Inches decided Game 1 between the Tribe and the Gators.
With a runner on third and one out in the seventh, William & Mary second baseman Kevin Nutter hit an Austin Maddox offering down the right field line. Freshman third baseman Josh Tobias stopped the hard-hit ground ball, checked the runner at third and threw the ball over to first for the out to keep the Florida lead at 2-1.
The smart play helped preserve a Florida Gators (5-1) victory against the William & Mary Tribe (2-3) in game one of a weekend series.
No. 1 Florida added two runs in the eighth on a throwing error to first by Tribe relief pitcher Ryan Williams and a sacrifice fly by Casey Turgeon to take the defensive-dominated game 4-1.
Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan said the Tobias snag at third provided an emotional lift for Florida.
“It was a huge play,” O’Sullivan said. “If that ball gets down in the corner there, it might be a different ballgame, but he makes a great play.”
Tobias’s play at third wasn’t the only close call for Florida.
In the sixth inning, with Florida starter Hudson Randall still on the mound, Tribe left fielder Tadd Bower hit a fly ball to Daniel Pigott who made a home-run saving leaping catch over the left field wall to prevent a Tribe home run.
Pigott paused for some time after completing the catch having no idea whether he had the ball in his glove. The pause by Pigott caused Tribe coach Frank Leoni to argue the out call and sparked a discussion amongst the umpires.
“It did look funky a little bit, because he didn’t know he caught it,” O’Sullivan said. “I think he went up and a couple seconds went by and you’re like, ‘Does he have it? Or does he not have it?’ I think he realized a couple seconds later he did catch it.”
Defense was the name of the game for Florida with the bats not producing runs. From one out in the first to two outs in the fifth, Tribe’s soft-throwing left-handed starter Cole Shain (0-1, 5.40) retired 13 of 15 Gators.
Senior Tyler Thompson broke a 1-1 fifth inning tie with a right-field home run, which was his first long ball since facing UCF on April 20 last season.
Thompson went two for four, but O’Sullivan wasn’t pleased with the offensive production by Florida.
“We need to do a better job of making adjustments and doing it quicker in the game,” O’Sullivan said. “I thought today for nine innings we didn’t do a very good job offensively of making adjustments, but it is a learning experience. Like I said, that is what the early part of the season is for. Learn from your mistakes and hopefully the next time we face a lefty like the one tonight we will make adjustments quicker.”
Florida starting pitcher Hudson Randall did his usual on the mound not giving up a walk over 6.1 innings, but Randall did surrender three doubles and a home run by the fourth inning, forcing him to make adjustments.
“I just wasn’t locating down in the zone enough,” Randall said. “I was leaving the ball up and they were putting good swings on it. The wind is carrying today and they used that to their advantage and I couldn’t keep the ball down early in the game.”
Randall responded and found his groove the second time around the Tribe lineup. He got his slider over for strikes early in the count, which kept Tribe hitters off-balance.
The junior finished throwing 78 pitches of which 56 went for strikes. After a shaky 19-pitch first inning, Randall didn’t have an inning more than 12 pitches.
After Randall allowed a runner to advance to third in the seventh with one out, O’Sullivan called on dependable flamethrower Austin Maddox. He went 2.2 innings and shut out the Tribe with fastballs in excess of 95 mph and sliders that fooled Tribe hitters.
Randall has no problem turning the ball over to Maddox.
“I’m pretty confident in them, especially ‘Mud Dog’ [Maddox] coming in there,” Randall said. “I like it when he is on the mound. I like when he comes in after me. So, I have great confidence in him.”
Maddox was inches from giving up a run in the seventh if it weren’t for Tobias and his range at third base.
O’Sullivan simply described the freshman as a baseball player.
“He is very sound defensively,” O’Sullivan said. “He is very accurate with his arm and that was a great play. It should give him a lot of confidence moving forward.”