You’d be hard-pressed to find a college baseball player who had a better Sunday than Jacob Young.
The third-year sophomore outfielder went 4-for-5 with a double, two RBI and two stolen bases. Oh, and he hit the walk-off single in the No. 7 Gators’ 10-9 defeat of Samford to sweep the series.
“It’s a great feeling when you have all your teammates running after you,” Young said. “It’s a feeling you don’t get often, and, when you do get it, you want to take it in and kind of enjoy it. Having all your boys run after you with excitement is a great feeling.”
The ninth inning started with Josh Rivera reaching on a throwing error by Samford second baseman Brooks Carlson. He then advanced to second on a balk by Chase Isbell and to third on a passed ball. Suddenly, the Gators (6-2) had the winning run on third with nobody out without a ball leaving the infield.
It looked like they would squander the opportunity when Sterlin Thompson and Kris Armstrong struck out swinging. The Bulldogs (3-4) opted to intentionally walk Colby Halter to create a potential force out at second base and bring up UF’s nine-hole hitter, Jordan Carrion. Carrion took a very close pitch for ball four on a full count. Carrion’s decision to take the pitch and the umpire not punching him out turned the lineup over and allowed Young to work his magic.
“Huge at bat by Jordan the at bat before me to draw that walk,” Young said. “That 3-2 pitch was tough to lay off, and he laid off. I kind of just wanted redemption for the time before that when Jud [Fabian] picked me up. So, I knew just kind of to see something in the zone and just find a way to put it in play.”
Young’s banner day continued his torrid start to the season. He’s second on the team among qualified hitters with a .395 batting average, and his seven doubles are more than twice as many as the next closest Gator. He extended his hitting streak to 26 games, which is just three off of Tim Olson’s school record.
“He’s a really good baseball player,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “He hustles all the time. He only knows one gear, and that’s to go full speed ahead. He runs the bases well. Putting some really good swings on the ball right now. Obviously, he got another hit today on a push bunt. He’s just a really good baseball player.”
While very much appreciated, Young’s heroics shouldn’t have been needed. Florida led 6-3 after five innings. After starting pitcher Hunter Barco hit a batter and gave up a hard-hit single, O’Sullivan pulled him in favor of Franco Aleman. As he did last week against Miami, Aleman struggled to locate any of his pitches. He walked two batters, including one with the bases loaded, and gave up a single in a third of an inning. A run also scored on a passed ball by Nathan Hickey when he was in the game. He departed with the bases loaded and one out, and the Gators clinging to a one-run lead.
Chase Centala replaced him and didn’t fare much better, at least initially. He gave up a pair of RBI singles that gave Samford an 8-6 lead.
UF then battled all the way back to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth. Three consecutive singles loaded the bases with nobody out. Young struck out looking, but Jud Fabian bailed him out with a two-run single up the middle to tie the game. After a wild pitch, Hickey gave the Gators the 9-8 lead with a slow groundout to the pitcher.
Brandon Sproat entered to pitch the ninth inning and appeared set to record his first career save after retiring the first two batters. However, Sonny DiChiara blasted the first pitch he saw way over the fence in right field to tie the game and set the stage for the dramatic finish.
“We’ve got to get the bullpen figured out,” O’Sullivan said. “I mean, that’s the bottom line. Starting with Franco, obviously, it’s a little bit of a tough situation to come into with first and third with nobody out. You could just tell the body language was just a little bit different today. He was a little bit frantic and quick last week, and he was the exact opposite today. He was slower tempo. He had a little bit of a low elbow. He has not looked like this in the preseason, and we will get him going.
“Chase did not look quite as sharp. His fastball didn’t have quite the same life, and the slider was a little bit rolly today. And then I thought Brandon came in and did a nice job. Credit Samford’s three-hole hitter who hit the home run the other way. But even his breaking ball wasn’t quite the same today. We’re going to have to get that part of our game fixed, and we will. We’ve just got to move forward, and these guys have got to get going.”
Freshman third baseman Colby Halter, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI, said battling back after losing the lead twice is a testament to the team’s character.
“Obviously, you don’t want to lose the lead,” Halter said. “We wanted to finish it right there [in the ninth], but there’s a lot of fight in this team, and I think we knew we were going to pull it out, and everyone was pretty confident.”
They had every right to be confident with Young in the batter’s box. He simply cannot be stopped right now.