Gators walk it off against Georgia to even up series

Florida and Georgia played another game that was decided in the ninth inning, but this time it was the Gators who came out on top.

After a 24-run affair on Friday night, Florida and Georgia combined to score just three in the second game of their weekend series on Saturday. The Gators came out on top, 2-1, thanks to a walk-off RBI single from center fielder [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag].

Second baseman [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] got the winning rally started for Florida drawing a four-pitch walk from Georgia right-hander Chandler Marsh. Third baseman [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] found the gap in the very next about to send Kurland around third, but the base coach threw up the stop sign and delayed the celebration.

[autotag]Richie Schiekofer[/autotag] pinch hit for right fielder [autotag]Matt Prevesk[/autotag], who came into the game during the fifth inning for an injured [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag]. Schiekofer grounded out softly to first, but Robertson was ready to play the hero. He found the same gap in right-center that Halter did, and Kurland strutted into home to tie up the series.

After Friday night’s disastrous finish, Hurston Waldrep did everything he could to give the Gators a chance. He needed just 99 pitches to get through seven innings, and Waldrep was furious when Kevin O’Sullivan told him he wasn’t coming out to set a new career-high at Florida.

Waldrep struck out eight and was in control all night. He carved up the Georgia lineup with his splitter and pitched to contact when he needed to induce a double-play ball. The only blemish of the night was a leadoff double from Harber in the fifth that scored on a sacrifice bunt.

Florida tied things up almost immediately in the sixth with a pair of doubles from [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] and [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag]. Until then, Florida had been held hitless by UGA lefty Charlie Goldstein, who might have earned himself a permanent spot in the weekend rotation with the performance. Goldstein struck out seven and went five strong innings against the No. 3 team in the country. That deserves to be noticed, even in a loss.

[autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] was the only arm out of the bullpen for Florida, and he was lights out en route to earning win No. 5 on the season.

Offensively, things were pretty quiet. Halter was the only Gator with multiple hits and the duo of [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] and [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] combined to go 0 for 8 with four strikeouts. Not great, but there’s always Sunday to bounce back.

The Gators and Bulldogs go at 1 p.m. to decide the regular-season series.

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