It was a sloppy game, certainly one the No. 7 Gators won’t be particularly proud of, but they survived to take Game 3 of their weekend series against the Samford Bulldogs in walk-off fashion. Florida already secured a series victory with its win on Saturday, and it completed the sweep behind the bat of Jacob Young, who hit a game-ending single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to give UF a 10-9 win.
Hunter Barco took the mound for his second appearance of the season hoping for a better outcome than in his disastrous outing against Miami last Sunday, but early on, it looked to be more of the same. He gave up a two-run homer in the top of the first, allowing Samford (3-4) to take the early lead. Luckily for the Gators (6-2), things weren’t clicking for Bulldogs starter Zach Hester, either. He allowed his own two-run homer from Jud Fabian, and a balk later in the inning allowed Florida to take the lead.
Barco was much better after the first, pitching clean through the second and third. Meanwhile, UF added to its lead. Young hit an RBI single in the second, and a single from Colby Halter in the third inning off new pitcher Hamp Skinner brought two runners home. Florida led 6-2 just a third of the way through the game.
Barco was three-up, three-down again through the fourth, but in the fifth, he gave up another home run. After a hit-by-pitch and single to lead off the sixth, Barco was pulled, allowing four hits and five earned runs. He struck out 10 batters in his five innings of work.
The Gators replaced him with Franco Aleman, but perhaps they should have let Barco continue. In Aleman’s first at-bat, he allowed a run to score off a passed ball, and a walk scored another run. He was pulled after just a third of an inning pitched, and though Chase Centala got Florida out of the inning, he couldn’t do it without allowing two of Aleman’s runners to score off a pair of RBI singles.
In just one inning, the Gators surrendered their lead and now trailed 8-6. Centala and Bulldogs pitcher Carson Hobbs both pitched clean through the seventh, and Centala allowed just one hit in the eighth. But going into the bottom of the inning, Hobbs was pulled for Carson Cupo, and he ran into immediate trouble.
He loaded the bases, and though he managed to get a strikeout against Young, Samford replaced him with Chase Isbell. He allowed a two-RBI single from Fabian, and a sacrifice groundout from Nate Hickey later in the inning gave UF the lead.
Just three outs away from a win, pitcher Brandon Sproat couldn’t close it out for UF. He gave up just one hit in the ninth, but it was a costly one: a home run from Sonny DiChiara. Samford tied the game, and if Florida couldn’t find a way to score in the ninth, it was looking at extras.
Things started out well — Josh Rivera reached base on a throwing error, then second on a balk, and then third on a passed ball. All of the sudden, the winning run was at third with no outs. But Sterlin Thompson and Kris Armstrong struck out, and UF’s options became much more limited. Two walks from Isbell (one intentional) loaded the bases with lead-off hitter Young coming up to bat.
Jacob Young called game pic.twitter.com/ai1CVuQw17
— Nick de la Torre (@delatorre) February 28, 2021
He crushed a single to left-center field, scoring Rivera and winning the game in walk-off fashion. Despite allowing the home run, Sproat managed to vulture a win away from Centala, earning his first on the season.
With a sweep in the weekend series under their belt, the Gators will return to the field on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. EST for a midweek matchup against FAU at Florida Ballpark.
[lawrence-related id=36533,36332,36023,35383,34525]
[listicle id=36435]