No. 1 Florida Rallies To Edge Eastern Michigan, 8-7

Wednesday, February 24

Lakeland, FL

7:00 PM

Florida Gators

5-0

Eastern Michigan

3-3

Eastern Michigan

Florida

Shaun Anderson earned his first collegiate win for the Gators.

No. 1 Florida Rallies To Edge Eastern Michigan, 8-7

Thursday, February 25, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

The Gators scored four runs over the last two innings for the walk-off victory.

By: John Hines

LAKELAND, Fla. – A catcher's interference call with junior Buddy Reed at the plate and the bases loaded with one out in the ninth brought freshman Jonathan India home with the winning run as No. 1 Florida nipped Eastern Michigan, 8-7, on Wednesday night at Joker Marchant Stadium. The Gators (5-0) trailed by three runs to the Eagles (3-3) entering the bottom of the eighth and plated two runs in each of the final two frames to emerge victorious.

With Florida down to its final two outs, junior Ryan Larson and India (2-for-4, two runs) collected consecutive singles off of junior Sam Delaplane (1-1). Freshman Nelson Maldonado delivered a pinch-hit single for his first collegiate hit to bring across Larson with the tying run and took second on the relay throw home, with India moving to third base. After freshman Deacon Liput was walked intentionally to fill the bags, Reed was obstructed on a 1-2 count, enabling India to come home with the decisive run. Junior Shaun Anderson (1-0) picked up his first collegiate win by putting up a zero in the ninth.

The Eagles had erupted for five runs on three hits in the eighth inning to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 7-4 advantage. Freshman Max Schuemann led off with a single into left field and junior Jeremy Stidham was hit by a pitch before sophomore David Lett's sacrifice attempt instead left EMU with the bases full and none out. A fielder's choice by redshirt junior Marquise Gill narrowed the deficit to 4-3 and prompted a pitching change, as junior Kirby Snead replaced classmate Frank Rubio (2.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R). The lefty had sophomore Brennan Williams (2-for-5) pop up a bunt and Gill swiped second base for a pair of Eagles in scoring position. Junior John Montgomery (3-for-3, two runs) came through with a two-run double down the right-field line to score Stidham and Gill for a 5-4 margin. Sophomore Nick Horvath entered the game and walked sophomore Luke Devenney before Martin connected on a two-run double to right field for a three-run lead.

The Gators countered with a two-run triple by Liput in the bottom of the inning to pull closer. India had started the frame with a walk from Delaplane, moved into scoring position on a wild pitch and sophomore Christian Hicks also earned a free pass. Liput rifled a triple into the right-field corner, trimming the Eagles' lead to a run with none out. Although Delaplane permitted a one-out walk to sophomore JJ Schwarz for two runners aboard, he set down junior Peter Alonso (strikeout) and sophomore Jeremy Vasquez (flyout) to preserve EMU's advantage.

The Eagles had opened the scoring in the first inning when senior Jackson Martin (1-for-2, three RBI) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Making his collegiate starting debut, sophomore left-hander Scott Moss prevented further trouble by inducing an infield fly and ending the frame with a strikeout.

Alonso drove in Liput (1-for-4) with an RBI grounder in the third to even the contest. Liput and Reed drew consecutive walks from sophomore starter Kyle Huckaby, who was replaced by sophomore Brent Mattson. UF executed a double steal with one down and Alonso's ground ball to third base knotted the game at a run apiece.

Freshman Jackson Kowar took over on the mound for Moss (3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 6 K) prior to the fourth and totaled a couple of strikeouts in that stanza. EMU took advantage of a Gators' error with two down in the fifth to grab a 2-1 lead. Montgomery had a one-out pinch-hit single and swiped second with two out. After Kowar issued a walk to Martin, a fielder's choice by Austin Wilson resulted in Montgomery scoring on an errant throw to second base by India.

Florida countered with three runs on three hits and an error in the home part of the frame to take a 4-2 lead. Schwarz was hit with one down and Alonso followed with an infield single before a base-hit by Vasquez and a throwing error by Gill resulted in a 2-2 score. Sophomore Mike Rivera (2-for-4) gave the Orange and Blue its first lead of the night with a two-run single into left field.

Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
"Credit our guys for hanging in there down three with six outs to go. It was a good learning experience for us in a bunch of different ways."

Postgame Notes

With tonight's win, Kevin O'Sullivan improved to 6-0 (1.000) against Eastern Michigan, and the Gators have taken seven of the eight meetings all-time.
Scott Moss made his collegiate starting debut and yielded one hit and one run over three innings, with six strikeouts, four hit batters and a pair of walks.
In addition, Jonathan India made his first career start at shortstop, Mark Kolozsvary made his first career start at catcher and Mike Rivera made his first career start at third base.
Florida's last walk-off win before tonight came in the opener of its regular-season series with Miami last season, when Buddy Reed had the winning single in the ninth.
Three of the Gators' five victories this year have been come-from-behind.
In the leadoff spot tonight, Deacon Liput is hitting .500 (8-for-16) through five games and also leads the squad with 10 RBI.
Kolozsvary threw a pair of runners out attempting to steal.

Up Next
The Gators next head to Coral Gables for a three-game series at No. 6 Miami (4-0) that begins Friday at 7 p.m. The games can be heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell and will be carried on ESPN3 through the Watch ESPN app.

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