Tired and weary after a four-hour bus ride home from Fort Myers Tuesday night, the Florida Gators (28-14, 10-8) admit they went through the motions for the first eight innings Wednesday night. But their response over the next two, in a ten-inning affair, carried the Gators to a 5-4 victory over South Florida (24-15) at McKethan Stadium.
The Gators rallied from two runs down in the ninth to tie the score at 4-4 and send it to extra innings, then they pushed across a run in the bottom of the tenth to take the victory. That the Gators came out a bit flat to start was not a surprise to Coach Kevin O’Sullivan.
“It had been a long night for us,” O’Sullivan said of his team, which returned at 4 a.m. Wednesday morning after a win over Florida Gulf Coast. “I was afraid we would come out a little tired.”
The Gators played tired the first eight innings, but they got some energy in the bottom of the ninth by loading the bases then scoring on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly to knot up the score.
Given new life with their ninth inning rally, the Gators wasted little time in the tenth, getting the winning run on a single by shortstop Mike Mooney that drove home Hampton Tignor. It was the fourth walk-off win of the season for the Gators.
Mooney, a left-handed hitter, got the game-winner by taking the pitch the other way and drilling it to left field.
“Sully told me to get it done early to left field,” Mooney said. “He was a submarine pitcher so everything was tailing away from me.”
This was the second time this season that Mooney has come through with the walk-off hit. In the third game of the season against Louisville he singled off the left field wall to drive home the winning run.
“It’s fun to be up in that situation,” Mooney said. “If you get a hit, you’re the hero. If not, well it’s hard enough to hit a baseball anyway.”
The Gators came into the ninth trailing 4-2 after South Florida third baseman Jonathan Koscso hit a solo home run off Florida freshman Nick Maronde. Needing two runs to tie the score, Teddy Foster worked his way on base with a leadoff walk. O’Sullivan replaced Foster with pinch-runner Clayton Pisani, who moved to third after one out on a Mooney single to right field. Matt den Dekker was hit in the back with a curve ball to load the bases for Pigott. A wild pitch scored Pisani and moved the runners up a base for Pigott, who launched a sacrifice fly to left to tie the game at 4-4.
“We really stepped it up in the clutch when it came down to it with runners on base,” first baseman Brandon McArthur said.
The Gators got their game-winning rally started the same way they got started in the ninth. Tignor worked his way on base with a walk to get things going and freshman pinch-hitter Tyler Thompson moved him to second with a single to right field. After Avery Barnes loaded the bases by beating out an infield single, Mooney lined the ball over the head of the third baseman for the game-winning hit.
O’Sullivan has plenty of confidence in Moody, whether it’s at the plate or in the field.
“He’s a mature kid,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s been around the block. He’s probably played in more games than some of these freshmen since he came here from a JUCO. He plays great defense.”
Brandon McArthur put the Gators on the board in the second inning with his first home run of the season. The blast to left-center field was his first home run since May 15 of last season against Vanderbilt. The redshirt senior, who was granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA, has now hit a home run in five seasons as a Gator.
“This was my first day of this season with a new bat,” McArthur said. “It’s a bat from last year, and (a trainer) told me last season that it was dead. Jerico (Weitzel) and I came out early to take batting practice today and the ball was jumping off it. It’s still got some juice in it.”
The Gators also scored in the fifth on a Mooney single followed by a run-scoring double by den Dekker that cut South Florida’s margin to 3-2.
The Gators wouldn’t have been in position for the late rally without the quality pitching. Five pitchers combined to allow seven hits and four runs, but the last three were the ones that stood out.
Greg Larson and Tony Davis combined for 3-1/3 innings, allowing only one base runner. Maronde (2-1), who recorded the win, worked two innings, allowing only the ninth inning home run to Koscso.
“Larson and Davis threw three huge innings,” O’Sullivan said. “I thought Nick threw the ball great besides the one pitch. In games like that when the offense is struggling, you’ve got to put zeros on the board.”
Florida hosts South Carolina this weekend in a pivotal three game series. Sam Dyson (6-2, 4.87), considered by Baseball America as the second hardest thrower in the country, will start Friday night for the Gamecocks. Florida has not yet decided on its pitching rotation. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.