The first six and two-thirds innings didn’t look promising for the struggling Gators. But one swing of the bat from Wil Dalton changed all of that.

With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, Dalton crushed a 1-2 pitch from Miami relief pitcher JP Gates. The ball sailed to deep right-center field and dropped. The Gator junior-outfielder cleared the bases with a triple and gave Florida a 4-3 lead at the time.

“It’s kinda funny, I got chills walking to the plate,” Dalton said, “because I told some of the guys that they were gonna load the bases. Someway, somehow the bases are gonna be loaded here and I’m splitting the game wide open no matter what.

“I’m not losing to Miami. Yesterday’s lose was like getting punched in the face millions of times and losing all your teeth.”

Freshman Kendrick Calilao followed that up with a double to left-field that rode the foul-line all the way to the wall and scored Dalton. That made it 5-3 Florida and they wouldn’t look back from there.

Florida was able to even up the weekend series and take game two from Miami 8-3.

“We’re calm,” Dalton said of the Gators recent struggles, “we’re not panicking. Us older guys have tried to keep things smoothed over. It was the lack of fire, somebody needed to spark the intensity, we needed one little spark.”

“We needed to play with more intensity and that was the first game I think we played with a little bit of fire and intent,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.

Prior to the inning, the Hurricane pitching had stifled the Gator bats for most of the night. Florida was able to manage five hits on Miami starting pitcher Chris McMahon but were unable to take advantage of base runners early in the game.

The Gators had base runners in the first five innings of the ball game but failed to capitalize.

McMahon finished the game having gone six and two-thirds innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs and struck out seven batters while walking only two.

It was the same story for Miami up until the top of the sixth inning. With the game knotted at zero and Florida starter Tommy Mace quelling the potent Hurricane offense for the first five and two-thirds inning it was a pitcher’s duel early

However, Miami drew first blood.

Raymond Gil blasted a 1-2 fastball from Mace high into the night that landed four rows deep in the left-center field bleachers. It gave Miami a 3-0 lead and sucked the life out of McKethan stadium.

However, Tommy Mace would battle back in the seventh inning and keep the deficit at three before being removed from the game. He finished throwing 97 pitches, allowing five base hits, three earned runs, four walks and recording four strikeouts.

“That was one of the best arms we’ll probably see all year long, you know, McMahon, he’s probably a big leaguer. For us to kinda hang in there and Tommy (Mace) match him pitch-for-pitch for the most part, I mean that’s a big step for Tommy’s development.”

That would be all the offense the Hurricanes would manage in the game.

Florida, on the other hand, flipped a switch in the bottom of the same inning.

The Gators manufactured a run to cut the lead to two after Austin Langworthy led the inning off with a ground-rule double to right-center. Dalton would then move Langworthy to third on a ground out to first, and he would score on a Calilao sacrifice-fly to right field.

Once the bottom of the seventh rolled around, it was all Florida.

After two quick outs, Brady Smith, Brady McConnell and Langworthy all drew walks to load the bases. Dalton then drove them all in and made it 4-3. It was then 5-3 after Calilao’s double

Florida picked up where they left off in the eighth.

Cory Acton and Jud Fabian led the inning off with a pair of singles. That was followed by a Blake Reese walk to load the bases. After a Smith strike out, McConnell sent a groundball into center field that scored Acton and Fabian, ballooning the lead to 7-3.

A wild pitch allowed Reese to score and Calilao would drive in his third run of the ball game with a two-out single to center that scored McConnell and made it 9-3.

Things were tense throughout the game. In the first inning, a McConnell take out slide into second base to break up a double play knocked Miami second baseman Anthony Vilar to the dirt. The play resulted in interference being called on McConnell, and animosity to grow from the Hurricane dugout.

That prompted a scuffle in the fourth inning. Florida turned a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning, but Alex Toral went into second with a vicious slide that connected with Reese. Coming off the field, Toral and Dalton exchanged words and both dugouts cleared. Nothing more would come of the situation, but it set a fire under the Gators and the 6,206 fans in attendance.

“I’m just gonna say my mom wouldn’t be proud,” Dalton said about what he said to Toral, “My mom wouldn’t be proud, but I did it for my teammates.”

Dalton finished the game with two hits a three RBI’s. Calilao, Maldonado and Fabian all had two hits for the Gators as well. McConnell drove in two runs as well.

Nolan Crisp pitched the last two innings for Florida and picked up his third save of the season.

Florida will look to win the series on Sunday with first pitch at 1 pm. Jack Leftwich will be on the mound for the Gators.