The distinct ping served as a starter’s gun for Florida Gators center fielder Buddy Reed. As soon as he heard contact his head went down and he was off. Reed rounded second, making his way to third with no intentions of stopping, or looking up at third base coach Craig Bell.
“I was running as hard as I could,” Reed said. “I was booking it as hard as I could, I got to third base and my head was down. It was completely my fault.”
A rundown ensued, with Reed ping-ponging his way back and forth before finally snaking his way around a tag, sliding safely through home to give Florida (41-8, 17-7) a 3-2 lead that would serve as the final score.
The marquee pitching matchup of the weekend featured the Florida Gators’ ace Logan Shore vs. Vanderbilt’s right-handed flamethrower Jordan Sheffield. Runs would be at a premium with two future first rounders’ on the mound, no time for either starter to blink. More than 20 scouts aimed radar guns at the mound on Friday night and both pitchers delivered.
Sheffield blinked first when Reed threw his bat at a 96-mph fastball, lofting a high fly ball that wouldn’t stop, finding a home on the warning track in front of the 326 sign in left field for a double. Deacon Liput walked and Mike Rivera moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Reed came home to score on Nelson Maldonado’s groundout to short.
Shore was steadfast, facing the minimum through four innings before faltering. Julian Infante reached first with a hot shot down the line and advanced to second on Jonathan India’s throwing error. A Will Toffey single gave the Dores runners on the corners and Jason Delay’s single through the left side tied the game, still leaving runners on the corners with no outs. Connor Kaiser doubled home Toffey to give Vanderbilt a 2-1 advantage.
“I thought I made some decent pitches in the fifth there,” Shore said. “There was the ball in the hole by India, made a great play and nine times out of ten Pete picks that ball.”
Meanwhile Sheffield had settled in. The righty didn’t have his normal command but kept the Gators off balance with a hammer of a curveball and a fastball that sat between 94-96 all night. He retired 10 of 12, with only two walks thrown in there.
“We’re facing a kid who’s going to be a first round pick in less than a month,” Shore said of his adversary on the mound. “We found a way to scratch up four runs off him. It’s pretty impressive all around.”
Nelson Maldonado followed up Liput’s two-RBI double with a single to bring in the third run in the seventh inning and Shore went back to work.
Shore worked a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth and walked off the mound at 92 pitches. Kevin O’Sullivan had already sent closer Shaun Anderson to the bullpen and he was ready. Shore had other plans as O’Sullivan approached him in the dugout in the middle of the eighth inning.
“He kind of walked by me,” Shore recalled with a smirk. “I said I’m finishing it.”
Shore needed 15 pitches to close the game out, but he did so in perfect fashion to improve his record to 10-0 on the season. The win, Florida’s 42nd of the regular season, set a school record for most wins during the course of a regular season. Shore also improved on his own school record, winning his 15th consecutive decision. The Gators haven’t lost a game that Logan Shore has started since May 14, 2015 — a full calendar year.