GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the history of Gator team photos taken after winning a championship, perhaps none match the authenticity of the one Saturday of the UF baseball team.
Not long after the Gators rushed the field to celebrate their 6-4 win over Kentucky – clinching a share of the SEC regular-season title and No. 1 seed in this week's SEC Tournament – they gathered for the obligatory Southeastern Conference championship photo.
On the far left, flashing an index finger to represent "No. 1," stood Gators shortstopÂ
Dalton Guthrie. Out of uniform and wearing a protective boot on his right foot and holding up a pair of crutches, Guthrie smiled through the discomfort in his right ankle, which he injured in the fourth inning and had to leave the game.
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Guthrie is as important as any player on the roster, his defensive wizardry at shortstop and steady contributions in the lineup keys to Florida's success.
When Guthrie crumpled to the ground in obvious pain after rolling his right ankle on an infield hit to lead off the fourth, a hush came over McKethan Stadium. Gators head trainer
Jon Michelini and head coach
Kevin O'Sullivan rushed to Guthrie's side.
"It was a little somber [in the dugout] right after that,'' O'Sullivan said. "I said that's not what Dalton would want. We've got to get going here."
As if on cue, Guthrie's scrappy attitude resonated from the training room, where he was diagnosed with a severely sprained ankle, to the field. Guthrie will travel with the team to Hoover, Ala., for the SEC Tournament but won't play. O'Sullivan said the hope is that Guthrie responds well to treatment and can return to the lineup when the Gators host a regional.
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Sophomore pitcher Jackson Kowar rose to the occasion on Saturday. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA staff photographer)
A few minutes after Guthrie's injury,
JJ Schwarz stepped to the plate with pinch-runner
Blake Reese at first. Kentucky starter Justin Lewis had held the Gators hitless until Guthrie lined a pitch off his leg for that infield hit.
Schwarz followed with a double to move Reese to third. The tying run was at second as
Nelson Maldonado took his place in the batter's box.
In games like Saturday's, with the SEC regular-season title on the line and the East division crown, there are always moments that define the outcome. Moments that linger in the memory.
Maldonado delivered the biggest.
Ahead in the count 2-1, Maldonado was locked in as Lewis came home with the pitch.
"His change-up wasn't really on,'' Maldonado said. "I was just hunting fastball."
Maldonado got one and with one swing put the Gators up for good, slapping a three-run homer just out of reach of right fielder Tristan Pompey near the foul pole.
"It was up and out, and I knew I hit it pretty well," Maldonado said. "I know the wind got a hold of it and it just kept carrying and carrying. It's a great feeling, especially seeing the team in the dugout getting all hyped. It's one of the best feelings."
Maldonado's moment wouldn't have meant nearly as much if starter
Jackson Kowar had not had a moment of his own in the top of the fourth.
A sophomore right-hander, Kowar missed the latter part of his freshman season due to a collapsed lung and subsequent surgery. But on Saturday, in the biggest game of the season, Kowar took the mound with a career record of 12-0, nine of those wins coming this season.
Ahead 2-0, Kentucky threatened to extend its lead after Troy Squires singled and moved to third on Kole Kottam's one-out double. However, Kowar struck out Marcus Carson for the second out and then Schwarz and Guthrie teamed to throw out Squires at home for the final out when the Wildcats tried to steal home by having Kottam fall down between second and third.
Schwarz threw to Guthrie, who recognized the trick play, and quickly threw back to Schwarz to nail Squires for the third out of the inning.
"That was probably the turning point of my day,'' said Kowar, who grinded for 6 1/3 innings for his 10th win. "That's probably the most dynamic lineup we'll face this season. There's no pitches off. That's exciting for us going forward."
Maldonado's home run, Kowar's gutsy outing, Schwarz's defense (he picked off Squires at second base in the second inning on a throw from his knees), Guthrie's alertness and midweek-starter-turned-closer
Michael Byrne's 1-2-3 ninth all exemplified why the Gators were able to win their first SEC regular-season title since 2014.
"I've never had that kind of adrenaline going probably,'' Byrne said.
This is a team built around nearly every player on the roster.
The Gators overcame injuries to Guthrie,
Austin Langworthy,
Jonathan India and Michael Rivera to win. They overcame the loss of a deep pitching staff in 2016 that took them all the way to Omaha. They overcame an 0-3 start in league play after getting swept at Auburn.
"We were crushed,'' Kowar said of the sweep.
But they were never beaten.
"No one hits the panic button in our dugout, which is probably our best quality,'' Kowar added. "We have a lot of confidence in ourselves, and that's what has been able to help us win all these close games. We never felt sorry for ourselves that we were hurt or that we had people out."
You can make the argument that in his 10th season, this is the best managing job of O'Sullivan's career. He found ways to win by adjusting roles, tinkering with the lineup and letting guys hit their way out of slumps such as Schwarz.
O'Sullivan deflected praise to the players following Saturday's win. He deserves some, too.
"It's been a difficult year,'' he said. "It's just a gritty group. They're salty. They don't give in. It's very enjoyable."
The only part about Saturday that wasn't in the script for the Gators was Guthrie's injury. It's a big loss. Another challenge in a season full of curveballs.
When Guthrie went down, Maldonado didn't blink. Neither did his teammates after O'Sullivan's quick message.
"We kind of used it as motivation,'' Maldonado said.
It was the only option. An approach the Gators are good at by now.
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