Florida needed to win its last six SEC games of the season to even be considered for the NCAA tournament. That would bring the Gators to .500 in conference play, a necessity to make the field of 64.
In the weekend series opener against Tennessee on Friday night, it didn’t look promising that the Gators would even get the first win they needed.
Florida found itself in a 9-2 hole after the top of the fourth inning.
“We got together in the bottom of the fourth, we were down 9-2, basically the message was that no one’s going to feel sorry for us,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We’ve had such a long tradition here and a long history. We’re certainly not going to put our heads down and feel sorry for ourselves.”
From the fourth inning on, the tides turned in the Gators favor.
Florida scored eight unanswered runs, capitalized by senior captain Nelson Maldonado’s two-run home run in the eighth inning, to best Tennessee 10-9 in the series opener.
“I swung at the first pitch,” Maldonado said. “I think it was a changeup, a changeup up and I just put a good swing on it.”
The home run was Maldonado’s second of the night. He hit a solo blast in the fifth inning, giving him 10 on the season - a new career high.
“I don’t think I would have pictured any other moment on my 10th home run,” Maldonado said.
The moment was made even bigger by the fact that this will be Maldonado’s final home series in a Gator uniform.
“I thought about it earlier in the week, and was like ‘man, this could be my last time playing at home’,” he said, “it kind of hits the heart a little bit, I’m proud of this team and I’m proud to be a Florida Gator.”
The game was tumultuous from the beginning, with four replays being invoked in the first three and two-thirds innings.
Tennessee struck first, scoring a run in the top of the first inning. Jay Charleston laid down a bunt and then reached third on a Andre Lipcius single.
The Vols scored their run when Lupcious attempted to steal second. He stumbled, forcing a rundown between first and second. Gator first baseman Kendrick Calilao dropped the throwback to first and allowed Charleston to take home from third.
Florida quickly responded though in the bottom half of the frame. Back-to-back two-out singles from Nelson Maldonado and Brady Smith put runners on the base paths. A wild pitch then moved them to second and third, giving Wil Dalton a prime RBI opportunity.
Dalton did just that, bouncing a base hit into center field that brought Maldonado and Smith home to give the Gators a 2-1 lead.
The base knock gave Dalton his 25th and 26th RBI’s of the season.
However, the wheels would quickly fall off for the Gators and starting pitcher Tommy Mace.
After a scoreless second inning, the Tennessee offense retook the lead in the top of the third inning. The Vols used three base hits and a sac-fly from Lupicius to drop three runs on the Gators and take a 5-2 lead.
Things got worse for Mace in the fourth inning. The Gator starter allowed five runs on six hits and also committed a throwing error to first that led to the Tennessee lead expanding.
Tennessee only had one extra base hit in the inning, a lead-off double from Connor Pavolony, and used small ball to drive its runs in. The Vols dropped down two sacrifice-bunts while also recording four singles to chase Mace from the game.
Mace finished the game going 3.1 innings pitched and threw 93 pitches. He allowed nine runs, only seven earned, although those two unearned runs were due to his error. Mace surrendered 10 base hits and only struck out two.
However, Kirby McMullen took over on the mound for the Gators and got out of the inning without allowing any further damage.
McMullen kept the Vols off the board for the next three innings. The Gator relief pitcher allowed only two hits in a career high 3.2 innings of work and kept Florida in the ball game.
“Anytime I come into the game I’m just trying to throw strikes and get outs,” McMullen said. “I knew being down 9-2, that’s definitely what I needed to try to do to keep the game where it was at.”
“We probably don’t win the ball game if Kirby McMullen doesn’t come in and throw three and two-thirds scoreless,” O’Sullivan said.
While McMullen kept the Tennessee offense stagnant, it allowed the Gator offense to slowly chip into the Vol lead.
Jacob Young sparked some offense in the bottom of the fourth, lacing a one-out double down the left field line and then taking third on Jud Fabian’s fly-out to right field.
Young then scored when Brady McConnell slapped a single to left field. That made it 9-3 and gave McConnell 41 RBI’s on the season.
The Gators scratched another run in the fifth on Maldonado’s first home run of the night. The senior smashed a line drive just over the left field wall to make it 9-4.
The seventh inning is where the Gators did the most damage. Back-to-back singles from McConnell and Austin Langworthy began the inning, and the bases then became loaded after Brady Smith was hit by a pitch.
Florida got its first run of the inning a batter later when Dalton was also hit by a pitch, bringing home McConnell to make it 9-5.
Calilao then made it 9-6, driving in his 41st RBI of the season with a sacrifice-fly to right field that brought Langworthy home.
Florida then cut the Tennessee lead to one. After Cory Acton drew a walk to reload the bases, Young stepped into the batter’s box. The freshman second baseman looped a base hit into shallow left field, scoring Smith and Dalton to make it 9-8.
Young finished 2-4 on the night with a pair of RBI’s.
After Nolan Crisp pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Gators, Florida had a chance to complete the comeback in the bottom of the frame.
Maldonado then delivered with his two-run home run, giving him his 10th homer of the season and the Gators a 10-9 lead.
Crisp pitched a scoreless ninth inning to secure the win.
The Gators totalled 14 base hits on the night, with three coming from McConnell and three coming from Maldonado.
Five Florida batters finished with multiple base hits on the night.
The Gators will look to take the series from Tennessee on Saturday. Jack Leftwich will start for Florida while Garrett Crochet starts for Tennessee.
“At the end of the day we got to take it game by game,” Maldonado said. "Anything can happen and we all know that. Omaha would be nice but I want to focus on the game tomorrow and get a dub.”
