw to first on a comebacker sailed past Hicks. A sacrifice fly later and the score was 5-4.
Florida answered back in its half of the inning. Horvath was hit by a pitch and stole second. India drove him in with a single to left field, extending the Gator lead to 6-4. Florida added another run in the fifth inning thanks to a pitching collapse by Marist. Hicks singled to left field, chasing starter Sean Keenan from the game. John Parisi replaced him and promptly threw three wild pitches, allowing Hicks to score.
“I think we set baseball back about 20-years with our defense and their defense,” Marist head coach Chris Tracz said. “My goodness.”
The Red Foxes came back with two runs, trimming the lead to 7-6 in the sixth inning. When Frank Rubio gave up a one-out single O’Sullivan wasted no time bringing in his closer Michael Byrne.
Byrne retired the first six batters he faced before allowing a one-out single in the ninth inning. Florida single season record holder for saves erased that with a game ending 6-4-3 double play, earning his 15th save of the season.
“I thought Marist played very well tonight,” O’Sullivan said. “I thought that they jumped some good fastballs from Jackson and they got into some advantaged counts and did a nice job.”
The Gators (43-16) will face USF (42-17) on Saturday at 7:04 p.m. The NCAA Tournament normally flips teams home/away from but both the Gators and Bulls were the home team on Friday night. That resulted in a coin flip for home team, which USF won.
- NOTES:
Jackson Kowar improved to 12-0 on the season. His 12 wins are tied with Jake Thompson of Oregon State for most in the country. Kowar has an undefeated record at Florida in two seasons. - Michael Byrne improved on his own record with his 15th save of the season.
- Byrne will be available to throw on Saturday after he finished the game Friday with just 25 pitches thrown.
- The Gators have won seven regional games in a row .
- Alex Faedo (7-2, 2.80) will face off against LHP Shane McClanahan (4-2, 3.28 ERA).