Friday night’s game two between No. 10 Florida and Kentucky contained all of the ingredients of an instant classic: unlikely heroes, a stunning comeback, a controversial call by the home plate umpire, a rain delay, a heated confrontation between a coach and an umpire and a shouting match between the two sides after the game.
After all of that, the Gators prevailed to win an 8-5 thriller to even the series.
“We made a bunch of mistakes again, but, hopefully, we’re going to get through this, and, hopefully, a win like this can help us play a little bit better on the road and not put ourselves in these types of positions,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.
With the Gators trailing 5-4 in the ninth inning but having runners on first and second and two outs, O’Sullivan called on reserve infielder Cory Acton to pinch hit. With the count at 2-2, Kentucky pitcher Austin Strickland tried to paint the outside corner with a backdoor breaking ball to catch Acton looking to end the game.
It almost worked. The pitch looked like a strike to everyone wearing a Wildcats uniform, the television announcers and, truthfully, probably to most Gators fans who were willing to look at things objectively. The one person who didn’t have it as a strike was home plate umpire Ken Langford.
If that pitch had been thrown a millimeter more to the left or if Langford had viewed it differently, Gators fans would be rightfully complaining about the pitching staff giving away yet another game that they should’ve won. Instead, they’re overjoyed right now.
That’s because on the next pitch, Acton, receiving his first game action since April 20, lined a fastball back up the middle. Jacob Young scored easily to tie the game, and the UF dugout suddenly sprung back to life.
“I’m really pleased with how he’s continued to work, and I think if you [reflect] back on the beginning part of the season, he’s hitting a lot of balls in the air,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s worked really, really hard to kind of revamp his swing and his approach, and that’s exactly what he’s been working on, and he’s been working really hard. Obviously, his hard work paid off tonight for all of us.”
As the television broadcast was wrapping up the highlight and analysis of Acton’s hit, Kendrick Calilao crushed a first-pitch fastball well past the wall in left center to give the Gators (32-14, 14-9 SEC) the lead. In a span of two pitches, the Gators went from certain losers to probable winners.
Jack Leftwich took over on the mound for UF in the ninth. He earned the save but not without some tense moments. T.J. Collett singled to right field with one out. Leftwich ran the count full on John Rhodes before eventually getting him to hit a high popup near the mound. Third baseman Colby Halter had the right angle to make the catch but dropped it. Fortunately, he was able to compose himself and get the slow-running Collett at second base for the force out.
Leftwich struck out Alonzo Rubalcaba on an elevated fastball to end the game. After doing so, he looked into the UK dugout and put his arms out to his side as if to say “What’s the big deal?” Kentucky players walked back onto the field, and the two teams yelled at each other for a couple of minutes. One Kentucky player was shown on camera being restrained by a coach.
It was that kind of night. Both teams needed to win badly, and both probably thought they had the game secured on multiple occasions.
The Wildcats (27-16, 11-12) opened the scoring in the bottom of the second off of UF starter Tommy Mace. Oraj Anu and Ryan Ritter picked up one-out singles and stole a base to move into scoring position. Mace got Zeke Lewis to strike out but seemed to get flustered by what he perceived as a blown call by Langford in his matchup with Cam Hill. His next pitch caught way too much of the plate, and Hill drove it into right field to give his team a 2-0 lead.
After stealing second, Hill was picked off by Mace. Hill got caught in a rundown and was called out for leaving the basepath, but he proceeded to run into Halter at second base to try to earn an interference call that would’ve given him third base. He and Mace exchanged words after the play.
The Gators immediately answered back. Nathan Hickey drew a two-out walk in the third, and Jud Fabian crushed a 2-1 offering from Sean Harney through a heavy rain and over the left center field wall to tie it.
Fabian went yard again the next time he stepped into the batter’s box in the fifth, this one a towering solo shot that landed in Kentucky’s bullpen in left field to give UF the lead.
But, as Gators fans have become accustomed to, the happiness didn’t last very long.
Hill led off the bottom of the inning with a single and stole second base. Austin Schultz tied the game with a one-out single through the right side. Mace walked Collett, and Rhodes lined a first-pitch fastball into right field to give the Wildcats the lead again. Mace minimized the damage by getting Coltyn Kessler to ground into a 4-6-3 double play.
Mace bounced back from the rough fifth inning to put up a pair of zeroes in his final two innings of work. He gave up eight hits and four earned runs in seven innings and struck out nine batters.
“I thought he was really good after the first couple innings,” O’Sullivan said. “He found his slider. Kind of reminiscent of what he did last week against Vanderbilt, just gave us a chance to win again.”
After the seventh inning was completed, the umpires pulled both teams off of the field with the rain picking up again. The rain delay only lasted about 15 minutes, but, right as the game was about to start again, O’Sullivan got into a heated argument with Langford about something. He yelled, pointed angrily and didn’t walk away immediately when Langford asked him to.
When the action resumed, Kirby McMullen lined a pitch just inside the third base bag for a leadoff double. O’Sullivan opted to pinch run Jordan Carrion for McMullen and pinch hit Calilao for Sterlin Thompson. The Wildcats countered by bringing in Strickland out of the bullpen.
O’Sullivan clearly got the upper hand in that exchange. Calilao lined a full-count pitch into right field. Carrion’s initial reaction was to run back toward the bag in case the ball was caught. However, Rhodes misplayed the ball, which allowed Carrion to race home and tie the game at four.
Strickland recovered to retire the next three Gators to keep the game tied.
Trey Van Der Weide took over on the mound for Florida in the bottom of the frame and surrendered a leadoff single to Kessler. Van Der Weide was then called for a balk that moved Kessler into scoring position. Van Der Weide got Anu to ground out to Carrion at short for the first out before giving way to Christian Scott.
Scott got Ritter to hit another ball sharply but right at Carrion. This time, the ball went under Carrion’s glove, which put runners on the corners. A hit batter loaded the bases, and Hill gave the Wildcats the lead with a high chopper to second base that forced Josh Rivera to only take the force out at second.
Scott struck out Chase Estep to stop the bleeding and set up the exciting finish.
Saturday’s rubber game figures to be an intense and highly competitive one. The Gators need a win to remain in contention for the SEC Championship and a top-16 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats need a series win to bolster their resume and earn a spot in a regional. Then there’s the chippiness that almost boiled over after the game.
O’Sullivan just hopes to see a better version of his team than the one he saw on Friday.
“Nine of our 14 losses this year, they’ve basically been gift-wrapped, and we’ve just kind of beaten ourselves,” O’Sullivan said. “And that’s the frustrating part. Like I said, hopefully, a win like this can get this team moving even more in a positive direction. We’ve just got to learn to play cleaner on the road.
“Obviously, tonight was a big win for us, and we need to play just as well tomorrow. Tomorrow will be an interesting game because I’m sure it will be intense, but we need to stay focused on ourselves. We don’t need to be worried about what’s going on in the other dugout. We need to stay composed the best we can and play at a high level and just play a little bit better than we did today.”